US properties

[mustangjoe]

Ok.

I have been pondering for a while, and have been hording away US dollars for quite a while now. I'm looking to buy a propery in SoCal or Arizona, but I'm having a hell of a time getting RELIABLE info on US mortgages. I can't tell the scam websites from the legit ones, so I don't want to send anyone my personal info. I phone US banks and no one can really give me a straight answer. One bank, Whicovia I think i was told me I need 50% down. No problem. I phone back later, and a different guy tells me they don't do that. Branch manager is on vacation, no one returns phone calls, blah blah blah..

Guess they are all up to their eyeballs on foreclosure paperwork. I'm running around in circles and getting very annoyed. I know there are some high rollers on here so iff yous got any info that you can pass along, let me know. I'm looking to put down no more then 50%. I want to keep as much cash as possible in Canada 'cause Vancouver is next to crash big time and it does me no good to have all my dough tied up on some slum in the US.

 

[bcneil]

Well what I find best, is actually go down there, to Arizona or whatever.
I think Arizona is a great place to invest, I got a beautiful home down there, for less than the cost of a 1-bedroom in surrey!

But go down there to look, talk to realtors down there, let them worry about financial options for you. Tell em "I got down 50%, figure out how to get me a mortage so I can BUY"

They jump around like bunnies down there, these fuckers are so desperate to makes sales they will pick you up from the airport, and one let me stay in the house I was going to buy. So it cost me ZERO to travel there.

These realtors are suffering big time, noone is buying in a lot of these areas. The realtors will do anything to make a sale. One in Florida even put me up at a resort!

 

[bcneil]

I also remember in Vegas I talk to a mortgage broker down there, who was willing to give me a good rate, and just 10% down as well.

 

[bcneil]

I think the stock market in general will out perform the housing market over the next 10 years.

It could be very interesting if oil gets much cheaper.

 

[bcneil]

I am a big supporter of pickensplan.
It would be wonderful to get going on this.

I would love to move into more electricity.

I use to hate the idea of electric cars, because I love sportscars.
I was loking at this http://www.teslamotors.com/

I don't think you can even get them in Canada. But if this is the first reasonably priced electric supercar. I can't wait to see what they come up with in the next 10-20 years in the way of sportscars.
The engineer I spoke with at Tesla told me, he sees no reason they wont be able to develop 1000-1500hp models in the coming years.

 

[FunSugarDaddy]

I bought a place in Florida in January and my experience was as follows:

I was told that if I put 50% I could get a mortgage. Using a mortgage broker that was recommended by a realtor, I send in all the endless paperwork they wanted. (Far from a NINJA loan) and was eventually told they don't provide mortgages to non US residents. Tried again with a different broker and was told they the interest rate would be around 7%, turned out to be over 9% once I looked at some of the fine print. Tried a third time and was told my debt to servicing ratios were out of wack. Not surprising since they counted the new debt but not the new income associated with it.

I finally ended up refinancing my rental properties and bought the damn thing in cash. What pissed me off the most was I was orginally going to buy it in November when the Canadian dollar was trading at between 1.10-1.05. By the time I bought it the dollar was at .97. Might not mean much but on 300,000, that's a 25K swing.

Anyway, I'm still pretty happy with what I bought, but if I had to do it again, I'd just finance it with C$, especially true of the US$ raises relative to ours, as I'm currently receiving rent in US$ and paying a mortgage in C$.

Over the long run, I think things will pan out pretty good. These units were selling for 550k in 2006, when the dollar was .65 meaning they would have cost upwards of 800K a few years ago.

 

[Big Dog Striker]

Miami and Las Vegas

At the height of the property boom in the US, Miami and Las Vegas never had it so good, registering gravity-defying annual rate increases of 30% in Miami and 50% in Las Vegas. Naturally, with the housing downturn, the best real estate bargains south of the border can also be found in those two cities as well.

Miami was the life of the party during the housing boom and now its got a major hangover. Miami has 3 years worth of real estate inventory - in other words, it's a buyers market or what I call Red Bull bottom-feeding to the extreme. Condo and single-family homes plunged 40% last year. There's even a thriving subculture of lawyers who help panicked buyers break their preconstruction contracts. For attractive deals, look in the tony enclaves slightly to the North like Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, Aventura, and Coral Gables which is farther inland. Do keep in mind that trendy Miami Beach still holds its cachet, especially for foreign buyers whose exchange rate favored bank accounts can buy more and more by the day. Prime Miami Beach condos can fetch US$ 1,000 per square foot while in other parts of the city you can find much newer condos for US$ 250.00 per square foot. However, the chances of the Miami property market coming back in the short term are almost the same as the Dolphins making it to the Superbowl and the Marlins getting to the World Series.

