In this episode of The Same Day Podcast, Yoni Schmidt welcomes Yuval Golan, Founder and CEO of Waltz, for a conversation about simplifying international real estate investing. Yuval discusses the barriers foreign investors often face and explains how technology is helping create a more seamless experience when purchasing property in the United States.
Breaking Down the Barriers of International Real Estate Investing With Yuval Golan
As CEO of Waltz, Yuval leads a company dedicated to making US real estate investing more accessible for foreign buyers. By integrating financing, purchasing, and property management support into a digital platform, Waltz helps investors move through the process with greater efficiency and transparency.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [03:24] How Yuval Golan’s global journey led him to reshape real estate investing
- [08:39] The biggest barriers foreign investors face in the US market
- [14:01] How technology is simplifying cross-border real estate financing
- [16:41] Common mistakes to avoid when structuring your first investment deal
- [23:21] How digital tools and AI are shaping the future of real estate investing
- [24:54] Three essential steps for first-time international US real estate investors
In this episode…
Many investors assume finding the right property is the hardest part of investing internationally. Yuval argues that the larger challenge often lies within the systems supporting the transaction itself. Establishing banking relationships, understanding local regulations, and managing paperwork across borders can quickly become complicated.
His advice is to build a strong foundation before investing by working with knowledgeable local partners and organizing critical financial structures in advance. For those exploring opportunities in Northwest Arkansas, preparation can significantly improve the investment experience.
With Northwest Arkansas experiencing rapid economic growth and continued population expansion, the market is attracting attention from investors both domestically and abroad. Yet for many international buyers, navigating financing, compliance requirements, and local market practices can feel overwhelming. Yuval shares strategies for overcoming these challenges and reducing unnecessary delays.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Yonatan Schmidt on LinkedIn
- Mat Zalk on LinkedIn
- Keyrenter Property Management
- Keyrenter Property Management in Tulsa | Oklahoma City | Arkansas
- Keyrenter Property Management email address: [email protected]
- Yuval Golan on LinkedIn
- Waltz
- “Transforming Property Management Through Technology and Partnerships” with Ben Nemecek on The Same Day Podcast
- “Revitalizing Communities Through Multi-Concept Restaurant Development” with Elliot Nelson on The Same Day Podcast
Quotable Moments
- “Every single time I started from zero, they couldn’t care about my credit from one country to the other.”
- “We believe that the US, as the largest market, is always affecting other economies.”
- “Investing in America means I protect my wealth and invest in America in US real estate.”
- “We understand you don’t live in the US; we understand you might not have a visa.”
- “The most valuable asset in my life is time. I can’t deal with this shit.”
Action Steps
- Set up your investment structure early: Establishing the right entity and bank account upfront prevents delays in financing, insurance, and closing processes.
- Organize your financial documents in advance: Having clear records of income and funds builds trust with lenders and speeds up deal approvals.
- Work with experienced local partners: A reliable property manager and team on the ground help navigate risks and handle unexpected issues effectively.
- Plan for timelines and hidden delays: Understanding that processes like lending and HOA approvals take time avoids costly last-minute complications.
- Leverage technology to streamline investing: Using digital platforms reduces friction, saves time, and simplifies complex cross-border real estate transactions.
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management.
Keyrenter Property Management is a full-service property management company that helps clients buy, renovate, and operate real estate assets.
The team helps clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management.
That’s why, no matter what rental you have — single-family homes, condos, townhomes, or apartments — they can give you the management solutions you need.
To learn more about their services, go to https://keyrenterpmc.com/ or send them an email at [email protected].
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Episode Transcript
Intro 00:04
Welcome to The Same Day Podcast, where we discuss driving incremental business growth and other topics related to real estate, property management, and entrepreneurship. Now to the show at hand.
Yonatan Schmidt 00:20
Hi there, Yoni Schmidt here hosting today’s episode of The Same Day Podcast, where I connect with top real estate investors, entrepreneurs, and the likes of former guests include Chris Lile from State Farm, Ben Nemecek from Blanket Homes, Elliot Nelson from the McNellie’s Group. Today’s episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management. At Keyrenter Property Management, we are a full service property management company helping our clients buy, renovate and operate real estate assets. That is why no matter what rentals you have single family homes, condos, townhouses, apartments. We have the management solutions for you. Go to keyrenterpmc.com or email us at [email protected] for more details.
