All Forum Posts by: Heather Swope

I'm live in Amsterdam but invest in the US.

@Philipp C. Dukatz

Hi Philipp,

I'm in Amsterdam. Here's a tip to look into. The Netherlands has a treaty with the U.S. that says that income from rental properties in the U.S. can't be taxed by The Netherlands. It's only taxed by the U.S., which has much lower tax brackets.  I'm not sure what the tax brackets are in DE, but I'm assuming they're quite high like here in NL. I suggest getting a good CPA that understands the tax laws in both countries to make sure you pay as little tax as you (legally) can.

Welcome to BP!

Heather

Buying properties in general is very different in the UK than in the US. For instance, you can get "gazumped". That means that even after you have a purchase agreement with a seller, the seller could still accept a higher offer from another party. You absolutely must work with an estate agent (they're not called real estate agents) if you plan to buy any property -- investment or otherwise  -- in the UK. I would recommend this to anyone buying in any other country for the first time.

@Anthony Petrozzella It took me 8 years. It’s nearly impossible for me to get a mortgage because I live outside the US. I got mortgages for the first three. It was a very difficult, stressful process. I was in the middle of the mortgage process on #3 in Sep 2008. Suddenly it became even more difficult. I had to pay cash for the last three properties because most banks just won’t even talk to me when they hear I don’t live in the U.S.

 Well done.  I'm working on #7, too.

There could  be an actual reason why she thinks she is seeing ghosts. Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) are given  off  by electrical  devices. If the EMF level is extremely high, it can actually make people have visual  and  auditory hallucinations. High EMF readings could be given off  by electrical  boxes (in or outside the house),cell  towers, and other kinds  of electrical objects.  If you are inclined to do anything, you could get an EMF reader and just  check if something like that is going on. If it turns out something in the house is giving off high EMF readings, you might be able to do  something about it. Cable boxes or cell towers outside you obviously can't fix, but  it could show a possible  non-paranormal source of the situation which might put the tenant  at ease.  You could then show the tenant that  you're at least looking into it.

Otherwise, I agree with @Johann Jells

I have a tenant who  has been in one of my SFRs for 2.5 years without a rent increase (she's been month-to-month for a  while now). She now wants to sign a multi-year  lease. I definitely won't  let  her stay there for the same rent. When she signs  the new lease, I want to increase  the rent by 3%, and I also want to include  some language for automatic annual rent increase since it will be a multi-year lease.  I'm not sure how to include  this annual  increase verbiage in the lease.  I found this online, which looked reasonable:

Rent Increase. The minimum rent shall be increased on January 1st of each year, beginning January 1, ____. The minimum rent shall be increased by the annual percentage increase in the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, Midwest Region All Items, as of October 31 of each year times the prior years annual minimum rent. Each year's rent increase shall not exceed four (4%) percent of the prior years minimum annual rent.

Does this look reasonable? Does anyone have any other examples of annual rent increase verbiage?

I am in the middle of buying my 6th house in Hendricks County. I didn't know this! This is very helpful. Mine are definitely not designated as my primary residence, but I didn't know there was a separate rental category.

@Eric Schultz Reposting because the @mention didn't work for some reason in my last post.

Is Safeco the insurance company you use, or is that the name of the insurance broker?I had to move quickly to re-insure this property, but the quote is more expensive. After I complete the deal I'm working on and have more time, I want to explore other insurance companies

@Eric Schulz Is Safeco the insurance company you use, or is that the name of the insurance broker?I had to move quickly to re-insure this property, but the quote is more expensive. After I complete the deal I'm working on and have more time, I want to explore other insurance companies.