Administration & US property

To be honest, I did not place enough importance on the administration aspects of purchasing a US property prior to actually heading to the US to purchase property. My definition of administration here includes;

* Finding an attorney (solicitor)
* Finding a CPA or certified accountant
* Establishing a US based Limited Liability Company (LLC)
* Applying for an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
* Applying for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
* Setting up a US based bank account for both personal use & your LLC
* Organising a physical US mail address with international mail-forwarding service
* If necessary, organising for a US phone number to make and receive calls outside the US.

Pay more money.
If you are a foreign investor purchasing US real-estate, do not underestimate the time, stress & cost of your initial administration fees. Firstly, I’d like to briefly touch on the cost side of things. Many online “instant” services will offer to establish most of the above administration costs online for one low price. I think it is important for a new investor to steer clear of this type of thinking. Indeed, once I went to the US and met with an actual attorney & accountant I knew that I would prefer to spend more for quality (ongoing) service as opposed to a once-off set up fee, and thus a once-off service. My initial budget to set up all of the admin costs as stated below was approximately $1,500 utilising many, if not all, of these services from online sources. My total costs ended up coming in at just over $3,000; and with this I feel a lot more confident in my company setup & the team I now have working for me on an ongoing basis. Pay more money for ongoing quality service & advice.

Finding the right team.
I’m sorry but there is really no easy answer on this subject. There are a myriad of attorneys, accountants, property managers, realtors etc. out there. Speak with other investors, listen to word-of-mouth reviews. This is the best way to find your team, a good team. I would be happy to share the attorney, accountant and realtor that I now use in Texas, please message me if you would like these.  If you or you know someone who has an attorney in Atlanta, please also message me as I have an acquaintance who is looking in that area. I love the slogan ‘sharing is caring’ and I feel it is essential here.  If you’re a foreign investor and you have contacts, let’s help each other out.  If you’re looking for these contacts, speak with as many people as you can (even online forums and blogs) and ask for their advice and recommendations.  Of course, YOU make the final decision anyway, so their should be no danger in asking complete strangers online.  When you begin your initial contact, come prepared with as many questions as you can think of. Usually, your initial consultation is free, so make good use of this time.  Make sure that your attorney or realtor knows that you are a foreign investor and ask how best you can communicate with them – be it a phone call once a month, on skype, facetime or email.  All of my contact is via email although I do have a US phone number (more on this later) should I need to reach/be reached by members of my team urgently. As I’ve said, there is no easy solution for finding the right team on the ground, trust your instinct.

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Next post (tomorrow): 1. Setting up an LLC & 2. Setting up your EIN & ITIN.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert. In fact, I do not currently own or have investments in any US property. This blog is a way for me to share my experiences and lessons I’ve learnt as they happen. So keep following, my goal in the next six months is to own two US properties…

Quick update!

I’m currently sitting in a lovely cafe out the front of my hotel enjoying a great breakfast with an unimaginably terrible, terrible latte – that’s the USA and coffee though!

I’ve been very busy the past couple of weeks whilst I’ve been over here and I can’t wait to share with you what
I’ve learnt.

When I return I’ll rewriting articles on…

> Finding the right attorney to set up an LLC
> LLC structure and maintenance (I.e. A good accountant)
> How to set up an EIN
> How to set up an ITIN (painstainlly awful)
> How to get a US physical mailing address
> Setting up a US bank account
> Realtors – how to find a good one
> How to get out and see houses and the suburbs
> A suggested two-week timeline of what you need to do while you are here
> How best to transfer large foreign currency payments
> Access to finance – still in the process of working it all out

Thanks for your patience and I will update again soon!

All the best,
Anthony