Today, I’m excited to welcome Yuval Golan, Co-founder and CEO of Waltz, a company on a mission to simplify real estate investing in the United States for global investors. Yuval has built his career on the interest at the intersection of technology, finance, and global markets. And through Waltz, he’s helping international investors overcome the complexities that traditionally come with investing in US markets.
Things like banking, financing, compliance, insurance, tax considerations, and currency management. Waltz is creating an infrastructure that allows investors from around the world to seamlessly purchase and manage US properties, opening the door for more capital to flow into America. American real estate markets. Today, we’re going to talk about cross-border investing, where global money is flowing, what investors need to know before buying property in the US, and how technology is reshaping the way international investors access real estate opportunities. Yuval, thank you for being here And welcome to the show.
Yuval Golan 02:02
Thank you, thank you. It’s a very long intro. You’re not the only. And since you said you interviewed only top people. I guess I’m someone at the bottom, so I don’t want to disappoint.
So let’s go from bottom to top instead. Top to bottom. So I won’t.
Yonatan Schmidt 02:16
You know, people misunderstand. You know, when you say the, the bottom of the totem pole, that’s actually the highest ranking position because all of the weight is on you. So, you know, the bottom of the totem pole is actually, if you, if you research it, you’ll see that’s the highest position. And I think, I think you’re right there with the rest of the people that we’ve interviewed.
Yuval Golan 02:38
So I don’t know, I think when you put the trash in, there’s some liquid ice. I’m somewhere there with the Ninja Turtles.
Yonatan Schmidt 02:45
I don’t think so. You were introduced to me by, you know, one of my favorite people, a real mensch, let’s say Ben Nemecek from Blanket Homes. My boss. Yeah, he’s a great guy. I, you know, he said a lot of great things about you.
And he told me a little bit about, you know, what you’ve done and what you’re building, what you’ve built, how you operate. And I think our listeners deserve to hear, you know, a little bit about it, too. So let’s talk about, you know, the origin story and Walt’s, you know, what inspired you to start Walt’s? What problem did you see in the market that needed to be, you know, solved?
Yuval Golan 03:24
I can quote my mom and I can tell you it was a very disturbed kid. I was doing a lot of trouble because I wanted to solve a lot of things. And it started off with one time when I was six, my mom told me no more allowance. I was like, what do you mean? I want to buy stuff?
And she told me, go get a job. So I took it literally and I tried to find a job. So I went to deliver flowers and sell my old toys and all that kind of stuff. And then that kind of turned me into how to find a solution into some problems or things and challenges I’m starting with. So the real story started is, as you know, most of us Israelis are kind of starting at the military.
So I served in the Israeli Air Force for a few years, responsible for some cross-border cooperations, and it was opened up to the multi-disciplinary world how things move. Because, you know, when we’re kids, we’re focused. I want to get my toys, I want to play, you know, soccer or football. I want to play baseball. I want to go swimming.
I want to take all my kids. But this taught me on how the world functions and how different things move, other things and kind of the butterfly effect. So I left Israel in 2006 to Italy, which was pretty awesome. And I picked up Italian because no one, no man in Italy speaks English to a male. If I was a Swedish blonde person, they’re all English professors, but to me no one will speak, you know English.
So I survived in Italian. Then after that started school and after my work in the in the embassy over there. I moved to the Netherlands. Everyone speaks English, but everyone’s taller than I am. Even when they’re 14.
So I survived Netherlands in 2009. Peak of the financial crisis. My older brother got married in China and that was the boom in the large growth. You know, of a new empire. The new.
And I was reading the books about a TV series about. And I was shocked and I said, okay, this is where I moved. So I went back to Europe, which, you know, in oh nine was collapsing after learning a couple of languages, did a couple of projects in Finland, and then moved myself to the south of China, picked up Mandarin in two months because I had no choice and built my first business, stayed there for about nine years, and then China in the end of 19, early end of 19, and decided to leave after the company was working well and successful. And then in early 20, I heard something’s happening. And that led to me leaving China.
