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Unclaimed treasures from abandoned safety deposit boxes and police property rooms are being auctioned to the highest bidder online! Find out how to bid on this unclaimed property and how to make sure none of your property ends up in the auction.Safety deposit box contentsAfter a safety deposit box has been abandoned for 3 years (in most states) the contents are turned over to the State’s unclaimed property department. Safety deposit boxes are considered abandoned when the fees for the box are not paid and the owner cannot be reach through the contact information provided by for the box.The state auctions the unclaimed property retrieved from the safety deposit boxes, since the owner of the box cannot be located. The funds received from the auction are available to the owner, if the owner ever tries to recover the property.In the past the states held local auctions to sell the safety deposit box contents but now the states are utilizing the power of the internet to auction this unclaimed property.The items that are found include diamond necklaces, wedding and engagement rings, ruby necklaces, rare coins and stamps and much more.Ebay and State Unclaimed Property AuctionsThe States have begun utilizing ebay to auction the unclaimed property. Often times the contents are valuables including family heirlooms and jewelry. The auctions are held at different intervals for different states, and there may be times there are no items for sale.These auctions have received higher bids then the states could achieve with local auctions. In Massachusetts the most recent auction of 200 lots received $140,000 in sales!The following states are offering online unclaimed property auctions through ebay:At www.ebay.com, you can go to advanced search and enter the seller name into the section titled “From specific sellers (enter sellers’ user IDs)”:State of California
Ebay Seller Name: ucpauctionState of Colorado
Ebay Seller Name: co.unclaimed.propertyState of Indiana
Ebay Seller Name: indiana_unclaimedState of Maryland
Ebay Seller Name: mdcompschaeferState of Texas
Ebay Seller Name: tx.unclaimed.propertyWashington DC
Ebay Seller Name: DistrictofColumbiaPolice Department Property Rooms Utilize Online Auction RoomLaw enforcement agencies nationwide have property rooms full of stolen or forfeited goods. The rightful owners are not easily identified, and once property is no longer needed as evidence, it must be disposed of properly. Propertyroom.com was founded and managed by former police officers. The about us page states it, “…harnesses the power of the Internet to quickly move items out of police property rooms, reduce personnel costs and generate revenue well beyond traditional police auction methods. And there is no cost to the participating police or sheriffs department.”You can view items currently being auctioned at www.propertyroom.com. You can filter your search to include “police items only” by checking the box indicating “Show me police items only”.How to Make Sure Your Property Doesn’t End Up in the Auction RoomThere is over $25 Billion in unclaimed money and a large amount of unclaimed property in the US. This property and missing money goes unclaimed year after year.o Keep record of your safety deposit box(es)o List an heir to your safety deposit box(es)o Maintain up to date contact information on all accounts and safety deposit boxes you owno Search for Unclaimed Money and Property Owed to YouYou can search databases to see if any unclaimed money or property is owed to you.By: Nicole AndersonAbout the Author:

The property market has slowed down recently and has made it very difficult for homeowners to sell. Many of you may be feeling overwhelmed by the decrease in value of your home and the price that the real estate agent has tried to convince you was the going rate. If you’ve fallen behind with your mortgage payments and need to sell your home quickly, then the following information should help you achieve your goal.There are currently thousands of homeowners who are struggling to get out of mortgage rates which have ballooned or maybe you bought a larger home than you could afford because at the time the market was good. Let’s face it: most of us did not intend for the market to take a turn for the worse so when the rates were low, we bought way above our means. Now that making the monthly payment has you concerned and you do not want to go bankrupt or have your home foreclosed upon; it’s time to sell.If you want to sell your home quickly without a realtor and also avoid paying those high commissions, then getting cash for your home is the best advice I can offer you. Now how do I go about doing this you may ask? Keep on reading and I’ll share this information with you. Using the internet as a tool is one of the best ways to get cash for your home. By dealing with companies that will buy your home for cash, you’ll be able to avoid the hassles of a real estate company and also sell your home quickly.You can get paid cash for your home and not have to waste time painting and adding new carpet to attract buyers; these agencies will buy your home as is and can often have the deal completed in one day. When it’s time to sell, most of us do not have the time or energy to deal with all the hassles of selling in a declining market. If you want cash for your home and want to sell your home quickly, then this may be the option you’ve been searching for. You can avoid paying out unnecessary fees and commissions and keep all that cash in your pocket. It’s your home, why shouldn’t you benefit from the sale? Why waste any cash value you have earned from your home by handing your money over to a sales agent?By: Rebbeca GillhamAbout the Author:

