Questions about RE in US

**veli** · Aug 1st, 2008, 09:18 AM

Being based in Norway I have limited knowledge about the RE markets in the US. I am however very curious about the sector, and hope someone can help me out with one or more of the questions I have

I know of zillow, trulia, loopnet, if there are any other good RE sites I should know about, please let me know.

1) Are there any foreigners here who have bought a property in the US and had the property managed by a management company?

2) Speaking of Management companies, I guess the good ones are not easy to find, but is there a particular website to be found listing management companies? And, further, does anyone have good experiences with management companies?
(Im interested in US people using Man.comp. also)

3) Regarding apartment buildings, how easy is it to say fix up a building then sell the apartments one by one? Do you need a specific permission for that? ( I guess it varies from state to state).

4) I guess this question again is dependent on the state, but what is approximately the average square feet price for a new house if you were to build something yourself?

5) Any place on the net you can find out if the are you are looking at is fair/bad/really bad/extremely bad etc?

6) Has anyone ever bought apartment buildings in rough areas, and what was the result?

A lot of questions, but I hope at least some can be answered as Im curious.

Thank you for your time

**TC2** · Aug 1st, 2008, 11:04 AM

Veil:

Good questions. I have the same wonder. I am wondering how foreigners buy properties in USA. While helping out my friend to sell her mansion, I am also looking for foreign buyers for her.

This got me thinking that how useful those top RE sites do for foreign. I realized that many house list on those sites are out dated. Some have already sold and some have already became bank owned, but still list under the agent's name.

I would love to hear your opinions on what other features you would like to see to smooth the process of your investment in USA.

**phlgirl** · Aug 1st, 2008, 11:28 AM

I am unable to answer your questions regarding apartment buildings.

I can tell you that we work very closely with a company who has been working with Austrailian investors for years. Their biggest challenge was getting the proper financing in place (in the U.S.). Once they were able to find a bank which would work with foreign partners, the process seems to be the same.

For Property Management - I think you want a company who currently manages property in the same portion of the market, in which you are thinking about investing. Not just the same city but the same neighbohood. You want a company that has been in the game a long time and has a good track record.

As for the cost per sq ft - it does entirely depend on the area and the type of property being built.