Not so long ago it seemed as if Sin City could do no wrong, and its real estate was an odds-on favorite. Investors literally became affluent overnight, parlaying their bets, rolling the bones, winning again, and leveraging themselves into exponentially larger positions. As recently as 2005, the market was so hot that people couldn't enter quickly enough. If you wanted to buy into a new development, you often needed to arrive before dawn and wait a long line with other prospective buyers. But it was worth it coz units sold and prices went up overnight. In one instance, the developer raised the sale price by US$ 20,000 every time five units were spoken for, so the 16th person in line paid US$ 560,000 for a house that he expected to buy for 1/2 a million bucks. Housing was hot, prices were soaring, and putting down a nonrefundable 20% earnest money virtually ensured profits. But as every gambler should know, sooner ot later negative variance hits, and that is when everything gets wiped off the table.

As of March 2008, Nevada's foreclosure rate rose 220% from a year earlier; that's one foreclosure for every 183 households. Leading the charge is Las Vegas where one out of every 30 homes was on the road to shutdown. It's a buyers market but financing is super hard to get. There are lots of investors walking away from six-figure deposits. They just don't have a choice. The values of properties currently listed at the bottom of the market might double in about 7 to 10 years. The Dow and NASDAQ might give you a better return in the coming decade. Especially if you invest in those companies that lobbyist Hunter Biden represents before Big Daddy becomes VP.

 

[Sit_on_my_face]

You'll probably see cheaper oil..but it'll be a catch 22. Cheaper oil will fuel economic growth, thereby increasing usage of fossil fuels, which will push up the price and decrease economic activity. It's going to be interesting..that's for sure.

You might think about property in a place that could thrive in a world with higher energy prices (near farming, water, etc).

Another "wild" play might be the mid west. Oil guru Boone Pickens has a plan to put wind power across Central USA to wean America off foreign oil. The wind generation will bring jobs to a depressed area. www.pickensplan.com It's a wild play..

I have personally owned various canadian oil stocks over the last 7 yrs and have been pretty satisfied. I have as of late much reduced my oil holdings.

But I still think that canadian oil stocks will do well going forward. Even if the price of oil declines to $75 - $80 a barrel. They're still making great cash flow.
Many analysts I follow religiously agree on that and therefore, still think oil stocks will be a good bet going forward. I realize this doesn't have anything to do with the main topic of this thread , but since I notice a stock market comment, I had to say something about it.

Also, Many are starting to think that Vancouver's real estate prices are due for a pull back of somewhat. I know it has already a bit and won't be to the degree like the U.S, I believe anyway. But a 10 - 15 % is not out tof the question now. Especially the condo market.

 

[Big Dog Striker]

In the last three generations alone, oil turned every US$ 1,000 invested into US$ 1.26 Million.

 

[Sit_on_my_face]

In the last three generations alone, oil turned every US$ 1,000 invested into US$ 1.26 Million.

Exactly BD striker and thats why I still think that canadian and american oil stocks will do well going forward. The oil market is in a major correction now for the simple fact that it's curving the economy and basically hasn't had a real correction in awhile. The market will balance it out.

China and india will still in need of it and when the US economy starts climbing back and people start to gain confidence, consumption will rise again. Don't forget that majors don't really go for the big discoveries anymore.

And there's always the ever popular take over candidates in canada.

 

[Big Dog Striker]

You must take into consideration though that the Energy Efficieny Promotion Act, which is now in the US Senate, will put a dark cloud in the bottomline of the major oil companies in the future. Especially with the huge subsidies for alternative energy proposed by this bill. Plus, add to the fact that the present administration's goal is to reduce gas consumption by 20%.

 

[Sit_on_my_face]

You must take into consideration though that the Energy Efficieny Promotion Act, which is now in the US Senate, will put a dark cloud in the bottomline of the major oil companies in the future. Especially with the huge subsidies for alternative energy proposed by this bill. Plus, add to the fact that the present administration's goal is to reduce gas consumption by 20%.

Thats true and your right. But the financial markets will already to a certain degree have already or will factor that in. The market is a leading indicator and will predetermine this. You right though, who becomes the president will make a difference but the oil companies will still produce great cash flow and earnings is what it's about in the money markets. The returns might not be a euphoric as it has been, but they can still have an atractive rate of return. Also, dont forget they pay dividends and can always increase them as time goes on for investor interests.


