American Real Estate

[Hazo]

Can someone point me in the right direction here. Looking to invest in the second half of next year into Real Estate on Yankee land.

I'm looking at California (Yes just to copy Brandon because he's cool). I know pretty much nothing about the areas. If you know of any resources or anything that'd be greatly appreciated. Looking to spend anywhere up to the 350k ish mark.

In terms of living in America - I've had a look at the visas and there's so many it makes my head spin. Is the best way to go to get some sort of business visa?

A general discussion about the market to help out would be awesome.

Nick

[Hazo]

Think I've scrapped Cali from the list. Denver is looking good.

[NickM]

First, we don't want you in California.
Second, good luck finding anything for 350k US that isn't in the middle of nowhere.

From what I hear, Denver is nice and much more affordable. The Phoenix area is also new, clean and the market is tanking. It should be extremely off it's peak by late next year. Vegas is also super cheap compared to peaks, but I really doubt that the desert areas will rise quickly at any point in the near future.

My 2c.

[kdollar]

I live in California and agree with Nick that if you are going to spend $350k I would look elsewhere because in California that doesn't buy you much.

Like you mentioned, Denver is a great place to live with affordable housing and it's a nice area as well as a hub for a couple airlines (cheaper flights).

I know your looking in the US but here is an article written at forbes on the best places in the world for real estate investments: World's Best Places For Real Estate Buys - Forbes.com

[MJ]

350k is ocean front in Florida right now.

[Skinski]

350K will buy you a nice spread on most of the mid to lower east coast.

[Hazo]

Yeah $350k is the upper limit of what I'm willing to spend. I'd rather spend around the 250k mark and do some work on it.

I've heard from a few peolpe that Phoenix and Denver are good. I've heard mixed things about Florida - some say great value, others say overpriced like Cali.

Are there any US real estate investment websites/forums you guys check out?

[Spry]

are you looking for a place to live or are you looking purely at investment property? or are you looking for a place to live that is also an investment? Are you looking to live somewhere with a lower cost of living? If you're looking for cheap real estate you can google the cities with the highest percentages of foreclosures in the us and probably find some really good deals in the coming year... Especially since your income isn't dependant on which city you live in, I imagine some serious steals to be had right now.

If you are planning on living in the US you've got a ton more questions to answer before you start earnestly looking for real estate that you're going to live in / have as investment property. You know, what do you want while you are here... what kind of atmosphere you're looking for (college scene or small town life, or big city living, or the list goes on etc..)

found a pretty good article here:

Best Places to Live 2009 - from Money Magazine

[Hazo]

Hey Spry, looking to live in the city in buy in - but will be treating it as an investment. So yeah there are a lot of things to take into consideration.

I'm big into sport and I'm also 23 so a young crowd is always good. Thanks for the article, I'm reading about the locations now.

I have to juggle finding somewhere nice to live and finding an investment that is going to have a good return a couple of years down the track.

[MJ]

Florida is hardly overpriced when you can buy a one bedroom ocean front condo in a highrise for 100k

Off the shore you can buy a 4,000 sq. ft. house for 200 or in some cases less.