NONRESIDENT INVESTOR
Meet Luka Malkovich
Hi, I am Luka, a co-founder of Nonresident Investor — a full-cycle agency that helps foreigners obtain US mortgages, open US LLCs, and deal with offshore tax planning and US tax filings. Here is my story.
How It All Started
I was born in Montenegro, a small country in Southeast Europe. I have always had a strong interest in IT, which led me to enter the digital entrepreneurship world at a very young age. I started my first company at 19 and haven’t looked back since.
With over ten years of entrepreneurial experience, I can proudly say that I haven’t spent a single day of my life working for others. Ever since I was little, I had the right mindset and was aware that working from 9 to 5 would not ensure the future I dreamt of.
In my ten-plus years of entrepreneurial experience, I have managed to create and grow several companies. However, the one that became the most successful and that I would like to highlight here is a software development company — Addria.com.
I co-founded Addria.com with my friend, Chris Sarac. I owe him a deep gratitude as he was the one who introduced me to the wonderful world of entrepreneurship. Two years my senior, Chris played a vital role in my early career. Even though we were young and inexperienced, me more so than Chris, we had an incredible desire to learn and progress. And we’ve had all the time in the world.
Our goal was to bring together talented devs from all over the Balkans and give them the opportunity to challenge themselves on big, global projects. During the process of achieving Adria’s mission, I learned that it doesn’t matter where someone comes from or what religion they belong to, but only that they are a good person and a hard-working professional.
The company officially started operating in 2013, and it was my first time opening an offshore business and dealing with international taxes. Because of this business, which operates internationally, I’ve learned how to legally optimize and minimize taxes on a global scale.
Over the years, we’ve provided software development services to clients all around the world. I also had the pleasure of leading teams of developers on more than 100 projects for clients in 15 different countries.
Burnout Awakened the Passive Income Idea
Besides managing an IT company, I was also involved in a couple of other businesses, and running them took most of my time. In some sense, I became a slave to the companies I created. I had too many meetings, decisions to make, and deadlines to meet. I was spending 16 hours a day in front of a computer, I gained 20kg, and I was dealing with a major case of burnout. I knew something needed to change. I didn’t have enough knowledge and trust to put my money in NFTs or crypto, and stocks were never of interest to me. Also, as someone who achieved success through hard work, I’ve never been a fan of investing in something that sounds too good to be true.
I started researching different asset classes and became highly interested in real estate. A couple of my family members were already in this industry, and this nudged me in that direction. Then, while I was working on a software project for a US client, I met Mark, an entrepreneur and US real estate investor. It was thanks to him that I first got the idea of buying real estate in the States. And that is how everything started…
Real Estate Education
My first ever job was answering the phones and presenting the apartments for my family’s real estate rental business. I was only 12 at that time. Each new tenant meant a new set of tasks for me — dealing with minor repairs, painting, decorating, and placing ads in the local newspapers. I used that experience as a starting point for my real estate education.
The next few years of my life were dedicated to learning about the US market and the overall industry. I spent a lot of my free time studying real estate and consulting with industry experts., One of the hardest parts of this education process was getting into US laws and regulations. It took me a while to figure out company formation processes, international taxes, account opening limitations, and different rules about contracts…There was so much confusion and so many dead ends in this space, which left me with more questions than answers. Questions that bothered me and kept me awake for months.
Pulling the Trigger
Knowing that I did everything I could to educate myself on the topic and make sure the foundations were set correctly, I felt ready to pull the trigger. All that was left to do was find the right opportunity.
After months of anticipation and waiting for my real estate agent to bring me some decent leads, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I became active in various Facebook groups and spent a couple of hours each day browsing Zillow. I made sure I always had time for that, no matter how difficult my work day was. In the end, it was totally worth it! I managed to find the off-market deal I was dreaming of.
In 2018, I became the sole owner of two duplexes (4 housing units) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I bought those properties with cash because, just like the majority of foreign investors, I didn’t know much about US financing and the various options available to nonresidents.
