Need Help on Real Estate in the USA

[montreal_monk01]

To our US Gents,

I'm planning to take advantage of the drop in prices on homes in the US
and would like to buy couple of houses at very low cost in order to sell them later on at better price. My questions:

(1)Any websites you would recommend...like best web sites for real estate bargains..etc

(2)Can I, as a non US citizen buy a house in the US?
Of course, I'm aware that I would not be able to stay in that house, but could sell it later on / or rent it in the meantime.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[HigherLover]

Why buy now????

We ain`t seen the "fond du baril" yet... IMHO, Hold on a bit....boy it is gonna be ugly... You will purchase for "pennies".... Coming very soon....

 

[montreal_monk01]

We ain`t seen the "fond du baril" yet... IMHO, Hold on a bit....boy it is gonna be ugly... You will purchase for "pennies".... Coming very soon....

HL,
That's what I am also anticipating.
In the meantime, I was searching for good resources (web sites..etc) where I can start monitoring the fall of prices of USA's real estate. But true, prices will continue to decline. I wil also have to carefully make good analysis of places where I will buy (their potential to be long term interesting places in terms of demographic development..etc)

 

[ck_nj]

MM,

To help out a bit (I'm a US citizen myself), there are a couple of national MLS (multple listing service) websites:
http://www.realtor.com
http://www.mls.com
For upstate NY, there is http://www.upstatenymls.com/.

However, for a quick Google search for the state you are looking to buy, type the State name and MLS to the search. So for NY on example, type "NY MLS." In my opinion, it's best to look at a state MLS website than a national one.

Your best bet is to browse some of the MLS websites, then contact a licensed mortgage banker AND real estate agent in the area you are looking to buy, and see what the laws are pertaining to non-US citizens.

BTW I'm not in the real estate industry myself, but I have been through the headache of buying a house.

 

[montreal_monk01]

Ck_nj, HL,
Thanks so much for the infos.