And then I realized pretty quickly after being such, you know, a gypsy in a few countries, every single time I started from zero, they couldn’t care about my credit from one country to the other, which accounts you had every single time you had to beg to open a bank account, you got to beg to get a mortgage, you got to beg to find a rental. And then China was shutting down. I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait. The largest exporter of everything in the world was shutting down. I remember now a lesson in macroeconomics that I didn’t listen to, and probably I was sleeping during that said the following.
In the world of equilibrium, when sellers and buyers agree on pricing, which never happens. Then there was an equilibrium. But what happens when goods are expensive? And if China is shutting down, this means there’s no logistics, no construction workers, no construction materials. And I was like, Holy shit, we’re going to have shortage of real estate.
And if there’s shortage of real estate, which is the total opposite of oh nine. This means inflation. And in the same sleepy course I took. When inflation happens, that means the government has to introduce interest rate hikes. So I said I got to buy a lot of real estate before everyone wakes up and realize what’s going on, because interest rate is very cheap, so money is free.
And I got to fly over the world and buy real estate. And then that was very difficult. And also getting flights and closing deals and lots of failures, of course. And that led me to the beautiful intro you started. And this is the brief.
Yonatan Schmidt 07:37
Yeah. And today, I guess you’re kind of like on the line between Miami and Israel and is based in Miami. Is it based in Israel?
Yuval Golan 07:48
So we are a global company. We’re very proud of that. We speak about 1012 languages. We have people from all the communities from, you know, us, Israel, Ukraine, a bunch of European countries, refugees, LGBTQ were super inclusive, more women than men. So we’re a super, super beautiful company with full of cultures and we have no identity.
The identity is global, international inclusiveness. And everyone can move the needle because all of us suffer from these problems.
Yonatan Schmidt 08:25
Let’s talk about, you know, those problems, like what are those biggest barriers that you identified for foreign investors, you know, to, you know, traditionally traditionally face when they’re trying to buy property in the United States.
Yuval Golan 08:39
Excellent. So as part of that journey, I was like, I want to buy in after I failed in three countries in the most global city in the world of New York. Now imagine New York closing, which I’m sure you heard about.
Yonatan Schmidt 08:51
Yeah.
Yuval Golan 08:52
Plus, add to that Covid and no flights and no visas and annoying financial institutions that don’t recognize your foreign credit. We organized a group of friends. We bought about 80 condos. Peak of Covid and that took us individually eight months to close, which was a disaster. I was like, this is the financial center.
So it started with, I’m the client of HSBC in Hong Kong and I’m the client of HSBC, US. For a normal person, commoner like me, I would be like, same bank, right? They communicate. But guess what? No, there’s a Chinese wall.
You know, Hong Kong literally. Yeah. Hong Kong, HSBC and us, HSBC don’t communicate. So even if I give them a CPA letter from Hong Kong about my income, that’s not the right, you know, text for the US CPA or the bank mortgage department. And then at that time, differences and all these things, and they required me to have a US visa, but my US visa expired.
And what would you do if the visa expired? We tell them, hey guys, there’s Covid, there’s no consulates. There’s a backlog of like months. How do you close? They would.
Yonatan Schmidt 10:00
Care.
Yuval Golan 10:01
And then you want to bring money to the US after your origin bank cleared it. But for the US bank account for them, your might be a drug dealer or a longer. It’s like guys, this is money I made and was sitting with you. And then add to that you know visa to the US about buying an investment property. Isn’t it riskier if I have a visa to the US?
You want me not to live in the property. So all these complexities and then you go to the website or State Farm, try to buy insurance. They don’t have an SSN functionality. So and I was saying so many things to so many people and I was like, why am I, why is this this not working? Or at the time when I was closing, I was in Thailand and they said, you have to change your title.
And I was like, you mean I have to change my title? I mean, I like being a male. What’s happening? Yeah, and it’s $30,000. What did they.
Yonatan Schmidt 10:56
What did they mean by that?
Yuval Golan 10:59
The ownership of the property. So as a dumb foreigner. Yeah, yeah. As a dumb foreigner that didn’t understand that context at the time was in Thailand. I understood different things.
