Buying property in the USA

The time for buying property in the USA is now!  With today's Australian dollar trading as high as parity (1 for 1) with the US dollar, the property bubble bursting in the USA and US banks practicing tightened lending policies, you have the opportunity of a lifetime to purchase residential property in the USA earning 20% yields. It's "the perfect storm".

Does 20% gross monthly yields sound good to you? Of course it does and it absolutely should! So good there must be a catch. When things sound too good to be true there has to be a catch. Well, of course there is a catch. The catch is that it's not as easy to take advantage of this opportunity as many people think or are led to believe. People interested in taking advantage of the strong Aussie dollar forget that you need a repository for those funds. You're not going to buy $100,000 US dollars and have that cash delivered to your door. You need a US bank account to transfer any purchased US dollars. You also need a place to collect your monthly rental income. How about building your positive credit history in the US when it comes time to borrow? This is called a FICO score and is imperative when borrowing funds becomes an objective.

People forget that buying property in the USA (or anywhere for that matter) is a business and businesses have associated risk; thus assets in Australia need to be protected from the business activities in the US. People also forget that buying cheap doesn't mean buying good value. There are properties in the USA that are selling for as cheap as $15,000 for a three bedroom townhouse. However, where is it located and is there a high probability that this property will have a steady tenant paying rent? A $15,000 purchase with no renter is not as good of an investment as a $50,000 purchase in a strong area where tenanting isn't an issue thus 20% gross yield are derived. Cheap doesn't equal value.

On that note, let me introduce you to Tandem Property USA, a brand of Tandem Uehling. We are a professional services company that offers valuable services to you, the investor, where you benefit whilst working in tandem with Greg Uehling and his team. With over five years experience providing Australian debt financing solutions to the clients of financial planners and accountants, Tandem Uehling has now developed an offering that capitalises on Greg's dual US/Australian citizenships. Greg has over 40 years of experience in the US marketplace and has over 9 years experience in the property and financing market place in Australia.

Tandem Property USA doesn't sell property in the USA, we take care of EVERYTHING required so that the Australian investor can buy an investment property in the USA, executed with precision and thought. All the nitty gritty side of things that others don't think about are covered in Tandem Property USA's service offering.

Greg was born, bred and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City.  Born in 1963, Greg went to private boarding school in Greenwich Connecticut for seven years before obtaining dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Marketing and Finance from Alfred University in 1985. From 1985-1990 Greg proceeded to work on Wall Street for Prudential-Bache Securities and Drexel Burnham Lambert. During the decade of 1990-2000 he took control of a computer network integration firm which allowed him to sharpen his skills in sales, management, execution, marketing, business development and of course business strategy. Greg and his partners successfully sold this business in 2000 and that is when he made his first trip to Australia.

When we look back in history we can see some major opportunities in which we say "if only we took advantage of that, we would be rich". Well, this is one of those investment opportunities that presents itself once in a lifetime. We need not wait until this time becomes history to realise there is a huge opportunity at our disposal. I'm speaking about the "perfect storm" going on in the US right now, where you can buy residential property at attractive prices whilst exchanging your Aussie dollars at rates so close to parity that these foreign currency transfers will be a catalyst to securing the high yields we look to achieve.

Why are properties so cheap in the USA? Let's first realise that the USA is a big place with a big population and a big economy. When things move in the USA, they tend to move big. During the early 2000s Wall Street provided the liquidity for banks to generate more debt which led to consumers leveraging their properties to take advantage of all this liquidity. This then leads to increased demand for properties, which caused these properties to increase in value. As a result, people started to leverage their properties more as the properties continued to increase in value. In turn, it perpetuated Wall Street's appetite for more debt, etc. As consumers had more liquidity to purchase, banks had the liquidity to offer the consumer, so the property market soared. It did so until it reached a point where the debt instruments (bonds) that Wall Street was selling weren't supported by the property values any longer and the system broke down. Everything went in reverse and what came out of it was consumers now had debt of 50%-100% more than the value of their home. Sort of like musical chairs where the music stopped and most were left standing without a chair, or a house for that matter. These people are what we call "upside down" on their mortgage where their mortgage is greater than the value of the property.

Don't get me wrong, we aren't buying properties that soared and then collapsed. We are actually purchasing in markets that did grow in the boom but not as much as the markets that have been totally washed out in the bust. We are capitalising on the fact that nobody can get financing in the US and that creates a huge opportunity for Aussie investors with cash.

On average, looking at the past 40 years of USA property growth, prices are back to where they should be trading, not necessarily undervalued. We can now purchase with confidence knowing that we aren't overpaying. That's to say that we aren't buying in the bubble that began in 2000. Remember, we are not buying those $15,000 "cheap" properties in areas that don't support solid yields. We buy where the market has pulled back to normal levels but where the costs of these properties are historically low.

Why are yields so high? Let's face it, banks in the USA have severely reduced lending by slamming on the brakes! When the consumer can't get a mortgage to buy a home but needs a place to live because they have a steady job and can afford the monthly repayments, demand for rentals increases. As the demand increases but the supply sits with the banks from foreclosure, rental demand strengthens and rental prices increase. There is a need for investors to purchase these properties from the banks, scrub them up to "like new" condition and put them on the rental market for all those requiring a place to live. Sounds easy? It is if you work in tandem with Tandem Uehling.

So what does Tandem Property USA offer you as part of their services? First, they identify the investment funds in Australia to confirm that the investor has funds available for the specific purpose of purchasing property in the US. If the client isn't financially ready then Tandem Uehling can provide financing of existing property for their investment purchases overseas. Second, Tandem Property USA will structure a Limited Liability Company (LLC) in the US which the investor(s) will own. It is this vehicle that will purchase the properties in the USA as well as provide the asset protection back home in Australia. Third, Tandem Property USA will set up a US bank account in the name of the LLC which will be controlled by the owner of the LLC. This will be the account where Australian dollars converted to US dollars will be deposited as well as where net monthly revenue will be deposited. Fourth, Tandem Property USA physically visits the properties which are recommend for their investors. Fifth, Tandem Property USA will liaise with the purchasing transaction between the vendor and the investor. Sixth, Tandem Property USA will manage the property portfolio for the client whilst determining whether there are better opportunities for selling and moving to properties in another location. Seventh, Tandem Property USA will continue purchasing more properties or sell properties whilst visiting the US on an ongoing basis.

This is what we are offering Australian investors. We facilitate your buying of these properties so you can benefit from this "perfect storm".  Let Tandem Property USA assist you with your next property purchase.