Hi, has anybody bought in these areas?

Have you had any dealings with Brennan Property Investments or with Ajay Ahuja, both of whom source and oversee investments in these areas?

Thanks in advance!

Ajay Ahuja sources many properties in these areas I believe. The yields he quotes are amazing...upto 40%! I'm tempted to purchase one.

Anyone had any experiences with Ajay or heard anything negative about these kinds of investments?

Thanks

Be careful. I've only taken a quick look at the Ajay Ahuja website and I'm not impressed. I haven't looked at Buffalo, other than to discount it on basis that there is little or no industry there and that expenses would be high when compared to purchase price. There are parts of Buffalo where £10k will get you what on the face of it looks like a half decent 3 bed house. If properties you are considering fall into this bracket then think carefully about acquisition, management, repair and other costs. They will be high when expressed as percentage of purchase price and you can bet that the agent won't have factored this in when quoting the high rental yields.

If thinking about a long term play then why not go for land. You will have the appreciation without the headache.

Could you clarify what you weren't impressed by on his site? Have you had dealings with him? On the face of it his deals seem to add up financially. Maybe I'm naieve!!!

Ian,

Ajay recently had to close his own forum because of the flack he was getting from disgruntled clients.
You will find an interesting thread on him over on the Singing Pig forum. The general advice seems to be very wary of these US deals as the properties are in 'iffy' areas.

Look at HPC site. Everything in nice crisp and clear. Then look at the botched job on the Ajay site. Text is ugly, colour scheme is horrible, graphics don't always appear.

I have been checking this out, its New York..... Buffalo, Rochester and Niagara
There are a few companies offering houses claiming rental yields of 30% gross and 20% net
ajay ahuja's Americas sourcing at http://www.ahuja.co.uk/investment_opportunities1


And check http://www.cashflowandequity.com/property/index.cfm

And http://www.westernnewyorkpropertyinvestment.co.uk/


Love to hear from investors that have invested or do you have an opinion on this?
Regards Yoda

I've got a couple of tenanted buildings in W. Harlem and they're fine. They're not cheap though. Nowadays expect to pay at least 2.5 m US and a lot more for vacant possession.

You can pick stuff up for 10k-20k USD all over the place. But there is a reason they're cheap. The only people you can let them to will dive headfirst down the toilet the moment they enter the place trying to drown themselves, stick their fingers in the electrical sockets and try and electrocute themselves but nine times out of ten trip up on the door step and are disabled for life. You ain't seen nothin' yet when it comes to compensation culture. So...by the time you've paid the taxes and the insurance, it's not worth the candle. Besides no estate agent is going to manage it for you so it's pointless. And there are no jobs. And no public transport. And no amenities. That's what you get for 10-20k US these days, I'm afraid.

The yields are phoney in these areas and based on false extrapolations of what welfare might pay.

What's the difference between my West Harlem stuff and the tat peddled by Ahuja et al. ? I might get an offer of 3m US per building from Columbia one day. You'll get a fine of 3m for buying one of those 10k things for certain.

There are no free lunches....

Unless you buy my mojos.

Thanks Togo Joe

I think I will stay with the UK market

Although ive not had any dealings with Ajay Ahuja, in my opinion its pretty plain to see that he is a master conman. Hes good, ile give him that!

What he doesnt tell you is that your are taxed beyond belief in USA, garbage tax, water tax, air tax, tax on tax...etc which eats in to your net yeild like crazy. Bottom line is that for £20K you will pick up what looks to be a decent property in a complete sh1thole of an area. You'le need to to get the roof replaced that year as most of the cheap properties need a new roof due to the snow dumps they get out there. Buffalo is beside lake erie, massive snow lake effect.

youle also struggle to find a decent property manager apparently, and i doubt rents will come flowing in from boyz in the hood. I have spoken to quiet a few people out there about the market and once you get someone honest you soon realise its not so great.

Also the capital appreciation is fekin terrible out there, and has been for some time and probably still will be . Buffalo is rough!

You have to ask yourself, if he's advertising deals like that why doesn't he keep it for himself?

Well, he obviously finds it easier to make a few grand each time he sells one of these sh1t tips to his herd of loyal sheep that he has been grooming for years. I read in one thread that he is now selling his own 150 property portfolio back to the mugs that helped him finance them in the first place.....actually I almost admire him.

"nobody gives away gold mines"

More info on new york...........