Yeah.
Yonatan Schmidt 11:10
Interesting. It’s definitely interesting how, you know, you could perceive things and misinterpret things. Let’s talk a little bit about global capital and US real estate. You know, from your perspective, why is it that US real estate is so attractive to international investors now in the past? And, you know, also looking forward into the future.
Yuval Golan 11:32
Sounds good. So sorry for my sarcasm. That will be serious. So the US economy, the US economy and the USD is the biggest and largest, most dominant and open market economy. So think about it.
For people like myself from Israel or people from Brazil, or people from Colombia, or people from any other country that might have geopolitical issues. And then we’ll discuss about stable markets as well. We believe that the US as the largest market is always affecting other economies. For example, when zero nine happened, that was a landslide for the entire world. But when the world is stable, the US, the USD is a stable, you know, currency that everyone wants to have a part of.
So, one, investing in America is stability. Investing in America means, you know, prosperity. Investing in America means I protect my wealth and invest in America in US real estate. That the. The initial entry ticket in certain areas is much cheaper than my home country.
Let’s say buying in Tel Aviv is at least three four, 500 K down payment in the US for 500 K down payment, you can probably buy the penny where 5 to 8 properties that you can gain 8 to 10% growth yield on an annual basis. You can get leverage too. So that’s another aspect of it. All your expenses are tax deductible for the property which is amazing incentive by the US government to incentivize investors. And at the time of crisis, when the world is suffering, and it’s a good time to bring money to America, because as long as America is the most dominant currency and foreigners keep on buying in America, the USD is still the dominant currency.
So there’s sometimes there’s talk. Oh, no. Foreigners. Foreigners are not taking over. You should love foreigners because when oh nine, ten, 11 happened, foreigners invested so much into the US economy in the US property, which helped the the real estate recovery.
So that’s kind of how I look.
Yonatan Schmidt 13:40
Yeah. You mentioned something bringing, you know, money to the US. And I kind of like leads me into financing and structuring some deals. One of the biggest hurdles that foreign investors are facing is financing. Can you tell us a little bit about how Waltz helps them solve that problem?
Yuval Golan 14:01
So basically what we realized is when foreign investors want to buy a property, the three most important things are one, that that individual is a legitimate individual, not coming from a restricted country that is restricted by the US regulators. Two, that their source of funds come from legitimate sources salaries, dividends, inheritance, family gifts, etc.. The second thing is that the property is real in a good location, in good condition. C1 to C4 as you you are familiar which is rentable or rent ready, and three that it can generate rental income, which can create the ability to recover all or most of the expenses that are incurred by running a property and taking a loan. When we connected all of these factors in, we’re able to give a loan for investment properties, not owner occupied.
And soon we’re launching also second homes based on debt to income ratio. And by this way, we basically say we understand you don’t live in the US. We understand you might not have a visa, but we understand you have the funds. And you’re a legitimate person that wants to invest in the US economy. And we’re your enablers to do so.
And we do it digitally, remotely. We save you tens of hours of chaotic process and we bring into the new age, Amazon like experience.
Yonatan Schmidt 15:34
And this isn’t only for foreign investors, it’s also for local US citizens, people who, you know, just, you know, they hate the cluster of today’s process. And, you know, they want someone who can organize things, put them together and package them neatly. Waltz can also serve American clients as well.
Yuval Golan 15:54
So you nailed it. You nailed it. So we had quite a few, you know, about 10 to 15% of our clients came to us as like, hey guys, I’m a lawyer. I’m an entrepreneur. I’m an investor.
The most valuable asset in my life is time. I can’t deal with this shit. Can can I be your clients, too? Why are you, you know, not allowing me to be a client? Of course we do.
So we opened this up to the US market as well. And clients are very happy, especially tech entrepreneurs that don’t want to speak to humans. They just want to have a digital experience. So these are kind of the personas.
Yonatan Schmidt 16:30
Yeah. Tell us a little bit about the common mistakes that you’re seeing international and local investors make when they’re structuring their first, you know, real estate investment deal.
