Another question about Investing in US RE

[the-royal-mail]

Not a problem, as we'd only use the property for a few months each winter. Besides, you can't sit on the back deck of your REIT in February and sip margaritas!

Seems you have already made up your mind?

You don't need to buy and manage property if you just want a place to drink margaritas in February. You can accomplish the same thing in a rental, B&B or hotel suit yourself.

Besides, if you want to go there for a few months a year what are you going to do, kick out the tenants every 6 months? Good luck with that.

I'm not a huge fan of swiss cheese.

[crazyjackcsa]

Gotta agree with TRM, the whole plan is half baked. Perhaps a time share is the way to go?

You can always take the money you make from the REIT to rent that back porch. I'm even a person that believes that the U.S. dollar is bound to rise against the loonie over the next few years and I still think it's a terrible idea.

[Square Root]

i would not buy US real estate to rent out. The tax issues are very complicated and having one place would simply not be worth it. We have personal use RE in Arizona but don't rent it out. Owned by cross border trust to get around some of the estate tax issues. This really isn't for hobbyists.

[marina628]

I agree with you Square Root and have investigated this for myself.We thought about renting a place out but have decided to wait for few years until we can use it ourselves.Not worth it to buy for 2 months a year.

[kcowan]

We made the same decision in 2007 when we purchased in Mexico. We have been snowbirds since and never rent it out. But all the speculators are hurting big time.