Today, I am going to give you a bit of perspective. Those wanting to invest or currently investing in the United States don't know how good you have it. There should be minimal hesitation when investing here and here is why...
I started working as an agent in Carmel-Monterey CA which allowed me to go back to Israel and continue as a broker and franchisee at the most successful Remax for 8 years. The goal was to help people from all around the world to invest successfully in the US market.
The American Real Estate market holds a lot of great advantages compared to anywhere else in the world, making it easier for both sellers and buyers to make transactions smoother and less risky than most other world markets.
1. THERE IS A SYSTEM IN PLACE!
The processes and procedures orchestrating the Real Estate system are there to guide and protect you. Not to say that it’s completely fraud-less but compared to other places it is much safer and protected by the federal government. All of your rights and responsibilities are laid out before you so unless you want to commit a crime, you don't.
2. LICENSES & REGULATIONS
All brokers and agents must be licensed and regulated. On top of that, continuing education and ethics classes are considered part of the job. Additionally, all of the agents are members of the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) which means that all of the properties are listed in the same system that is transparent to all of the agents in the area. In order to take part in the MLS the agents have to pay membership dues and follow very specific instructions and guidelines. Agents have to post the listed properties with all data known to them and update the status of the property and the asking and closing price periodically.
In order to close the deal, the signed contract would be examined by a title company. The title companies are all licensed, bonded and insured, they employ attorneys in their offices.
3. TAX BENEFITS
Another HUGE advantage is that the US government grants several tax benefits when buying and holding a property for long term residual income strategy. All these benefits are deducted from your business and personal income gain tax which is wonderful! That reason alone is worth buying an investment property.
When the market is appreciating you can enjoy a growing equity, it’s like money growing on the trees…A lot of people are not aware of the fact that they can generate wealth while they are asleep. But even when the market is falling for some reason it’s still great because you could get bargain deals from foreclosures and wait for the upturn. Of course you need to be patient but always remember that real estate is not “get rich overnight” kind of a deal.
4. THE BANK WANTS YOU
Another great thing is the fact that banks and other financing institutions are dying to give you their money to invest in real estate, that’s a relatively easy leverage, we call this OPM (Other People’s Money). We use other people’s money to make more money for yourself.
Using the “buy and Hold” strategy is not only a great way to generate residual income but also taking advantage of the fact that the tenant is actually paying your mortgage and other property related expenses like property taxes, insurance, HOA, property management and more...What else could you ask for?
5. STABILITY
The American real estate is well known for being stable and less volatile and much more stable than any other type of investment, this allows investors a peace of mind, since they don’t have to be busy watching the investment they own like some people do in the shady stock market.
Having said that, in order to utilize all of these advantages one has to establish trust with prospective clients in order to close as many as possible transactions. Luckily I chose the right industry and career for myself to pursue that makes me so excited, happy and purposeful and enabled me to keep serving thousands of people throughout all these years in the business.
Finding good deals over and over again both for my clients and myself in market ups and downs hasn’t been very easy, but regardless of the challenges I’m very proud to be so creative and resourceful always conscious about providing an added value for my clients!
The best compliment for me is when a client is coming back repeatedly asking for a new deal or a new client coming from a referral, these mean a lot to me.