Im just kind of hoping that vancouver real esate prices come down further so its can become more affordable.

 

[Big Dog Striker]

You're right on that, oil companies has always been generous to their shareholders. And it shows. During the first quarter of this year, ExxonMobil reported the highest quarterly and annual profits ever for a US company, rising by nearly a billion dollars, and yet invesment in production and exploration went down by 10.4%. ExxonMobil spent nearly two times the money on stock buybacks ( a record US$ 8 Billion in 3 months ) than it did on production. Surely made the shareholders happy.

 

[bcneil]

Well I just emailed a real estate agent in Florida letting them know I was a Canadian investor, and interested in one of their listings, this is what she wrote back....

Thank you for your inquire.



Let me introduce myself, my name is ### #####, and I am a Realtor in Florida for more than ten years, working as a Sales Associated with ### Realty Group.



For a Foreign to get a property in Florida is almost the same thing than an American citizen. Now banks are asking to foreign between 30 to 40% down payment. And you need another 4% aprox. for closing costs (sometime I negotiate it for the seller pay this, or part of it)



You did right, asking to a Real Estate co. is the best way to get assisted because we are specialized and experienced.



Property taxes are the same that American citizens pay. They are based on a ratio that varies by county.



I included in an attachment the guide for buyers.



This is the best time in Century XX and XX1 history, never prices like now. Don't miss up this opportunity. Houses that was sold in 300K are now in 220k.



Please if you need more information don’t hesitate to contact me either by phone or e mail (###@###), or give me your phone number to call you because i tried by the number that you gave to us and I realize we gat it wrong. I will be glad to assist you.

I don't know what to think, maybe a Mexican? I have never had a letter so poorly written from a business...

 

[kafka555]

^
Probably fresh off the raft from Havana.

 

[mustangjoe]

Well I just emailed a real estate agent in Florida letting them know I was a Canadian investor, and interested in one of their listings, this is what she wrote back....

Thank you for your inquire.



Let me introduce myself, my name is ### #####, and I am a Realtor in Florida for more than ten years, working as a Sales Associated with ### Realty Group.



For a Foreign to get a property in Florida is almost the same thing than an American citizen. Now banks are asking to foreign between 30 to 40% down payment. And you need another 4% aprox. for closing costs (sometime I negotiate it for the seller pay this, or part of it)



You did right, asking to a Real Estate co. is the best way to get assisted because we are specialized and experienced.



Property taxes are the same that American citizens pay. They are based on a ratio that varies by county.



I included in an attachment the guide for buyers.



This is the best time in Century XX and XX1 history, never prices like now. Don't miss up this opportunity. Houses that was sold in 300K are now in 220k.



Please if you need more information don’t hesitate to contact me either by phone or e mail (###@###), or give me your phone number to call you because i tried by the number that you gave to us and I realize we gat it wrong. I will be glad to assist you.

I don't know what to think, maybe a Mexican? I have never had a letter so poorly written from a business...

yukkkkkkk


I suggest doing a lot of research before buying in Florida. The state taxes there for out of towners is pretty insane. Florida can go fuck itself.

 

[JaJaBinks]

Ok.

I have been pondering for a while, and have been hording away US dollars for quite a while now. I'm looking to buy a propery in SoCal or Arizona, but I'm having a hell of a time getting RELIABLE info on US mortgages. I can't tell the scam websites from the legit ones, so I don't want to send anyone my personal info. I phone US banks and no one can really give me a straight answer. One bank, Whicovia I think i was told me I need 50% down. No problem. I phone back later, and a different guy tells me they don't do that. Branch manager is on vacation, no one returns phone calls, blah blah blah..

Guess they are all up to their eyeballs on foreclosure paperwork. I'm running around in circles and getting very annoyed. I know there are some high rollers on here so iff yous got any info that you can pass along, let me know. I'm looking to put down no more then 50%. I want to keep as much cash as possible in Canada 'cause Vancouver is next to crash big time and it does me no good to have all my dough tied up on some slum in the US.

I am a canadian Mortgage Broker by profession, but I was also a realtor in the states before I moved here. Lending is quite a bit different in the US. U are looking at 30 year mortgages, points to the bank or brokers, tax deductible mortgage interests, etc. My suggestion to u would be to contact a mortgage broker in the city that u are interested in purchasing. they are all licensed too, and they will be able to help u out. 50% down is too much. Be aware of the lack of income producing residences down there, i.e. no basement rental suites, etc. Be aware of CCRA guidelines for ownership of foreign properties too.