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Old 01-27-2017, 09:13 AM
 
3,678 posts, read 4,184,006 times
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My friend's nephew is from India but currently working as an expat in UAE. He wants to move to USA and supposed to get immigration through his American national brother. He is on some waiting list until around 2020-2022. He is interested in buying a house here and rent it out until he gets his green card.

He feels that if he didn't buy now, he'll have to pay a lot more for similar homes in few years. He wants to settle in Texas as his industry has more jobs here and he has family here as well. They are consulting a lawyer about legal aspects but wondering if it's a wise decision or not. He can pay cash so not worried about mortgage. What pros and cons do you see in this plan?
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Old 01-27-2017, 09:21 AM
 
Location: Plano, TX
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I wouldn't invest and buy a house here in the US if I am not even in this country. You said he could get here by 2020-2022? That's a long time before he even gets here and I am sure the whole housing market will be way much different from what it is right now, perhaps another new city may come up with lots of opportunity. I wouldn't invest period.
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Old 01-27-2017, 09:25 AM
 
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As a non US citizen, he will be allowed to purchase a house here, and seeing that he aims to purchase the house outright, he won't have to go through so much red tape in trying to obtain a mortgage loan, however, as a non US citizen or legal resident, if he sells the house, the IRS will keep a certain % of the sale price as taxable income.

as to whether he can legally rent the house, you'd have to consult a real estate lawyer.
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Old 01-27-2017, 09:54 AM
 
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My thoughts exactly, buying on peak and paying property taxes, rental income tax, property manager's cut to rent out and manage plus repairs/maintenance expenses. I'm guessing non-residents don't even get homestead exemption on property taxes? On top of that if Trump changes immigration policies then it becomes even more risky.
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Old 01-27-2017, 10:32 AM
 
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If he has that much cash to spare, he might want to invest in gold than buying real estate in the DFW market!
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Old 01-27-2017, 10:33 AM
 
Location: Plano, TX
246 posts, read 417,062 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by babs7907 View Post
If he has that much cash to spare, he might want to invest in gold than buying real estate in the DFW market!
As an Indian I am sure he already has plenty of gold investment :-)
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Old 01-27-2017, 11:38 AM
 
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I don't know about gold but it seems that cost of living is quite low in UAE and if one is frugal then it is not too difficult to save large sums of money, specially for people who get good salaries plus benefits from multinational companies.
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Old 01-27-2017, 01:43 PM
 
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If things go south, I believe having a foreclosure or bankruptcy on his record could negatively impact his ability to immigrate. Seems like there would be better investments out there.
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Old 01-27-2017, 02:40 PM
 
3,678 posts, read 4,184,006 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ishad View Post
If things go south, I believe having a foreclosure or bankruptcy on his record could negatively impact his ability to immigrate. Seems like there would be better investments out there.
Why would there be a foreclosure or bankruptcy with a paid off house? Lawsuit from the tenants or anyone who gets injured at that property for whatever reason? I guess squatters can be a challenge too.

Another issue is his targeted price point of <$250K. It is a tough market out there for that budget. If its in any decent area, one would have to make major sacrifices for a house.
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Old 01-28-2017, 08:27 AM
 
Location: Fort Worth, TX
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What will be his immigration status before he gets his green card? Does he have an immigration attorney? If he can't get an H1B or some other visa to live and work in the country then how does he plan to manage the rental house? Does he realize that he can't leave the US once he starts the citizenship process and he's highly restricted in his coming and goings once he gets his green card? Does he understand the tax implications?

We rented out our old house until we could sell it and used a management company. We were lucky to break even. We also had to evict a Dallas Cowboys player who violated his rental agreement. We never got the money he owed us and were left with big holes from the flat screens he mounted in almost every room including the nursery and master bathroom.

As someone whose Indian husband got his green card through marriage to me I consider this a poorly conceived plan.
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