Those of us who are wholesaling houses know it is critical to have buyers ready to purchase your houses as soon as you get them under contract. You think you have a great deal in hand and want to wholesale the contract to a cash buyer.The biggest challenge many wholesalers face is finding the cash buyers. So, how do you do it? Here are five suggestions.1. Call all the ‘We Buy Houses’ ads in your farm area. There are many other investors looking for a good deal. You know that the people who are advertising are looking for great deals. Call all the signs, print advertisements, and online advertisements. Let them know you have a deal. When you speak with them don’t talk about how pretty the house is, or what it could look like after the rehab. These are investors and want they really want to know is how much is in it for them. Tell them the after repaired value, the estimated fix-up cost, and what you are asking for the house. If they say no, ask them what areas they want to buy a house in and what discount they are looking for. Then go find them a deal that meet their criteria.2. Network with mortgage brokers, real estate agents, insurance agents, etc. Build a network and letting everyone know what you do. Let’s face it, if you can refer them some business, they will want to help you out. So if you don’t have a previous relationship with them, send them some business. You probably come across many sellers that you can’t work with because they want retail price. Refer these sellers to the real estate agents so they can list the house. Also refer them to the mortgage broker; they will likely need a mortgage for their next purchase. Feed your network and they will feed you. That realtor or mortgage broker may work with an investor that is looking to buy more houses. You can work out how you can compensate them when one of their investor contacts buys the house you have under contract.3. Go to your local REIA meetings. This is where many investors go every month to stay up to date on the latest information. All of the REIA meetings typically have some time set aside at the beginning of the meeting for networking. Speak with everyone you can and let them know you have wholesale deals and are looking for cash buyers. Some meetings allow members to put out their information, so put your property flyer out for people to pick up. Hand your property flyer to everyone you can at the meeting. My local meeting has a portion of the meeting set aside for members to get up for 30 seconds and tell everyone in the room what they have, want or need. This is a great opportunity for everyone to hear about your deal. Remember to keep it to the numbers and give out your contact information.4. Title Companies are a great source for leads. One of my local title companies sells a list of names for a very, very low price. I ask for the homeowners in my farm area, who are absentee owners, have purchased in the last 6 months, and paid all cash. These are investor buyers who have access to cash and can close quickly. Send them a postcard asking them to sign up for your buyers list. Offer them a free report, DVD, or CD to entice them to get on your list. Once they sign up for your list you can then contact them to get more specific about what they are looking for.5. Run an ad in the local paper or online. You can run ads in papers such as the Thrifty Nickel and the Pennysaver. The ad should have keywords that investors are looking for such as “cheap”, “handyman special” or “below market”. In the ad, put your website so they can sign up quickly and easily. Or have a phone number that goes to an answering service. The answering service can ask them for their name, phone number, email address, and buying criteria.These are just a few of the ways to build your buyers list. And remember, it’s not about how many people are on your buyers list, it’s about getting active investors on your buyers list. You are much better off with a buyer’s list of investors who are actively buying property. That way you can wholesale your deals quickly and easily. When you treat them right and give them a deal they can make money on, they will come back to you when they are ready to buy their next property.By: Heather DunlopAbout the Author:

The influence of foreign investors and their potential to help the housing market hasn’t been lost on legislators, it is reported that Senators are introducing a bill that would grant visas to any non-U.S. citizen who spends at least $500,000 on residential real estate in the United States, which they believe will help fuel demand.“A new provision to an immigration bill already being considered by the U.S. Senate was proposed last week by Senators, Chuck Schumer of New York, and Mike Lee, of Utah that would grant residence visas to foreign buyers spending a minimum of $500,000 to buy residential property in the U.S.The ‘Resident Visa’ provision to the immigration bill was written with the purpose of boosting and energizing the slow U.S. Housing market by encouraging foreigners to purchase U.S. real estate. If accepted, this provision would compliment other foreign visa actions proposed in the bill that would encourage more spending and capital investment by foreigners in the United States.There are some stipulations. Here are some of the highlights:At least $250,000 must be spent on a residence and the balance would be allowed for residential rental/investment properties.Foreign buyers must pay for their purchases with cash, pay U.S. taxes and spend a minimum of 180 days in the U.S.Foreign buyers granted visas would not be able to work in the U.S without obtaining a work visa via the normal and proper channels.Foreign buyers would be able