All Forum Posts by: Colin G Murphy

Hi @Ben Smith

Generally, I find the holiday season to be a good time for buying rather than selling. If possible, I´d wait until early January. In the meantime, spend a few dollars on a good photographer so the house will look great on the MLS listings.

Technology is great for opening up new niches in real estate, but I´m completely with @Dev Horn on this one.

Buying remotely is fine (I do it from Spain) but you should have knowledgeable people that you trust completely on the ground to inspect in person. 

Hi @Kat Rich

You´re very welcome. I think it´s entirely possible to invest in Tampa from Dubai as long as you have people you can trust on the ground (i.e. your brother) and as long as you train yourself how to make use of all the online due diligence information available (tax records, permit checks, public record checks, local comps etc). If/when you put something under contract make sure you have a decent inspection period and get a qualified inspector to check it out. If you´re working with contractors you also need to do your due diligence on them (there is a mountain of information on BP about this aspect of investing). 

Finally, if your brother is going to manage the property bear in mind that he either needs to be licensed or he needs to be part owner. 

Hi @Kat Rich

That´s an interesting situation you have there. 

I live in Spain but invest in Tampa Florida with a local partner I´ve been in business with for many years. It´s a great place to start a rental portfolio and/or flipping business. I would avoid vacation rentals and stick with long term rentals though - the former is much more fickle and subject to higher taxes, higher management fees and higher maintenance costs. You really need to know your stuff and have some decent volume to make a vacation rental portfolio work. 

On the other hand, regular SRFs rented to families on 1 year leases are much more stable and you can build scale as quickly or slowly as you like. For example, I like buying single family homes in Pasco County with ARVs of $80,000 - $100,000 which rent for $900 - $1,100 per month. Not too expensive, solid cashflow and easy to rent. 

I´m also familiar with Dubai and the crazy ups and downs it has had over the past 10 years. Obviously Florida had it´s fair share too, but Dubai is way more speculative and much more vulnerable to external shocks. The only people that seem to make money there are builders, banks and investors who time their flips perfectly. It isn´t a market for buy and hold foreigners (especially as prices are high and returns low). 

Other Questions
Three partners does strike me as a lot on a single purchase, but I´m sure plenty of people have done it. Just make sure you have a signed agreement (doesn´t have to be too formal) outlining what each persons roles are and how they contribute to funding and profit share. 

Property taxes are certainly important and you need to include them (plus insurance, maintenance allowance, vacancy allowance and possibly management fees into your calculations). Income taxes are a factor as well - the US isn´t a tax haven like Dubai, but there are plenty of deductions available, including depreciation.  

Would one of your family members in Tampa be interested in going into business with you? It is certainly possible for you to monitor the MLS, Auction.com, Zillow etc from Dubai, crunch the numbers, perform online permit searches and select shortlists for a local partner to visit. That might enable you to dip your toe in the water without committing to a big move away from your job just yet.

Good luck and keep us posted. Happy to help further if I can.

Hi @Carlos Cartaya

Don´t worry about getting off to a rocky start - happens to everyone. 

One thing every experienced investor will agree with is that you have to be very committed to make this work as a career or hobby. In a hot market like Tampa, you might easily have to view and analyse 20 deals to submit 5 offers and get 1 accepted. You need to prepare yourself for that. It also can take time to build the momentum and contacts needed to receive those 20 opportunities. 

Investor friendly agents are great, but there is certainly no need to rely on them as your only source of deals. Check out wholesalers, for sale by owners, hubzu.com, auction.com.

Stay optimistic and work hard Carlos - whether you succeed or not is entirely up to you. 

Hi @Graham A. Galvin

Always great to see fellow Irishmen on the BP site! Very best of luck - sounds like you already have some local NC people offering to help get you started. 

Hi @Karina D.

I also live in Madrid, but mostly purchase properties (both rentals and flips) in Tampa Florida.

I too am pretty skeptical about the Madrid real estate market (compared to other big cities overseas), but if you are finding interesting opportunities with decent rental returns, then I´d love to read more about them.

Hi @Account Closed

Congratulations on starting your real estate journey. Hope it leads to great things for you. 

I have invested out of state and internationally for many years - it can definitely be done with the right team in place, but it takes a long time for that to happen. A lot of research and care will be required, but it can be rewarding. 

That being said, it is a huge advantage to invest locally. I agree that places like Boston, New York, LA and San Fran are ridiculously expensive, but that doesn´t mean you can´t drive for 60 minutes and find a town with dramatically different prices. There are plenty of people on BP who live in major cities and successfully invest 30-90 minutes away. I would advise you to look into this before diving into out-of-state research.

Hi @Michael Ramzy

You could try TD Bank. Canadian clients of ours have successfully financed properties in Florida with them. Oliver Orlicki at www.orlickigroup.com is also worth a call. They work with loans of $100k+ (which basically means the property purchase price should be $135k or over).

Whoever you use, brace yourself for a LOT of red tape. In my experience (both personally and helping clients), getting finance as an overseas investor takes twice as long. Bear that in mind when making offers - you will need a patient seller. 

Hi @Benjamin Olson

Robert above is absolutely right. As a long term "foreigner" based in Madrid, I can certainly confirm that Spain is a popular and safe place for overseas investors to buy real estate and it has been since the 1970s. There are generally no issues getting freehold title and very few restrictions. 

Here are a few observations for you:

1. Closing costs are an issue: you have to pay 7-8% taxes on each purchase, plus another 1-2% in legal fees, which is crazy high compared to the closing costs in the US. Paying those fees hurts! 

2. It´s not very easy to earn a lot of money renting vacation homes. That applies to Orlando as much as Barcelona by the way. More turnover, more maintenance, higher management fees and fickle income. Not my cup of tea and not recommended unless you plan to be there and keep a personal eye on it for a long time. 

3. An American will find Spain to be a very pro tenant country, not a pro landlord country. Evictions and rent increases are a huge pain in the ***. Let me put it this way - I have been living in Spain nearly 10 years and despite keeping a periodic eye on the local real estate markets, I´m getting far better value for money investing in the US and UK.

4. Like all world class cities, Barcelona is bloody expensive and finding a decent rental yield anywhere will be extremely difficult. Plus you have the language barrier to overcome. If you are in your 60s and looking for a special place to retire, then Spain is awesome, but that isn´t your situation.

I´ll finish on a positive note by saying that Spain is a beautiful country and a great place to live. Being a student in Barcelona will most likely be one of the best experiences of your life. Enjoy every minute my friend and don´t stop chasing the señoritas. I got one when I was a student and we are now happily married with 2 kids.   

Suerte!