Income property, mortgage vs cash purchase

[scaredyclassic]

nothing is safe.

[CA renter]

^^^what scaredy said…^^^

[CA renter]

^^^what scaredy said…^^^

[CA renter]

^^^what scaredy said…^^^

[CA renter]

^^^what scaredy said…^^^

[CA renter]

^^^what scaredy said…^^^

[34f3f3f]

South Africa is one of my favorite countries. I was in a similar situation to you, and even had rands before moving here. You are doing the right thing by renting for a year, but I’m not sure buying a multi-family unit just because it offers more than current savings rates makes sense. You will find better cap rates (returns) in other parts of the country. Try loopnet.com for an idea of rates and prices. If you have cash in an account makes sure it’s FDIC insured and below $250k per account holder. Try bankrate.com for best rates on CDs and savings accounts. Depending on your risk tolerance, you may want to go slow with other types of investments until you have found your feet and acclimatised, unless you need the income of course. But that’s just the way I’d go.

[34f3f3f]

South Africa is one of my favorite countries. I was in a similar situation to you, and even had rands before moving here. You are doing the right thing by renting for a year, but I’m not sure buying a multi-family unit just because it offers more than current savings rates makes sense. You will find better cap rates (returns) in other parts of the country. Try loopnet.com for an idea of rates and prices. If you have cash in an account makes sure it’s FDIC insured and below $250k per account holder. Try bankrate.com for best rates on CDs and savings accounts. Depending on your risk tolerance, you may want to go slow with other types of investments until you have found your feet and acclimatised, unless you need the income of course. But that’s just the way I’d go.

[34f3f3f]

South Africa is one of my favorite countries. I was in a similar situation to you, and even had rands before moving here. You are doing the right thing by renting for a year, but I’m not sure buying a multi-family unit just because it offers more than current savings rates makes sense. You will find better cap rates (returns) in other parts of the country. Try loopnet.com for an idea of rates and prices. If you have cash in an account makes sure it’s FDIC insured and below $250k per account holder. Try bankrate.com for best rates on CDs and savings accounts. Depending on your risk tolerance, you may want to go slow with other types of investments until you have found your feet and acclimatised, unless you need the income of course. But that’s just the way I’d go.

[34f3f3f]

South Africa is one of my favorite countries. I was in a similar situation to you, and even had rands before moving here. You are doing the right thing by renting for a year, but I’m not sure buying a multi-family unit just because it offers more than current savings rates makes sense. You will find better cap rates (returns) in other parts of the country. Try loopnet.com for an idea of rates and prices. If you have cash in an account makes sure it’s FDIC insured and below $250k per account holder. Try bankrate.com for best rates on CDs and savings accounts. Depending on your risk tolerance, you may want to go slow with other types of investments until you have found your feet and acclimatised, unless you need the income of course. But that’s just the way I’d go.

[34f3f3f]

South Africa is one of my favorite countries. I was in a similar situation to you, and even had rands before moving here. You are doing the right thing by renting for a year, but I’m not sure buying a multi-family unit just because it offers more than current savings rates makes sense. You will find better cap rates (returns) in other parts of the country. Try loopnet.com for an idea of rates and prices. If you have cash in an account makes sure it’s FDIC insured and below $250k per account holder. Try bankrate.com for best rates on CDs and savings accounts. Depending on your risk tolerance, you may want to go slow with other types of investments until you have found your feet and acclimatised, unless you need the income of course. But that’s just the way I’d go.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Since the rand has seen a run-up of about 35% in the past year, relative to the dollar, I think it makes sense to move some funds into dollar-denominated assets as a hedge while you are in the US. I also read somewhere that the South Africa Real estate market was among the strongest in the world in 2009. SO, partly diversifying out of rand-denominated assets into dollars would seem prudent if you are planning to be in the US for a number of years.

Where you put that depends on your tiume horizon. If you are going to be in the US temporarily (e.g. 5 years or less) I would avoid buying property, unless it represents less than 25% or so of your net worth.

I would also avoid buying investment property anywhere unless you have lived in the area for a time and understand the subtleties of the neighborhoods in which you invest.