to bring their spouse and any children under the age of 18 with them.The ‘Residence Visa’ would expire when the property/properties are sold.”Florida Attracts Foreign InvestorsFlorida, known as ‘The Sunshine State’, is again attracting buyers who are finding bargains galore. Although the USA claims to have been out of recession for the last 12 months, it is possible another dip may happen due to weak consumer confidence and tight lending criteria. But for the long term, Florida is bursting with opportunity.Florida was riding the boom to its highest peak, but now homeowners are finding the value of their properties 50% less than five years ago. For example, a four bedroom villa with a swimming pool in the Orlando area, 20 minutes from Disney, is on the market now for £111,000.00. You could buy a property like this for 30% down plus expenses. So an Investment of around £41,000.00 could see you earning a yield of around 6%. Current thinking is that worst case scenario in the present market could see you break even with only the equity to show for your investment, but the market is expected to Improve, but without a crystal ball, as mentioned, another dip in the market is possible.The opportunity has an unfortunate side, at least 50% of bargain homes are the result of foreclosure or short sale, which is the process before foreclosure. However you may feel about benefiting from the unfortunate business of foreclosure, it does help those who are at the short sale stage and the banks are happy to have it sold. These transactions can be complex, so we do advise you seek personal legal advice. It would be advisable for you to visit Florida and see these properties for yourself, as some may be in disrepair and in need of more work than you may be willing to take on. A good buy would be near golf courses, of which there is hundreds to choose from, beaches of the Gulf of Mexico coast stunning, as are the beaches along the East coast. Of course a popular spot to buy is near the amusement parks in and around the Orlando area.All the most popular areas have great transport connections from Europe to Miami, Tampa and Orlando.Miami is leading the sales revival in the sunshine state. The data from the Miami Association of Realtors shows that sales of existing single family homes in the Miami Metropolitan Area increased 47% in July, and sales of existing condominiums increased 33%. Buyers are focusing on homes in just five locations which are: Tampa Bay including St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Miami, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Orlando and Kissimmee. Naples and Marco Island. Cape Coral and Fort Myers, all in the southern half of the state and was hit particularly hard by the housing downturn. Inventory fell more than 6 per cent between second and third quarters of 2011, driven largely by foreign investment, experts say. Canadians led sales overall, accounting for almost a quarter of foreign home buyers, followed in smaller numbers by China, Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom.For those Investors in the enviable position of having cash at their disposal, real bargains can be picked up with banks preferring to sell to a cash buyers at discounted prices, rather than a lender willing to pay the asking price.Let’s look at some of the main points to consider when taking those steps to buying a property in the sunshine state.1. Pick your location wisely. This is important first step.2. Enlist the help of a reputable realtor (property agent) that knows the area and will guide you through the process.3. It is prudent to allow for approximately 5% of the property value to cover costs such as notary fees, title insurer and any other various legal costs.4. Once the ideal property has been found and price negotiated, it is usual for the purchaser to put down a deposit. It is at this point followed by a formal offer, accompanied with a purchase contract. Once this is signed, the sale is binding.5. One of the most important criteria when purchasing property in the USA is timing. Contracts are usually date specific and should be adhered to, or risk losing your deposit.6. It is possible to find finance in the USA as a foreign buyer and US mortgages are available from 70% – 80% loan to value.7. Obviously it is up to the individual to fully understand all visa requirements, which will be needed for various durations of stay in the country. All information on this can be found at your nearest American Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions in your country.By: Tony OsustAbout the Author:

Most real estate on the market use ‘Price’ rather than ‘Auctions’ as their main selling strategy. Yet statistics clearly show auctions have a superior success rate. Out of the 180 St Heliers properties sold in 2009, 63 sold by auction and 117 sold by price. Yet 65% of the 63 properties sold by auction achieved an amount equal to or more than capital value compared to 54% of the 117 properties sold by price. What does this mean? Fewer St Heliers properties sell by auction and auctions yield a better result for the seller. (Based on REINZ statistics).REINZ is a real estate industry owned organisation that provides data to government organisations and private industry because it has the most up-to-date property statistics available in New Zealand. Capital Value is a figure used by councils in New Zealand to calculate the rates home owners must pay them at specific intervals. Capital values are issued by councils but are generated by computers overseen by qualified property valuers.Success rates of other marketing strategies such as ‘Price on Application’ (POA), ‘By Negotiation’ (NEG), and tender are not available because