8 flats are located in a 4,693 square feet property in Lockport, New York State. Xenon Real Estate Investments is offering this property at a wholesale price of $134,900. Comparables from Realtor.com suggest the property has an OMV of $176,000, a discount of 23.35%. There are 6 - one bedroom apartments and 2 - two bedroom apartments, 4 renting for $450 per month, the others renting for $475, $500, $575, and $600. In total the 8 flats will rent for $4025 per month or an outstanding $48,300 per year in rental income!!! That translates to a gross yield of 35.8%. For more pictures, financials and details visit the property listings section at www.XenonREI.com and click on 185 Pine Street.

Lockport is a suburb of Buffalo located in the Western part of New York state. Western NY is on Fortune Magazine's forecast list of Top 100 Real Estate markets. See full article at http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/re_growth_forecast/ . Historically the region has had a reputation for mild but stable capital growth. Although the region has never experienced double digit capital appreciation, pundits are anticipating a price spike with the recent influx of industry and regeneration projects in the city centres. Even if this does not materialise the high cashflow of the properties more than compensates for the moderate growth.

XenonREI knows you have more important things to worry about so they'll do all the work of managing the property and putting in new tenants if the old ones leave. All this is made possible through their in-house property management team, constructions crews, attorneys and deal finders. You literally do not have to worry about anything after purchasing the property, except how to spend the rent. They'll also recommend good surveyors and mortgage brokers if you don't already have one in mind.

I'm very excited about this company because I've bought 3 properties from them in the last 4 months and they were very professional. They also seemed particularly interested in developing a long-term relationship with their clients. I highly recommend them for anyone interested in investing in Western New York. For a full listing of their BMV properties visit www.XenonREI.com

For a start your maths is wrong, your total is incorrect.

So yoda, answer these questions -

How much are all the state taxes, garbage taxes and water taxes that YOU will liable for?

How much is insurance on a block that size?

How much does the Property manager cost, and I mean one that will actually collect the rent?

How long have you been working for Xenon real estate?

If this was such a brilliant deal, YOU would buy it.

lol, if it seems too good to be.................!

hi japester
Thanks for your input I dont work for anyone I am a full time landlord with houses in the north of England finding my profits from my rents getting lower all the time as interest rates go up
The new york market seems good but as you say after all taxes are paid, maybe not so good

Yoda

It sounded awfully like a sales pitch to me...if I have you wrong I apologise. However you may just be trying to run the idea past other folk to see their response and get advice.

If thats the case then my advice is stay away from these areas as I looked into myself and the yeilds may seem good but there are a number of traps and pitfalls to watch out for in the high yeilding properties.

A fair statement is to say that if the americans are not pouncing all over these deals there is a very good reason for it. (And it aint anything to do with a house crash...etc)

I think you're too negative japester. I'm no Ajay disciple but he does give a full breakdown of all expenses including taxes in reports on each proprty he advertises. The way I see it, if a property stacks up on paper then it's worth a go. Many people said that property in cheaper areas was 'untouchable' in the UK some 10-15 yrs ago but look at the prices now!!

Some people always look for negatives in everything. It takes optimistic spirit to make money!

I absolutely agree with you, but I think you have to be realistic too. I made money out of investing in council schemes here, and they are very high yeilding properties by todays standard. However I know that if I had to rely on someone overseas to manage them I would have been in DEEP trouble. I would have made little profit from rents and had a whole lot of headaches.

It relies on you buying in the region of 20/30 + properties in a foriegn country until you get something resembling a wage out of it, can you imagine trying to manage that from here?

It also relies on the properties being tenented...there are alot of vacant houses that way, or so ive been told. Ive also been told that, like here, there are areas were youle be lucky to get much rent on time/at all. To expand your portfolio would be limited as prices will probably not move much in the next five years in these areas IMO.

Asides all that negativity, Im sure if its a wage from property in the usa that you after, then buying a block of units in a rentable location will bring in some cash. But surely you would have to go accross and see the properties first before buying them. This begs the question why you would pay someone like Ahuja a finders fee or whatever for this? Im sure if you went accross yourself you could source some honest people and good deals for yourself. After all thats what Ahuja must have done at some point.

I could make some USA contacts, source some cheap property and pop it on a website, then charge people a fee for the service. Maybe Ahuja will make your dreams come true and hes a really honest guy, I just reckon hes in it to make money for himself period (just like me).

So sorry if im being negative, I just want to stop people from getting into something that they later regret.

You can still buy cheap property here in Scotland, get it managed and make a profit from the rent, depending on finance.

actually, I read a really good forum thread/story once on a guys experience on buying in Buffalo NY. The forum is called Somersoft, do a search and read it...very good read.