Quote:
Originally Posted by spazzyfry123
Why overseas? Stricter regulations or more lax? Does the $ go further in acquiring property? How do income and other taxes work? Is labor potentially cheaper for a management company? Multi family or single homes? Did you buy personally, set up a company, finance the properties? Short term (Air BnB, VRBO, etc) or long term renters?
Rapid fire, I know, but that is an intriguing idea. I’d be interested to see how the business plan is and why you choose international.
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Whew - lot to take in here. At work, so minimal time for answers.
Why overseas? cheaper property, less governmental regulation. I am frequently in that country and wife is from there.
Stricter regulations or more lax? Far less regulation for pretty much everything. While some areas - such as renting regulations for tenants are stronger there than in the USA, you can avoid many of them if you deal with the informal sector.
Does the $ go further in acquiring property? Yes. All three properties are 1500sf (roughly) penthouses in large highrise condos on a beach in one of the most lux areas of the country (think Malibu or Miami). I paid less than $100K for each of them.
How do income and other taxes work? It's complicated, but I am a CPA, so I have more knowledge than most. The bulk of the net income is retained in that country, so I am able to avoid some tax liability here in the USA, but not all.
Is labor potentially cheaper for a management company? Labor is super cheap. House cleaning runs about $0.50 an hour. I use a management company. They take about 15%, but that includes housekeeping, basic maintenance, security, and more.
Multi family or single homes? Multifamily high rise condos on the beach.
Did you buy personally, set up a company, finance the properties? We don't believe in debt, so all properties have been paid for with cash. They are run as Pty. Ltd. corporations in the foreign country - like an LLC here in the USA.
Short term (Air BnB, VRBO, etc) or long term renters? I run them all as short term rentals to avoid tenant laws in the host country, which are extremely stringent. We use Air BNB, but for the most part, it doesn't work that well there, so we use the local version of a vacation rental site. We also have a website run through the PMC. Occasionally we will have a longer term renter, like 30-60 days, but that's about it. They are occupied about 70-80% of the year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chassis
@run silent
How often do you personally lay eyes on the structures (not via webcam)? Do you pay a local management company/individual/family member in country for this service?
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Yes - we have a local PMC that handles most everything. They take 15%. Typically, we visit them once a year - although with Covid - we didn't go this year as the country has had a travel ban since March.