REINZ includes POA and NEG in the ‘Price’ category; tenders are a form of auction. Success rates of properties on the market using POA and NEG marketing strategies cannot be calculated.Selling a property ‘By NEG’ means the property is for sale without an asking price and invites buyers to make an offer based on their perception of what a property is worth. Properties marketed with ‘POA’ have an asking price but it’s only disclosed when genuine buyers make active enquiries about the property. The asking price is the price the buyer is likely to accept and is disclosed in advertisements. Typically the asking price is negotiated downwards by the buyer.Very few St Heliers properties sell by tender compared to by NEG and POA. Removing POA’s and NEG’s from the sales data would likely make auctions look even more attractive because they would be compared only with properties on the market using an asking price. Anecdotal evidence suggests many buyers ignore a property on the market by NEG when the market slows down because they want a ballpark figure (asking price) to work within. Yet when they’re cash buyers, they’re happy to bid at auction where the price is unknown. Conditional buyers prefer properties with an asking price.A conditional buyer includes conditions in the sale and purchase contract such as verifying the bank will loan the money needed to complete the property purchase. Conditions must be fulfilled within a time period specified between the buyer and seller for the home sale to go through. Currently there are 121 St Heliers properties advertised for sale on New Zealand’s largest dedicated real estate website using a variety of marketing strategies: ‘Price’ ( 48%), ‘Negotiable’ (30%), ‘Auction’ (21%), ‘Price on Application’ (2%).Accepting last years statistics, the 21% of St Heliers properties currently on the market by auction will likely have a better chance of selling at a value greater than other marketing strategies. Admittedly, many sellers fear auctions and they sometimes perform less well than expected. Yet history shows it’s a worthy marketing strategy. So if you’re looking for top market value, give auctions a thought. The result might surprise you.By: Tim GolderAbout the Author:

For luxury real estate marketing professionals, the easiest way to become the market leader is to select a niche within your marketplace and become the expert in that niche. A niche is a category or a sub-category in which you can specialize.Here are three steps to becoming a niche expert in luxury real estate marketing. 1) The first step in niche marketing is selecting a niche; 2) The second step is finding the right niche for you, and; 3) Get started.What Are the Major Niches In the Luxury Real Estate Realm?1. Castles, mansions & ultra-luxurious estates2. Golf properties3. Eco luxury4. Ski properties5. Ocean waterfront properties6. Historical properties7. Downtown Condos & lofts8. Lakefront propertiesHow Do I Select the Right Niche?1. Select a niche in which you are personally interested, ideally passionate about.2. Select a niche that no one is currently dominating or is not doing a very good job3. Select a niche that you can represent better than anyone else in your marketplace4. Select a niche where the properties are selling and the prices are substantial so that your commissions are significant5. Select a niche where you can easily identify the major opinion leaders, community leaders and also vendors who are also interested in acquiring these home owners (and buyers) as customers/clients.How Do I Get Started Marketing to My Niche?1. Identify the movers and shakers within the niche and find a way to meet them.2. Create a website that demonstrates that you are a specialist in this niche. Narrow the search criteria on the site so that is it easy to just search for properties within the niche.3. Provide extensive information about the niche, via blogging and articles4. Find out what is needed and wanted by asking home owners in this niche how you can help in the community or by offering some information or service apart from just selling homes (e.g., start an online community calendar and promote it to homeowners via postcards).5. Create your personal brand around your niche. Become synonymous with the niche (e.g., The Waterfront Properties Expert).By: Ron SeigelAbout the Author:

For several years now, people have been trying to call me to ask if it is still a good idea to invest in property in the United States? I have been buying properties in the United States for more than 20 years already.Buying a real estate in the United States started in the late 80s, when I got myself involved in the loan debacle and savings. This was when the banking system in the southern states was failing and we even had to make transactions of the property buying and selling without any banking system, since there were virtually no banks around.Now it’s as if there are bank crisis every 20 years in America. Prices significantly dropped, sometimes 95 cents on the dollar, when I was buying properties. We can even buy properties 5 cents on the dollar! There were even home units that we could buy for as low as $600 and a couple of thousand dollars per house.The fact that the Americans are currently going through a major bank crisis, a lot of Australians are apprehensive to take advantage of the US market. Perhaps you don’t have to worry about this issue if you are not going to live in the United States.In the late 80s, I did spend a lot of time with some Australians who were trying to save what’s left from their capital, the capital that they have invested in the U.S. And after 20 years, I’m doing it again – helping Australians who lost a lot of money, to get out of the United