All Forum Posts by: Margaret Dreesen

 Alas, for all of you who are thinking about buying internationally through RETA or Ronan McMahon.  IMHO--DO NOT.  I have international property and as a 20+ year lifetime RETA member finally bought pre-construction through RETA.  Mr MaMahon is nothing more than a promotor for the developer.  He says he vets and uses quality developers.  That is questionable IMHO.  I have purchased internationally thru Century 21 and RETA.  Buying through RETA was the biggest mistake of my life.  Their marketing borders on fraud--you think they vet the developers--?? don't know.  But what I do know is they target Americans/Canadians whose dream is to retire abroad.  My costs in time-developer issues after closing in Mexico have drained my life savings.  I did everything right-lawyers-home inspection, checked developer credentialsThings in the whole development have gone south.  RETA has changed their liability verbiage over the years--but as a member-yes you pay for that--you are lead to believe RETA will help you when the construction work is subpar--not so.  I have so many issues in my condo now that I did not have at time of closing--it is unbelievable.  Many of the other RETA members are having similar issues.  

When I reached out to RETA for help--this is their response--this organization is just a profit maker for developers having difficulty selling their condos ( hard lesson to learn):

Pangea requires developers and projects to meet basic criteria before we bring these opportunities to you. Although we believe developments that meet our criteria are quality projects and we have confidence in their completion and ongoing management, this should not be construed as a guarantee by Pangea.

You should know that some of the deals we recommend may come with caveats; these will be detailed in the “Deal Open” alerts from Real Estate Trend Alert. You can find them at https://realestatetrendalert.com/category/reta/ret-alerts/. You should read these carefully and discuss them with your attorney before buying to make sure you fully understand them.

Remember, the value of your real estate purchase and/or the income derived from such real estate can go down as well as up; there are no guarantees that values will rise. While useful for detecting patterns, the past is not a guide to future performance. Any predictions, forecasts and expectations of gains provided by Pangea may not be a reliable indicator of future results. Any potential gains attributable to real estate that are mentioned are gross and do not include taxes, fees or charges. Properties purchased in a foreign currency are also subject to currency fluctuations which may affect the property value, income derived from it, and/or gains.

We always recommend strongly that buyers perform their own complete due diligence. We always recommend the use of a qualified legal professional to help with any real estate transaction. We also recommend that buyers purchase title insurance.

Should a reader decide to purchase a property from one of the developers, real estate brokers or property owners we work with, Pangea will receive an advertising fee from the developer/broker/property owner.

Basically--if things go wrong--which they have in many of the RETA projects--usually not the first condos built but the second ones.  This was a very expensive lesson for me.

Thanks to all of you for your guidance.  My contract now includes rental insurance and I realize that next contract period I will need to raise the tent a little to better cover expenses of the condo--lesson learned there.  The tenant and I worked out a resolution.  This turned out now to be a win-win as my unit is getting a new state of the art fire door.  Thank you again as I am learning much from the Bigger Pockets community!

TY and no the condo association by laws make the fire door and upkeep the owner's responsibility.  At the guidance of the comments here, I have talked with the Condo Manager and Tenant.  I have gone ahead and filled with my own insurance company.  I have asked the tenant to contact his renter's insurance company.  This is a learning experience for me in my landlord adventure.  I am hoping my insurance will pay the highest percentage and the tenant and I could split the rest.  I need to get the door fixed now to keep my tenant and the rest of the building safe.  I appreciate everone's input.

I am a newbie at being a landlord.  My late husband and I had a small studio on the Chicago Gold Coast.  My tenant fell over his own cane and then called 911 in the middle of the night.  The fire dept used crowbars to break into the condo to take the tenant to the hospital.   They deemed it a life threatening situation. My tenant has been living in the condo for over a year and is out of the hospital and back at the condo.

The new outside fire door costs over 3000 USD.  Can I use some of the tenant's damage deposit to pay what my insurance does not pay? 

Any suggestions from you experts out there?