How Can I Invest In US Houses

[Park]

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/ ... ng-houses/

"But no less than Warren Buffett recently said in a CNBC interview that he would like to “load up” on a couple of hundred thousand single-family homes because it is a “very attractive asset class now.”

Buffett said what held him back was that the business of being a landlord, of managing the homes, was “enormous.”"

Right now, American houses look like they're worth considering as an investment. How can a Canadian investor, who is looking for a passive investment, invest in American houses? Another related question is how can I short Vancouver houses ?

[apater]

Assuming one wants to remain an investor, and not take on the enormous second career of being a landlord, one would hope to find a US based REIT that purchased thousands of individual homes and took on the landlord responsibilities.

Otherwise, one could hire an experienced property management firm to perform landlord duties.

[patriot1]

one would hope to find a US based REIT that purchased thousands of individual homes and took on the landlord responsibilities.

You won't, for essentially the reason Buffett gave. Management and accounting overhead would be way too high. Renting out individual houses is essentially a Mom and Pop business using unpaid (and untaxed) labour, both in Canada and the US.

Another issue with US REITs in a taxable account is that return of capital distributions would be treated as income by CRA.

There is a thread on RE investing in Phoenix not too far down this forum, it has some very good information from one of our members.