States and will still be able to keep the remaining capital that they have invested.The American and Australian Culture DifferencesWhy do you think this happened? Why do some Australians invest in the United States and end up being disappointed? Even if we read about 15% returns – 25% returns. I will examine that fact for you in a little while. But before that, I’d like to go back to analyzing the differences between the way Australians do business from the way the Americans do business. Most of this is outlined in the book, written in the 1970′s called, “American and Australian Cultural Differences”.In the book that Donald Trump wrote, “The Art of the Deal”, he simply mentioned there is no such thing as a win-win in business. It has always been ‘I win and you lose’. Here’s the first major difference, in Australia, people come first, then the money comes second. While in the United States, it is the other way around, big business and the big bucks comes first before the people. This doesn’t mean that Americans are bad and we are good, we simply have a different culture. Also, our governing laws lean that way.Our Australian culture and mentality is reflected in our legal system, a system that is shared with both legal and equitable law. Once a judge sees a contract that he doesn’t like, he can overturn the contract since under the equitable law, which means fair play law. Unfortunately, this is not how it works in the American playing field. The real deal is always on the piece of paper.On the lighter side of playing in the US market is, we both can sit down and talk work out a contract. I can even trade a portion of a property in the US for only $7. As long as we both sign a one page General Warranty Deed or Warranty Deed, that property is bought for $7. And it costs that much because that is what cost me to record this at the local court house and make the purchase. That is the deal whether we had a creative lease option or an installment contract. Unfortunately, if you get into some bad terms, you have no government body to come in and looks after you. The deal is, the dollar comes first.So, if ever you are in a country where the real estate has an “I win and you lose” kind of rule, be careful. They do have different set of rules.Here are some interesting stories of what actually happened over the years. Perhaps by the end of this article, some people can instill in their heads that the US may not be the best place to invest, unless, you already live there.US Property Management
A lot of Australians assume that the US Property Management is handled the same way as it is in Australia. Here, when you buy or sell a piece of real estate, it is managed by the real estate agent. In the US, the people who sold the property to you have nothing to do with the management. Here, it is difficult to find someone who shares the same moral code as in Australia. And if ever you find one, it is expensive, and it can drain you financially.Here’s an example. Strangely, the American management companies can never bring your money to you in Australia. They seem to have a poor mail service since they lose a lot of cheques. What they do know is, your cheque sinks because Australia could be Atlantis. Bottom line is, it is about taking your money and not let you make a profit.If you choose to go for a good management company, a light bulb may only cost 25 cents, but if you get it installed, it may cost you $88. This is because good management company in the US, only use licensed people, and licensed people are expensive. Since everybody is afraid of being sued in the US, the property manager doesn’t use anybody who doesn’t have a license, whether it is a plumbing license, or electrical license.Although a light bulb in the US may last for 15 months, and it is indeed cheap to buy. However, since I have been an absent landlord, I have been charged several $88 to have my light bulb put in the house. And sadly, no Americans can change their own light bulbs.In Australia, we do a lot of stuff using our hands. Americans have been used to being gifted to for so long that they do nothing. When I rent my propertiesI noticed that my rented property in the US becomes un-rentable when:
• the carpet is more than 2 years old, and
• your property has been painted less than a year ago.In Australia, even if my place has a 10, 20 or even 30 year old carpet, I can still have it rented, even if it hasn’t been painted in the last 5 years. This is the reason why vacancy in the US is much higher than in Australia.How does this affect the management? We now know that a rented unit, apartment or a house in the US can’t be rented out unless it is in perfect condition, practically a new condition. This fact costs money. My apartment buildings in Dallas, Texas used to be vacant. I also had a building very close to SMU campus and the students had to move out at midnight. So, I had a crew go in to re-carpet and repaint. The next morning, I had new people coming in, at around 10 a.m. This is clearly an expense that you have, as a landlord.You also have management companies who make sure that they take money out of your pocket. Being constantly charged for various systems like, hot water, heating, and air conditioning which was never in your property.The Systems That Drains Your Pocket
How about air conditioning? Most (if not all) of the properties in the US have air-conditioning. And air-conditioning is simply expensive. It would be great if the US tenants clean the filters. Unfortunately, they don’t. If that happens, your air conditioning systems get burn out. It would take another $300-$400 to have your air conditioning coils cleaned and have new compressors put in. This obviously drives you nuts!