As for REITs. They have had a nice run over the past year. Dividend payouts are still above other investments, but I would not jump all-in on REITs at this point. Look for pull-backs and buy into them with small increments. I’ve held a couple REITs throughout the past decade (notably, Realty Income : O), and I have been happy with using that as a tool for balancing my portfolio and boosting my overall yield. Recently, I started tip-toeing back in using REZ (ETF for residential real estate) thinking that at some point the rental market will pick up with the economy (people that have moved back home or doubled up will find their own apt when they get back to work).

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Since the rand has seen a run-up of about 35% in the past year, relative to the dollar, I think it makes sense to move some funds into dollar-denominated assets as a hedge while you are in the US. I also read somewhere that the South Africa Real estate market was among the strongest in the world in 2009. SO, partly diversifying out of rand-denominated assets into dollars would seem prudent if you are planning to be in the US for a number of years.

Where you put that depends on your tiume horizon. If you are going to be in the US temporarily (e.g. 5 years or less) I would avoid buying property, unless it represents less than 25% or so of your net worth.

I would also avoid buying investment property anywhere unless you have lived in the area for a time and understand the subtleties of the neighborhoods in which you invest.

As for REITs. They have had a nice run over the past year. Dividend payouts are still above other investments, but I would not jump all-in on REITs at this point. Look for pull-backs and buy into them with small increments. I’ve held a couple REITs throughout the past decade (notably, Realty Income : O), and I have been happy with using that as a tool for balancing my portfolio and boosting my overall yield. Recently, I started tip-toeing back in using REZ (ETF for residential real estate) thinking that at some point the rental market will pick up with the economy (people that have moved back home or doubled up will find their own apt when they get back to work).

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Since the rand has seen a run-up of about 35% in the past year, relative to the dollar, I think it makes sense to move some funds into dollar-denominated assets as a hedge while you are in the US. I also read somewhere that the South Africa Real estate market was among the strongest in the world in 2009. SO, partly diversifying out of rand-denominated assets into dollars would seem prudent if you are planning to be in the US for a number of years.

Where you put that depends on your tiume horizon. If you are going to be in the US temporarily (e.g. 5 years or less) I would avoid buying property, unless it represents less than 25% or so of your net worth.

I would also avoid buying investment property anywhere unless you have lived in the area for a time and understand the subtleties of the neighborhoods in which you invest.

As for REITs. They have had a nice run over the past year. Dividend payouts are still above other investments, but I would not jump all-in on REITs at this point. Look for pull-backs and buy into them with small increments. I’ve held a couple REITs throughout the past decade (notably, Realty Income : O), and I have been happy with using that as a tool for balancing my portfolio and boosting my overall yield. Recently, I started tip-toeing back in using REZ (ETF for residential real estate) thinking that at some point the rental market will pick up with the economy (people that have moved back home or doubled up will find their own apt when they get back to work).

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Since the rand has seen a run-up of about 35% in the past year, relative to the dollar, I think it makes sense to move some funds into dollar-denominated assets as a hedge while you are in the US. I also read somewhere that the South Africa Real estate market was among the strongest in the world in 2009. SO, partly diversifying out of rand-denominated assets into dollars would seem prudent if you are planning to be in the US for a number of years.

Where you put that depends on your tiume horizon. If you are going to be in the US temporarily (e.g. 5 years or less) I would avoid buying property, unless it represents less than 25% or so of your net worth.

I would also avoid buying investment property anywhere unless you have lived in the area for a time and understand the subtleties of the neighborhoods in which you invest.

As for REITs. They have had a nice run over the past year. Dividend payouts are still above other investments, but I would not jump all-in on REITs at this point. Look for pull-backs and buy into them with small increments. I’ve held a couple REITs throughout the past decade (notably, Realty Income : O), and I have been happy with using that as a tool for balancing my portfolio and boosting my overall yield. Recently, I started tip-toeing back in using REZ (ETF for residential real estate) thinking that at some point the rental market will pick up with the economy (people that have moved back home or doubled up will find their own apt when they get back to work).

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