Yuval Golan 16:41
So a lot of people, when they come to us is one, they try to set up an entity in the wrong way, and then the Ein will take them 2 to 4 months to get because they don’t have a Social Security number. And that may delay the banking Insurance lending. So we set them up with an entity in a way that is also suitable for real estate. And another thing that they come in with the entity is wrong type of entity or wrong operating agreement, which is just a general or generic LLC. That bottom line.
Another thing is a lot of times they sign the contract or purchase agreement without understanding how long things take. Like you buy a condo HOA questionnaire or any HOA questionnaire anywhere, which usually doesn’t take same day, God knows why. So that’s another common mistake. The third one would be kind of getting into this without thinking about the risks, because Excel eats everything. So putting some reserves aside, thinking again, this is you know, real estate is a beast that has some unexpected things.
We love it. It’s great. It’s an amazing investment. But just like investing in friendship and in life, you have some, you know. Yeah.
You know. External use cases or extreme use cases you got to prepare for.
Yonatan Schmidt 18:07
Yeah. I love that because you set up my next question so perfectly. You know, a lot of a lot of people come to me, Israelis specifically, and they say, hey, I’d like to invest in real estate, and I don’t have any idea where to start with them. Right? How to help them, how to help them navigate these waters, even other foreign investors.
So when foreign investors are thinking about investing in real estate in the US, how should they think about tax structure, LLCs, legal entities when they’re buying properties?
Yuval Golan 18:43
Okay. So I would first think about the US based LLC is a pass through, which means when you pay also in the US. And again, I’m not a CPA. This is not a tax advice. You’re able to buy a property, protect yourself because you’re separating yourself as a person to the entity and what that entity holds.
And then your interest and property management and insurance are all deductible expenses. So first, set up your entity, set up your bank account, you’ll be able to fund the accounts. And not everything is last moment like as Israelis like to do. Don’t worry, it will be okay. Make sure you can wire your money out from there.
Israeli bank because that will take time and it also will cost something. So we can offer you, you know, foreign exchange as well. The other thing I would do is find an amazing property manager because don’t run your first property on your own. And it’s not like Israel. You don’t go there and it’s you go to the door.
You need a professional team that runs credit, that has experience. And when something goes wrong, they know how to mitigate it. It’s not the happy flow that you need them for. It’s when shit hits the fan is when you need them. You need them available and you need good service.
So I can tell you, and I told you only this as well. Listeners, we we haven’t met before, but I am a happy client of Keyrenter and we just spoke about it. I was like, you know, in Tampa and I changed two property management companies until I reached the right one. So I’m extremely happy. So that’s your boots on the ground.
The other thing is arrange your documents because lending, you basically need to convince an external party that you and your property are worth the risk of helping you finance them. So put your ducks in a row, arrange your bank statements, your source of funds, all your documents. And the more organized you are, the less questions anyone will have. And believe it or not, then you can just close the deal in like two three hours instead of like 30 or 40.
Yonatan Schmidt 20:52
Yeah. Is it is it true or false? I guess that Israelis or even foreign investors Can’t access debt in the US or purchase properties that are in an entity, right? Because a lot of times I hear, you know, and someone, a foreign investor call me, say I was told I can only buy it in my personal name and then I have to transfer it into my entity.
Yuval Golan 21:20
So it’s not it’s not true. So we, we closed loans under individual names. We closed loans under, you know, personal like an LLC. If it, if it’s usually kind of a complex structure or a hold code and has a sub and there’s no relation to the owner. It’s a case by case basis, but with the right partner and the right lender that understands foreigners, it’s possible.
Now I want to be very honest. There’s a lot of companies that offer foreign nationals loans. Do they do it quickly? Not necessarily. Do they do it efficiently?
Not necessarily. Do they are good customer service. It depends. All of them are my industry colleagues, so a lot of them do an amazing job. But if you want to centralize all the work, save time, save money, get good service, get responsiveness.
We can help you with every single thing from banking to insurance to origination to, to leverage, to transparency in a digital experience. That’s what we do. Because of course, you can set up your entity and then, oh, no, I didn’t get my angel. I can’t close and fly to America to open a bank account. And then guess what?