Another situation is the ice maker. American houses have an ice maker and every time you replace it, it costs $130 plus another $150 for the service call. That’s almost $300. Ice makers will last for 24 months.If you have 2 to 3 tenants who constantly change the temperature of the air conditioned properties, this can fry your air conditioning unit. You adjust the air conditioning system since you have tenants and unfortunately, they don’t respect your equipment. You will end up spending a fortune just for your air conditioning and heating systems. What may be standard in the US is not the standard in Australia.The management normally gets 10% of the gross income. A lot of American management companies get their kickbacks from the service tradesmen who are constantly sent out to the properties. Obviously, the landlord is not the priority of the US property management company, the tenants are. Whatever these tenants want, they get. No matter how careless these tenants are when using your equipments, no matter how constantly they burn up your cash flow or profits. These are just some of the things that never happens in Australia. Here in Australia, we serve people to live in is bottom of the range, Americans can’t be served this way.Most Americans don’t pay their rent. Those tenants who do pay rents in the US have a lower percentage compared to the Australians who do pay their rent. They even have a book that’s called “500 Ways to Rip Off Your Landlord and Never Pay Rent”. This book costs $19.95. You are simply in the area of big business, I make money and you don’t. A lot of these Americans don’t pay their rent. That’s how the business is – Americans do not pay their rent!A lot of Australians ran into these US properties with cash intending to refinance later and only to get their cash returned by creating more debt. The properties were cheap when bought because you can’t get financed. You will need to put all your cash in there and eventually bring out your cash out.If ever the management has left you any money, they will get it back from you by charging you all sorts of jobs that were never even done, like a house that has never been painted. That’s how landlords are eaten alive.Also, here’s something worth knowing, the American roof only lasts for 12 years. Ever wonder why the suburbs blow over in the storm? That’s because American houses do not have any steel nor cement in them, which are important. American houses are made of wood and bricks on the outside. The bricks aren’t even thick enough to hold up the house. They are only slate style brick which is an inch wide. Unlike Australian household brick, around 3-4 inches wide. This can actually hold up the house.For the American houses, the wood behind the brick face holds up the house. So the brick is just a fascia plate. What happens when a big hurricane comes? It wipes out the entire suburbs of this American house, simply because there are no bricks and no cement.What about the bathrooms? Here’s a revelation. They do not have any water nor sink hole for the water to go all the way down. The American bathroom floors are just made of plywood, standard of five ply. I change the bathroom floors every 4 years since it only costs $ 300 – $400…if you do it yourself. Yes, it is necessary to change the bathroom floors every four years, in case you didn’t know. As mentioned earlier, the American bathrooms do not have any drainage hole. So the water sits on the floor which is often carpeted. Eventually, it rots, that’s why it is a must to change your bathroom floors every four years.Another thing you should know is that American sewer pipes are 2 inches, not 4 inches. Expect to be fixing blocked toilets every so often. In order to have it fixed, you would need to call the Rotor Router guy and pay $90. It is the standard way of fixing blocked toilets.Your tenants will be blacks, whites or Hispanics. A lot of Australians do not realize that when they buy a cheap property, they do not understand where they are buying these properties. What kind of neighborhood it has and such. The Hispanics are great. They actually pay their rent even before they feed their children. But did you know that there is this expression called, ‘they’re hard on the machinery’, the Hispanics are really hard on a property. Perfect example is, they use lard when cooking. Lard is fat. They pour this lard down your sink, which causes the sink to get clogged. Which means, that you will need to call a Rotor Router guy every three to four months. Or perhaps, your managing agent will be the one to do this work for you. Making you spend more because they had to unplug all your pipes.I knew this one gentlemen who lived in the Sydney suburb of Roseville. He bought 52 cheap units. What he didn’t understand was that it was 52 units of Hispanic residents. This man ended up financially crippled because of the operating expenses of the Hispanics.The Hispanics, like to sit in the back of their pick up trucks and shoot their guns on a Friday or Saturday night, which is fine. They like to drink a lot, and in many of the States, there is no drunk driving laws. So I would often dig a pick up truck out of my swimming pool full of these drunk Hispanics who drove their pick up through my fence and straight into the swimming pool. What makes it harder is, majority of these Hispanics don’t speak English at all. And it is expensive to get tow trucks at 3 in the morning.The sad thing is, when Australians buy a property in America, they think that it has the same system and set of standards as it is in Australia. You have to remember that America is a totally different market. They think, do and act things differently. The carpets do not last long, the paint does not last long either.