A couple of months after the purchase and after some minor renovations were done, I was ready to welcome my first tenants. A long time ago, I realized that the key to a successful business is having happy clients. That’s why I did everything I could to make their stay as comfortable as possible.
NON RESIDENT INVESTOR
How the Nonresident Investor Idea Was Born?
I was having lunch with one of my IT colleagues and friends. He was talking about his work problems, and I quickly realized that he was in the same boat I was in a couple of years ago. He was overworked, stressed, and spinning too many plates at the same time. Yes, his company was doing well, but running it was taking a huge toll on him. Our discussion broadened, and I started talking about passive income, my investments in US real estate, and how it completely changed my life. Keep in mind that I wasn’t even trying to sell him on anything; I was just talking about my current situation. And yet, still, he wanted in. He wanted to become a nonresident investor, just like me.
I started talking about everything I’ve learned and what it takes to buy real estate in America. I was telling him about US laws, taxes, and how to form an LLC. My experience in software development and working with US clients for 10 years also came in handy. I was going on and on about how each state is like a separate country and all the things he needs to keep in mind when it became painfully obvious that he was getting overwhelmed. And how couldn’t he be? I was sharing knowledge that had taken me years to obtain. That’s when it happened. He asked me the one question that every entrepreneur loves to hear — Can I pay you to do that for me?
Soon after, I got the idea to buy the domain name and start the NRI brand. My mission was clear — help foreigners invest in US real estate. However, I still felt there was a piece of the puzzle missing. A piece that will soon fall into place.
Building the Business
It turned out that the Milwaukee housing market was the perfect choice for my first real estate investment. As the market was recovering from the recession and with housing prices slightly down, my timing was almost perfect. I said almost perfect because when it comes to real estate, the perfect time to invest is always 5 years ago. Joking aside, things did turn out great for me in Milwaukee, and I became adamant about expanding my real estate portfolio.
With experience comes knowledge, and I knew that before I could scale, I needed a reliable team of people. I also knew that this time around, I wanted to finance my properties instead of buying them with cash. I needed to learn about US mortgages, specifically those for nonresidents. This was extremely important, both for expanding my real estate portfolio and the new NRI brand. If I were to genuinely help foreigners buy US properties, I needed to know about different financing options and US mortgages for nonresidents. And, what better way to learn than to go through the process of obtaining a US mortgage myself?
Real estate investing is a team sport. Because of that, I decided to spend some time looking for a reliable CPA, an attorney with experience working with foreign investors, and a mortgage broker who understands the needs of international buyers. The first two came into place rather quickly, but I was having trouble with the third one. Then, like out of the blue, one of my contacts got in touch with me and recommended I reach out to this mortgage officer, who, according to my contact, had extensive experience dealing with international clients. As I had nothing to lose, I gave him a call, and soon, it became clear that the missing puzzle piece I was searching for was actually a person.
Meet John Pastre
John Pastre is a licensed mortgage broker with almost a decade of experience working in the United States. Throughout his career, he funded more than 81 million dollars of mortgages, including commercial, conventional, FHA, VA, private money, and hard money loans. Coincidentally, he was also the person my contact told me to call about US mortgages for foreigners. We clicked immediately, and even during our first meeting, I knew that if this guy delivered, I would try and get him on board for my NRI idea.
Need help opening a US LLC or dealing with US and cross-border taxes? I’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for reading my story. I know it probably took you a while to go through it all, and I really appreciate it. Getting to this point was a long journey, and I wanted to share a bit about my life and what it took to get here. I would love to hear from you and talk about working together. If you need help with US mortgages, cross-border or US taxes, or opening a US LLC, feel free to get in touch.
Get in touch
With over a decade of building businesses from the ground up, I’ve learned that the best ideas come from open dialogue and genuine curiosity. Whether you have questions about our services, want to explore a collaboration, or just want to say hello—my inbox is always open. Let’s connect!