All Forum Posts by: Sam Van Horebeek

@Nick Brubaker

Welcome!  One other tip that has been helpful for most investors is doing an assessment of yourself and what you are looking for. For example, what are you looking for in terms of annual cash flow and long term appreciation and the risk that you are willing to take.  There is a lot of valuable information on this forum and it might be overwhelming.   Making a decision first on trying to achieve 10% yield per year, 5% appreciation per year with minimal risk is one decision. Or trying to achieve 3% yield per year and 10% appreciation per year is another decision.  There are just examples but I think you got the idea. Good luck!

welcome Mehul!

I believe that anyone who lives overseas can invest in the US property market.  A few key questions you need to answer before going into detail:

- What type of return are you looking for (cash flow or long term capital gain, or a mix of both)

- What is your budget (cash versus financing). If financing, will you be able to be pre-approved by a US bank while you are overseas?

- Once you acquire the property, how do you plan to manage the property (e.g. friend/family or professional property management firm)?

- How long do you plan to hold the property (this is related to the first point and is important to answer before you decide to buy)

Once you know the answers to the questions above, you will be able to start focusing on certain places that can meet your requirements and then identify the right people who are knowledgeable in those places. 

Seems like you have already identified a few places by now -good progress! 

We are dealing with more and more Chinese investors looking to invest in Detroit, and we are also looking for expertise in this area. 

Our investors are buy and hold (looking for income producing properties but no "war zones". There must be high probability of upside potential for capital appreciation.

Any particular neighbourhoods that would be most appropriate for this type of investment?

I believe that anyone who lives overseas can invest in the US property market. A few key questions you need to answer before going into detail:

- What type of return are you looking for (cash flow or long term capital gain, or a mix of both)

- What is your budget (cash versus financing). If financing, will you be able to be pre-approved by a US bank while you are overseas?

- Once you acquire the property, how do you plan to manage the property (e.g. friend/family or professional property management firm)?

- How long do you plan to hold the property (this is related to the first point and is important to answer before you decide to buy)

Once you know the answers to the questions above, you will be able to start focusing on certain places that can meet your requirements and then identify the right people who are knowledgeable in those places. Good luck

@George Calbert 

It is indeed hard to do flipping while not being located in the city where you intend to do the flipping. However, we have have dozens of flips over the last few months with Chinese investors. The key is to identify the key partners whom you can trust and work with (for the entire end-to-end process).  You should consider all the aspects of the transaction before making a decision to move forward.

Our team is based in China and we have been working successfully with overseas clients to buy properties all over the USA.  As such, I can tell you that it is possible.  

@Joshua Harvey

By joining this network, you probably have made the best step in finding information about places to invest in the US while being overseas.

Optimally, you should talk to someone on the phone (or face to face) while you are overseas so you can determine the validity of the information that you read on the internet.  

Besides talking to experts on the phone, I recommend that you first consider what you are actually looking for - for example, you might be interested in buying a property for capital appreciation (typically longer term) with little annual cash flow, or you might be more interested in getting a good amount of cash flow every year (and maybe you are ok with less capital gain when you sell), or maybe a balance of these two strategies.  Or you can do buy and flip and you could earn a decent return in one year (but obviously with some risk)

hope this helps

@Milton Johnson

Good to hear that you are considering investing in real estate while being overseas. 

 I believe the key first step is determining the return you are looking for versus the risk you are willing to take. Real estate investing is just like any other investment product - for a certain return, you will need to take a certain risk.

Second step is to understand where in the US you can find that type of return/risk.  I would be happy to give you some tips on how you can find that.

Third step is to find trusted partners who can help you with the acquisition of the property.

Lastly but very important,  I would suggest that you think now about how to manage your property (after you purchase it) and identify the right team who can do that. There is no point about buying any property if you do not have anyone who can take care of it.

good luck!

@Joe Tran We are a US real estate advisory team based in China. We deal with Chinese buyers looking to invest in the US real estate market.

Chinese buyers are able to do deals in the US property market via different channels.  The key is to be able to establish a relationship with them as soon as they have an interest in buying a house.  This can be done by working with partners on the ground in China who typically have relationships to find and maintain these relationships. 

hi Michael

We are a US real estate advisory firm based in China and have been assisting hundreds of clients looking to buy in the US.

Acquiring a property overseas requires the involvement of good team members who can help you throughout the entire process: 

1. analyzing the US real estate market and identify opportunities that meet your requirements

2. acquiring the property (with financing if possible)

3. managing the property

4. tax filing

5. sale of the property (later on)

I do believe that you need different team members for each area as it requires a specific set of experience. Key is to make sure that all these people are lined up before you buy or you might have some surprises later on...

Jon: just to make sure, I indicated 10-12% net rental yield (not gross) :)