Some of the banks won’t allow you to wire more than 25 K unless you’re physically in the branch that has happened to a client. Didn’t want to open an account with us. Can I transfer it? No, you’ve got to open an account. Now you’re stuck.
Yeah, I told you. That’s why we set this company up. So all those little things that we sometimes clients want to be, you know, smart asses. We thought about this for years, to be sure nothing goes wrong.
Yonatan Schmidt 23:04
Yeah. Let’s talk about something I think you’ll enjoy, which is technology. And then in the in the future of global investing, Waltz is building an infrastructure to make cross-border investing easier. How do you see technology transforming global real estate investing over the next decade?
Yuval Golan 23:21
Wow, that’s a big one. So I can tell you the following. If it wasn’t for Covid, I think we won’t be able to fulfill the dream that all of us had, which was remote online notary closings and DocuSign and notarized and still do with wet signatures and go to the consulate.
Yonatan Schmidt 23:37
So yeah.
Yuval Golan 23:38
Thank you Covid, for convincing our regulators to implement that in the most of the US. That’s one one thing in the next decade, depending on the evolvement of AI and all the modules that will come in, I would say the following. People always need homes and people need somewhere to live. Population is growing And we’re still at a shortage because since oh nine there was less construction. And also wealth is growing and people invest in real estate.
So the demand is always growing. So that’s why I love real estate. And I do see real estate and residential real estate still a great thing. I don’t see us living in tents in ten years. I don’t know unless I really kills all our jobs, which I don’t think is possible.
It should enhance human capabilities. For the ones that want to adopt it, and I think in the next ten years, we’re going to have an amazing time in the real estate space, just like what we always had, just different new experiences.
Yonatan Schmidt 24:42
Yeah. Love that. If someone’s listening overseas, they want to buy their first US rental property. What’s the first call it? Three steps that they should take.
Yuval Golan 24:54
One go to our blog, which is go to our website, which is www.getwaltz.com. We built investment for dummies just like I did chess for dummies or whatever, for dummies. And it’s not a dummy, it just means we build it from the bottom up. So you can scroll to the bottom and learn what is it? The real estate?
What is it? The US entity? How do you take leverage? Why to invest in Texas or Oklahoma or Ohio. Learn, learn the budget, learn the taxes.
And then as you scroll up, find yourself on the ground team, which is a realtor and property manager, depending on that or the caps, learn kind of the first lessons and then start your way and schedule a call with us. We’ll be happy to help you.
Yonatan Schmidt 25:40
Yeah, love that for us based property managers and operators, what do you think that they should understand about working with international investors?
Yuval Golan 25:54
I think what they should do is kind of explain to them the added value in property management, because in other countries, sometimes people are used to managing properties themselves, especially if they’re within the vicinity. So that’s number one, cultural differences. Number two is once you manage the properties and you build trust, it’s very easy to referral business, just like property. You know, like real estate. The friend brings a friend.
Build your trust. It’s the same thing. Just understand how their culture and tribal way works. So you can get their business and their trust. This is kind of the basics.
And two, we partner up with companies like yourself. So once you have foreign nationals that want to buy a property that you were connected to, we can help you to build the entire checkout experience. So then you take over as soon as the property closes. And then life is easier.
Yonatan Schmidt 26:48
Thanks. And finally, I want to ask a little bit about the vision that you have looking ahead five, ten years. What role do you hope that Waltz will play in the global real estate ecosystem?
Yuval Golan 27:02
My goal is for us to become the official checkout solution for us real estate investor. You go to a website, you go to Zillow. It’s like IP is foreign. Check out with vaults like Amazon. Built for us is to go to the shop to buy shoes or t-shirt.
Now we just add to cart, get it done.
Yonatan Schmidt 27:24
Love that. Yuval Golan, thank you so much for educating me and our listeners about Waltz and just foreign investments in US real estate markets. Really appreciate it.
Yuval Golan 27:38
Thank you. Thanks for all the compliments. Once you recorded, I’ll send it to my mom and hopefully one day she’ll be proud.
Yonatan Schmidt 27:45
Sure. She’s proud today. Thanks, Yuval.
Yuval Golan 27:49
Thank you.
Outro 27:53
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