mrken30

I have also just bought a rental property in Ohio. I am still not sure if it was a good move. I will let you know in a few months. I spent about 6 months learning the area. Spoke to other landlords and letting agents. The are certainly a lot of very cheap properties that I would not want to own in Ohio. Buying in Ohio was certainly a different experience to buying in Oregon. POS for starters. I did also consider Michigan around Detroit, and other parts of the old Rust Belt.

As a non-US resident , I would not voluntarily want to start dealing with the IRS. Have you thought about how you will file your taxes in the US?

In the news today "97 Percent Of Property Management Companies Have Experienced Fraud"
http://rentalhousingjournal.com/arti...erienced-fraud

Rete

But only because the real estate price reflects the low income of the area and/or state, i.e. Mississippi.

mrken30

Some parts of the US are stupidly expensive. The median income where I live is around $62,670 , but rent is about $14k a year for a 2 bed apartment plus bills. A house to buy is around $400k for a SFR,

In comparison MS median income was $41,754 and you can buy a SFR for under $150k.

dale dalton

Looking at the opening post, I haven't done a good job of explaining my situation. I have a company that is going to manage the sale (the whole buying process). Plus also manage the tenants. But the reason I want to learn out how the process works, is so I can make sure they are doing everything they are supposed to.

The reason I want the house is because I think it would be a good investment in terms of rental income.

Thanks for all the help so far. It has made me think about things. And I do acknowledge that this is going to be a learning experience.

Nutmegger

Then you need to be very clear about the month-to-month outgoings. Owning a house is more expensive in the US than in the UK (for a start, the weather extremes take a toll) -- and a house occupied by tenants is prone to deteriorate more rapidly than one occupied by a doting owner!

mrken30

Are you sure you want the same realtor working for the buyer and the seller? You may want to use a different realtor as the buyer, who works in your best interest. Real estate transactions in the US are quite different to the UK. For one the seller gets to pay all the commission in most States.

Cook_County

I'd be really interested too in knowing of a company that can advise me of US income on rental and capital gains on sale, deal with the ITIN & ITIN renewals; advise on US estate tax and UK income tax & CGT & IHT & buy and manage the property for me. Which company is it?

Nutmegger

mrken30

This would be a useful company to know about. As for non-resident alien taxes, this may give some idea. It looks like it may just be a flat 30% tax on income. CGT is another matter. Is it possible for non-resident alien to do a 10/31 exchange?

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...esident-aliens

Noorah101

Are you really going to make that much of a profit to make all this headache worthwhile?

Rene

dale dalton

I do think it will be a big headache. But I also think it will be a big learning experience.

I am not going to anything until I have researched it fully (even if it means missing out on the property and waiting for another one, which is probably what will happen).
I was hoping that there might be an online guide. But I think I might have to piece one together from all the info that is available.
Still this thread, has been very useful. I had considered the cost of taxes, but not how to pay them, so that will be one of many areas to research.

mrken30

There are areas in the UK that get just as good returns as in Ohio. One place I have in the UK, paid £80k, 4 years ago and get around £15k a year in rent. Plus I don't have to pay property tax and insurance is much cheaper. I think you could still buy for just a little bit over that price. I would not have property in 2 tax jurisdictions out of choice.

spouse of scouse

Is the property a house of multiple occupation? That's a very unusually high ROI!!

mrken30

Yes, 3 flats and a shop sold freehold as a single property. However appreciation in the area is not great, very similar to Ohio. Prices do not move much in either direction.

In comparison, a property I have near Heathrow would sell for about £200k and brings in around £8.5k a year. However the house price has almost doubled over past 5 or 6 years.

Agreed Ohio looks tempting, here are the numbers from one recent listing.

• Asking price $39,900
• Duplex
• Each unit has 2 beds & 1 bath
• Up is rented for $495/mo
• Down is rented for $495/mo
• Total rent $990/mo
• Annual taxes $681
• Year built 1910

vespucci

One wonders why the tenants don't buy it and not have to worry about a landlord. In just 10 years they pay the price of 3 houses.