Although it is cheap to paint and you only need to spray the paint using spray gun. Nobody uses brush anymore because spray gun is a lot easier to use and you need to repaint after 2 years.Currently, I am assisting a lady who has a property in New York. Her agent put the property for $1.3 million on the market. Even to this day, I do not think that her property is worth anywhere more than $900,000 in the present market condition of the US. This agent has produced a back pocket buyer who don’t really exist. He would actually report someone trying to buy the property, and then not buying the property. There would be reports that this house does not have tenants when in fact there has been tenants in there for 9 months already. The agent collects the money and puts it in their back pockets telling the owner, “I’m sorry, we can’t get any tenants”.When you do find out that you actually have tenants in your properties, your management people will keep telling you there isn’t and they’ll just draw off the money and you’ll keep paying the cost.The main idea here, intentionally or unintentionally, is to make you financially bleed. Until such time that you decide to sell the property back. Surprisingly the management company has a back seat buyer who will take pennies on the dollar. I have witnessed this incident so many times.What about your lawns? What happens if they don’t get mowed? Your the management company does not take care of this. They do not organize anybody to mow lawns since the city is going to come in and mow the lawns for you. Simply because they have city codes and ordinances that you need to make your house look clean and tidy. If you do not make your house look clean, the city will come in and make it look clean and tidy, then you get charged for $400 for having them do that for you.You are not allowed to park your car on the street, that’s the rule for most parts of America, because if you do, you will be charged any towing costs. And you now have a lien to the city. If you are in Australia, you may not find out about this because the notice is probably sent to your American mailbox or even to your American property manager, which is the usual case. Your American property manager does not pay it. He goes out of business or simply destroys it. Since you don’t know what’s going on, the city sells your property from under you. The city wants its money back for its $400 lien, and will take your property to foreclosure and even sell you out.This is what you hear or watch on late night television, the city tax lien sales. This is where the city owed money on properties. Next thing you know, they will just sell your property up and you will just find out that they either sold your property or they have condemned it.Your property has a burst pipe flooding problem which is why the city will condemn it. We had the same issue in Dallas, Texas. That is a hot State and it simply means that you will have to constantly run those taps. So during the winter, if I don’t get all my piping blown out, there’s a huge risk that my pipes will burst during the winter months. Then I have major flood damage. Another term used for having the pipes blown out is winterizing. This leaves me two options, to have it winterized and cost me, or make sure that my taps are dripping and make sure that the house is above 68 degrees- which will also cost me on air conditioning and heating system running 24/7.Oftentimes, you get it wrong. Your pipes will burst while you are not around to fix and sort things out. So the city comes by, and condemns your property. They will condemn it by putting a huge tape across the front door. Worse is, the homeless people will move in and will destroy whatever’s left of it. They can even sue the city if they hurt themselves in a city condemned property which may lead to having to remove your house from the lot. They will leave you with what is called a PAD. This has happened a lot in the United States in the early 90′s. You will have nothing there but a cement pad. If you look at the bright side, the cement pad is clean and smooth for you to rebuild another house.These are just some of the things we don’t do in Australia. Many Australians get lost and confused by this. They sell their properties for $19,000 without understanding that they have black tenants who sometimes do guns and drugs and don’t pay the rent. So, if I was an American and I wanted to sell you some properties in Australia, I will put phantom tenants in the properties, create a bunch of leases that will show how much they’re supposed to pay and for 2 or 3 months. I will also make sure that the money goes through the books to encourage some Aussie sucker to buy properties.Aussies come in and their tenants don’t pay rent. All of these guys carry guns, unless you want to start learning how to use a.44 hand gun in order to collect rent, then you’ve to start getting these guys, who are doing drugs, out of your house. American properties can be bought for as low as $8,000 simply because nobody goes there. This neighborhood is the gang areas, the drug houses and the house of prostitutes. Australians are not used to this. There are a number of gun carrying States in America. People either strung out on drugs or get shot and these are the cheap properties that Aussies start buying.The issue here is not because the Aussies are buying cheap properties. The point is, they do not understand why it is cheap. They need to know that the Americans won’t touch it for many reasons.
Most of the US mortgage companies do not lend money less than $50,000 and because of this, you cannot get your cash out. So even if there’s a buyer for your $40,000 or $45,000 property, an American cannot get this because of the loan size. Although it used to be $35,000, now they’ve increased it to $50,000-which is the minimum loan size.If that’s the case, most of these Hispanics, blacks and the people who live in this neighborhood cannot buy it since they do not have the 50 grand to spend for this property. They cannot borrow it because the loans don’t exist. Only thing left for them to do is to cash out.The investor will cash out the money, not the black person, nor the Hispanic person. This investor will take you out at $20,000 initially. Then he will walk in and string you out. He will do this because he’s the only one with the cash and you will find out that you are going to get about $20,000.Whenever people talk about these gross yields in America, what they say is, this property is gross yielding 26%. But it is important to remember that is before an amount of your money is taken out from repairs, maintenance, vacancy and other unforeseen expenses. My property, where I used to live, is 17.4 % of every dollar in up keep. It is indeed cheap to get parts for US houses. If you are in the US doing everything yourself, it would have been great. But if you actually live abroad, and you have properties in the US, that’s when it’s a killer. What will drain you financially is the cost labor of having someone to do the job while you are not around.Another burden foreign landlords need to keep in mind is the airfares, of flying back and forth to the US, not to mention the overseas phone calls and the time difference, when you have to get up at 5:00 am in Australia just to speak to somebody in the management office. Unfortunately, you don’t get to speak to anyone, because everybody has voice mail. The fact that you cannot speak to a live person drives you nuts. You will also notice that your cheques won’t arrive. That American banks won’t wire money to Australian banks unless you have filled out different legal documents.You have a whole bunch of extra paperwork from the new Patriots Act that Bush brought in. This whole stack of paperwork will stress you out to the point that you would simply want to pull your money out of the US back to Australia.Up to now, I do not know any Australian who made a profit from buying and holding a property in the US. But people still call me, people who bought properties in the US looking forward to getting a big profit. Fact is, that day may or may never come.Here is another story for you. I bought a 22 home units property from the US government and I owned it for 2 years. Well, it took me 2 years to fix things in order to buy it from the government. My cash flow should have been $11,000 after all my expenses. I have hanged on for 2 years and I never got a check above $1,500. Like their system, it goes, and disappears.You need to understand their structures, the LLCs, S Corps, companies, everything. You will need to do all these tax treaties and corporations with the US government. An average Aussie accountant will not be able to do your taxes any more. You’ll end up going to Coopers and Lybrand, the biggest companies in Australia to do your taxations, and because they understand the structure in the US. The LLCs, S Corps, C Corps, all these things that you have set up in the US.For Starters, these guys will charge $300 per hour. Here, you will discover that your tax bill will come from $1,000 up to $15,000 a year just to acquire an Australian and US tax return done. That would surely kill you. This is what you call, the on cost of doing business.However, if you do live in the United States, you will absolutely profit from it. You will earn a lot from buying and trading properties in the US, simply because Americans forget about equity. For them, real estate is not an investment vehicle but a consumer item, that as soon as they are finished with it, they can leave and move on. If you are in the US, you’ll witness this yourself. The Americans will know that Aussies have not left for Atlantis to live there, they will realize that you can show up the next day with a double barrel shotgun, demanding to get back your money, so you can make profits – BUT, that is only if you are physically there.We can take advantage of a lot of situations when we are there in the US. I made a lot of money when I was buying, selling, trading properties. But we have to understand how real estate trading works in the US.
My objective of writing about this today is to recognize two essential things. We may speak the same language as the American, but our philosophy about business is totally different-which is, ‘they win and I lose’. Majority of Australians who invested in properties in the US do not go through this without legal battles.In the US, people sue each other. This isn’t about just winning, it’s about making the other guy bleed and dry. Whoever gives up first will comply to what the opposite party wants. This is the painful reality of real estate business in the US. I’ve seen a lot of Australians go into that industry in the US market, and will eventually come back broke, drained and stressed. They do not get anything near their returns at all. And yes, your cheques will mysteriously get lost in the mail.My ultimate message is, spare yourself from this painful experience. If you want to earn money, you can earn it here, in your own backyard, without having to buy any airline ticket, dealing with US corporations, learning and understanding a different country’s system and way of doing business-the hard way. Yes, we do speak the same language as them, but they do not do business the way we do. It may sound appealing and sexy to say that I’m off to see my house in Florida, but there are more negatives than positives in this experience. Find the same opportunities here in Australia.When you see US figures for yield returns, find out what the net yields and figures of the net return. Consider the repairs, maintenance, vacancy and other surprising expenses that will come your way. Brace yourself from disappointments. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. This is probably your way of knowing and seeing what properties in the US can do to the investor.I also came across an e-book about an author who shares his similar experience when buying a property in the US. In case you want to read about this as well, you can find it on http://www.seekingfortuneinnewyorkstate.com.By: Rick K OttonAbout the Author: