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[Vigilant Walrus]

It doesn't matter where they are from. The fact of the matter is, it's a sure bet that you will make money from investing in housing in a well liked city. Vancouver, San Diego, Paris, London.


But this shit isn't exactly flying in other places.. Like Detroit? But it could. Chinese Investors should make Detroit into New Shanghai, and completely transform that place. That would be investment that would make sense. That would be investments that were cheap.
I don't see how the mayor and the city officials are looking out for the people living in them when they allow this to happen.


The housing crisis is such now, that in the next generation, it might actually be like places in Asia were you live with your parents until you're married because of the housing cost will keep going up. Too many people expedited by women gaining their financial independence in the last 60 years and being able to live on their own, and furthered by the fact that we live longer and also that we become more and more people, and according the UN won't top out until 2050- Which in the most optimistic scenario would put us at about 11 or 12 billion people. That's the best case scenario.

So almost twice as many people as we are now. Imagine LA traffic with twice as many people. It's not going to sustain itself with more cars.



What is already happening is that people are being chased out. Most normal people can't afford to live in New York. Or London. Or Paris. If you're of an average income, getting a decent place to live is impossible. Now that is extending itself to Seattle, Vancouver and other desired cities liked for their attributes.

And so people have to scramble. Maybe it is time to pack up and make Detroit great. poor innovative people will work hard to make a good society and eventually it will be great, and then in 20-30 years, Indian and Pakistani business men will swoop in and buy all the shit, and people will be chased out and then we start the cycle all over.

Housing is our biggest cost. In life. It is no longer feesable to live outside the cities. You need to be in the cities to work. Another of UNs estimates is that by 2050 its something like 80-90% of all people will live in the cities. That is insane. We're in a polar opposite situation of fedual europe, where following the infrastructural crash of Rome caused people all over to seek out and be farmers.
city planning has its cut cut out for it. many American cities desperately need a public transportation system and public bike lanes. it's not going to sustain itself.

 

[poppabk]

Ok.. and are they living there? If so what's the big deal? Earlier people were complaining they come and leave the homes empty. I understand how that is a problem for a community.

I've personally helped about 400 Chinese investors and their family immigrate to America in the past 3 years through the EB-5 program. They are primarily moving to SoCal, from my experience. They buy a home, enroll their kids in school, live their lives. Why can't they do that? If you owned a home there already would it bother you that they are raising the value of your home?

This is not the norm though. You personally have helped about 1-2% of the total number of Chinese EB-5 applicants. You really think the small number of EB-5 investors would sway markets to this extent?

 

[gutter_trash]

What did Vancouver do wrong?



Yep, I wonder how people will react as more precious real estate is bought up.

foreign investors buying lots of condo units that remain vacant, price of the real estate market shot up in the area to unrealistic proportions,

 

[Zoe]

Building homes/communities that reflect the community screws the middle class how? If the majority of the community is middle class and the majority of homes available for rent or purchase are for the middle class doesn't this help them?

Affordable Housing has income limits. Around here it's 60-80% of the area median income. I have never seen anything which similarly targets those making middle class wages which means they're at a huge disadvantage when someone comes along looking at the same property with a huge wad of cash.

 

[Brandson]

Employers allowing more employees to work remotely would help a lot. Too many businesses are way backwards about this, clinging to antiquated policies. There is a huge amount of undeveloped land all over North America, but the jobs aren't there, so you end up with a job you don't want or a crippling commute, wasting huge time and resources physically moving people between home and work every day. Letting people live in places where land is cheaper while continuing to work at the good jobs they want to work at would solve some problems. Maybe it's time for some government regulation to force employers to allow for working remotely in jobs that don't require a physical presence.

 

[gamechanger87]

If a lot of properties are being used inefficiently, you can always raise property taxes.

NYC has thought about adding taxes for the pied a terre (sp?) properties which are not occupied. Lots of Chinese are dumping excess cash in US real estate because they view it as a safe haven away from the local government. Its a way to park wealth that can't be easily touched. They are always worried they will get on someones bad side and quickly become an enemy of the state.

 

[Liberty4all]

.
Again, I agree the government should implement policies that encourage change. But it's not in their interest and it's extremely difficult to implement smart policies. The policy shouldn't be targeting foreign people though. People are people, no matter where they were born.

If a tax on investment properties was implemented it wouldn't stop the wealthy Chinese from buying these places, by the way. Wealthy Chinese people buying properties around the globe to stash their money are doing it to protect their extreme wealth from the hands of the Chinese government and potential devaluing of their local currency. Key word being "extreme" in the above sentence.

See I disagree. I think that policy should absolutely be targeting non Canadians from being able to easily transfer wealth on a scale that distorts the real estate market.

Government first and foremost has a responsibility to protect the lives of the citizens it governs.

 

[ClosingADoor]

I don't see a problem with people buying the property and moving there, or buying and then renting it out. But if you just use it to park your money and have the property stand empty, that should be taxed in some way to make them rent it out at least. Combine that with some rent control laws to keep costs in control.

 

[Junior Mint]

It's been a disaster for Vancouver ... Everyone in their 30s is leaving. I arrived in Vancouver in September and one of the first things I noticed ... Nobody around my age (30 - 45). Lots of 20 somethings and baby boomers. The family rearing age people have all moved away to the outer suburbs or out of province completely ... Can't afford to buy a home big enough for kids here even if you are in a high end job (like a nurse for example). Even if BOTH you and your spouse are professionals making combined 140k. Not without taking on crushing debt.

Like I said, anyone who has gotten past new grad status is probably already thinking of fleeing the city. You have accountants that get starting salaries of 36k (lol) out of university in Vancouver. And all this rhetoric about Vancouver being Silicon Valley north is hilarious to me - everyone in Vancouver clings to Hootsuite like it's a source of national pride, lmao. Personally, I know lots of former university classmates who have left to the States or Toronto. I mean Toronto isn't so much better in terms of the real estate market but at least the opportunities, salaries, and presence of tons Canadian corporate headquarters are there.

I'm pretty pessimistic on the path Vancouver is taking. I wouldn't be surprised if it started to take a turn like Hong Kong has and becomes a place that's just filled with jewelry stores, high-end fashion, and expensive restaurants that locals never go to. The entire sales staff at Holt Renfrew in Pacific Centre is already something like 70-80% Mandarin-speaking and while I am Asian, the second I start speaking English, I already feel like the sales staff know they shouldn't be wasting their time with me.

 

[numble]

Ah, I see. Wanna PM me the agency name? They are going very local apparently. I've seen some bus ads but never those little paper ads. Usually it's for some ayi or air conditioner repair or something haha, I guess I live in a cheaper complex.

Here is the ad:

 

[Liberty4all]

Like I said, anyone who has gotten past new grad status is probably already thinking of fleeing the city. You have accountants that get starting salaries of 36k (lol) out of university in Vancouver. And all this rhetoric about Vancouver being Silicon Valley north is hilarious to me - everyone in Vancouver clings to Hootsuite like it's a source of national pride, lmao. Personally, I know lots of former university classmates who have left to the States or Toronto. I mean Toronto isn't so much better in terms of the real estate market but at least the opportunities, salaries, and presence of tons Canadian corporate headquarters are there.

e.

There actually is a labour crunch happening in Vancouver... I see the labour market information in my career as an Employment Case Manager... There simply are not enough people to fill needed jobs such as nurses, social work (that's how i ended up here), and other positions. The crunch is even worse on the bottom end jobs.

Its going to get worse. The reality is that even without the insane price of real estate, wages haven't kept up with cost of living. So despite how relatively easy it is to get work here people are still leaving to places where they can get more money or their dollar goes further.

Personally I came out here for work but I'm leaving for Alberta in January. I really like Vancouver but it costs too much to live here.

 

[Fenderputty]

Has been happening around the suburbs that lie between LA and the OC for a while now

Walnut, Brea, Diamond Bar, Chino Hills, etc all have had increased housing prices and a majority of the buyers nowadays are Chinese with some serious cash

Yeah I own in Chino Hills and it's pretty crazy. I would totally be priced out of the market had I not bought and built equity in 2008 when prices were down.

 

[gaming_noob]

There's almost daily articles on the Globeandmail about this problem in Vancouver and Toronto.

These Chinese investors are in tandem with other Chinese real estate brokers.
The broker sells to a Chinese investor who never intends to live in the city, who then sells it to a Canadian sucker willing to pay the 10-30% raise in value.

Another scenario is they would have wife and kids live in a multimilion dollar home while the husband works in China. The wife claims all sorts of benefits like child tax, welfare, etc, while upwards of 50k transactions get funneled from relatives to pay for the house.

 

[Eighty Deuce]

I need to find some empty Chinese owned property so i can squat there rent free and earn a free house.

 

[Septimus Prime]

It's actually slowing down in my area now, and houses are taking longer to sell. The prices are still sky high, but they've dropped maybe 10% since the peak a few years ago.

That is probably going to be the scariest part of this story. How are the racial tensions now?

Are Chinese people or Asians in general already being discriminated by this?

No. If anything, they actually cater to you more, since they don't know how much money you have. Remember, as much as people (including myself) complain about it, at the end of the day you will be dealing with agents and realtors, and they only see in money.

 

[Dalek]

There's almost daily articles on the Globeandmail about this problem in Vancouver and Toronto.

These Chinese investors are in tandem with other Chinese real estate brokers.
The broker sells to a Chinese investor who never intends to live in the city, who then sells it to a Canadian sucker willing to pay the 10-30% raise in value.

Another scenario is they would have wife and kids live in a multimilion dollar home while the husband works in China. The wife claims all sorts of benefits like child tax, welfare, etc, while upwards of 50k transactions get funneled from relatives to pay for the house.

Good lord that's shady.

 

[MonkeyKing]

SoCal San Gabriel Vallley here

I first heard about this two years ago. Was talking to a guy that helps people finance their mortgage loans, he told me that business was bad, no one was getting loans because by the time you did the paperwork, some foreign investors were paying over asking price AND in cash. Even if you were reliable, had a great job ending of income, you were still out of the game before it even started.

 

[Septimus Prime]

SoCal San Gabriel Vallley here

I first heard about this two years ago. Was talking to a guy that helps people finance their mortgage loans, he told me that business was bad, no one was getting loans because by the time you did the paperwork, some foreign investors were paying over asking price AND in cash. Even if you were reliable, had a great job ending of income, you were still out of the game before it even started.

I don't think it matters to the seller, as long as you have your pre-approval and no contingencies, since they just need to know you're good for the money. The cash buyers' advantage is really that there's no escrow period, and of course they probably have more money than you do in general and have more wiggle room to beat out competing bids.

In our area (SGV), though, I think most people these days have loans.

 

[Syriel]

It's actually slowing down in my area now, and houses are taking longer to sell. The prices are still sky high, but they've dropped maybe 10% since the peak a few years ago.


No. If anything, they actually cater to you more, since they don't know how much money you have. Remember, as much as people (including myself) complain about it, at the end of the day you will be dealing with agents and realtors, and they only see in money.

This is very true. All the high end real estate firms in SF have opened up divisions which target mainland Chinese buyers. The idea is to make buying turnkey, so that buyers just have to pick from a list and cut a check.

This is no different than what the real estate firms did back when the tech money first flowed in. Except then, instead of catering to mainland Chinese, it was new tech money.

Over the next decade, the real estate firms will likely pivot again to focus on a new market.

It has nothing to do with ethnicity and everything to do with following the money. Wherever the money is, is where the real estate firms will have their focus.

The only real way to combat the issue is to put some sort of constraint on the market.

That can be anything from purchase and residency restrictions, to rent control, to BMR resale restrictions. Restricting land sales to non-citizens is not an unusual thing on the world stage (lots of countries do it), however it would be very unusual for the US to do so.

 

[Loki]

A friend of mine who works in real estate told me that there is a ton of Chinese money tied up in big NY real estate as well for (Chinese) tax evasion purposes.

 

[fuzzyset]

After talking with people in HK and Vancouver, I've suspected this was at least partially to blame for the rise in property in large cities in the US.

 

[Radian8]

This has been happening in a big way in Auckland, New Zealand for the past couple of years.
We are not talking about luxury houses either, it's any housing including ex state houses which are run down. It's gotten to the point where foreign money is now buying up in areas that are not close to the CBD, have issues with gangs etc.

One of the biggest issues which is going on at the moment is that not only are houses now completely out of reach of the majority of first home buyers, but rents are starting to sky rocket. The amount of 'Ghost' houses is increasing rapidly which puts strain on the rental system, so you now have tenants basically 'bidding' on how much extra they are willing to pay for a place to rent. And when the average worker cannot afford to live in a single bedroom tiny apartment, you know things are f**ked.

Also, within NZ our Reserve Bank to 'protect' the country put in place that home buyers require a 20% deposit in Auckland to be able to get a Mortgage. The only people that has affected are first home buyers as the Foreign buyers are buying with straight up cash.

Also, as has been stated, for some reason if it's reported that the majority of the money is from Mainland China it's labelled as racist. It's infuriating and all it does is help our Government get out of answering any serious questions in regards to the situation as they pull the racist card.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Eh, I think this is only initially true, and only for real estate.

Otherwise, the racism comes from everyone else (people angry at "the Chinese" and hey, you look like a chink so FUCK YOU GO HOME TO CHINA, etc), and the moment you say "how much of a down payment" (aka, I'm not a wealthy cash buyer), they know you ain't got shit so you're tossed.

On one hand, the food should get better, but on the other, living in so cal... lol. I can't afford a house in any halfway decent place.

Even cities like Brea and Chino Hills, which were once only "okay" cities, are now too expensive for me. For now I don't mind living at home (my commute is only going to be 15 minutes), but once I get married... gg.

Honestly, that kind of thing has never happened to me. The sellers in my area are primarily white and retired, and they are generally looking to move to a more modest home in a slightly cheaper area. Most of them bought their homes, which are now worth more than a million, decades ago for like a couple hundred grand (one house I looked at was going for $1.08M, and they bought it for $40k some 40 years ago). They are the nicest people. It's really the agents that are cutthroat because they have so many options with multiple offers.

 

[Schlep]

I lol'd when I saw the statue in the OP and immediately recognized it. I was there last week. Big Asian comminity in Richardson.

I think people would laugh at this article if they saw the area that shopping center is in. I grew up a couple miles away. It's a decent area, but showing that as proof that our nicest areas are being taken over...lol.

 

[JPLMD]

So who else is waiting for the China economy to implode on itself in the next few years and housing prices will come down? Lol

China is digging its own grave at the rate money is flooding out of its country.

 

[Apathy]

This has been happening for a while in Canada and its bad for Canadians. Vancouver is out reach for anyone there to own any property. Toronto has it bad as well. There are giant condos going up, cheaply made and expensive to buy into. Some of the condos are 80%sold to Chinese investors that don't do anything with the places (they don't rent then out), so to the few people that actually buy condos in those buildings to live in complain of lack of community feeling and having a harder time to resell their condos.

 

[Schlep]

That doesn't differentiate between Americans of Asian descent or foreign Asians, buying and living in a nice community. Not that it should matter, because when someone says "a nice community but got taken over by <minority>," it's a little questionable.

You're injecting racism where there is none. No one said anything about being taken over by <minority>. Real estate being taken over by Chinese nationals is the point of the article. That Asia-town area has been there since I was a kid.

 

[bodyboarder]

This has been happening for a while in Canada and its bad for Canadians. Vancouver is out reach for anyone there to own any property. Toronto has it bad as well. There are giant condos going up, cheaply made and expensive to buy into. Some of the condos are 80%sold to Chinese investors that don't do anything with the places (they don't rent then out), so to the few people that actually buy condos in those buildings to live in complain of lack of community feeling and having a harder time to resell their condos.

I can't think of anything better then buying a condo and not having neighbours.

 

[Zoe]

Also, you literally wrote

Because that's literally how the article is trying to portray the situation in DFW:

Canyon Lake Ranch was once a playground for Christian day campers, and then was a corporate retreat with water-skiing, barbecues and cowboy shoot-’em-up shows. Hawks now circle above 108 sunbaked acres occupied by copperhead snakes, a few coyotes and the occasional construction truck.

Soon this ranch will be a gated subdivision of 99 mini-mansions designed for buyers from mainland China. The developer, Zhang Long, a Beijing businessman, is keeping three plots to build his own estate along the site of an old rodeo arena.

 

[Darren870]

Thankfully they are starting to actually enforce the laws here in Australia when it comes to foreign buyers.

The law is that a foreign buyer could only buy new homes/apartments unless they had the appropriate visa, but if they were strictly overseas buyers then they could only buy new.

The laws had been in place for years but were never checked or enforced. I was never even asked when I bought my house here and I am a foreigner.

They are starting now to enforce them though since there has been some loud complaints about how crazy it has gotten in Sydney and Melbourne. Quite a few people have been forced to sell their homes and received heavy fines.

 

[Syph Medwes]

You should check out Vancouver

Perfect first post. Also the reason I won't be staying there after I finish undergrad. I'll make a living elsewhere and come back to my parents house when I want. Our last house has risen over $100000 in value. Thank god we kept it as a rental property.

 

[Schlep]

Out of curiosity, how do you tell the difference between a Chinese national and any other kind of Asian, be it an Asian American, an Asian national, etc?

What are you even getting at? The point of the article is that Chinese nationals are spending money in the US real estate market which is driving up prices. That affects all Americans, regardless of ethnicity.

Like I said, you probably didn't mean anything by it. But, there's definitely that sort sentiment in the air. I know my parents have said the same thing, and we're Asian. The only problem is that, while some of us can tell between an Asian American and an Asian (culture, etc)... with a mass influx of nationals, most others aren't going to bother making an exception for "one of the good ones" because there's not a lot of visible difference.

I get that it's not racism towards all Asians, but I'm highly skeptical and inherently reluctant to try and play the whole "one of the good one" cards when it comes to race. It never ends well.

No, you're inventing this in your head. Again, I grew up in Richardson. It's a highly diverse area, probably the most diverse in DFW. It's been that way for a long time now due to Texas Instruments and the 'telecom corridor' along Central Expressway.

I don't care about people's ethnicity. What bothers me is the context of the article and accompanying video that Chinese nationals are using US real estate as a loophole to protect their assets and thus driving up costs for people living here. If they want to come here and live and contribute to the community, the same way prior generations did in Rirchardson, more power to them.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Here is the ad:

Would still like to see actual stats on the % houses bought by foreign buyers. Last I heard the number was in the single digits, even in big cities.

Real estate agents have more than once made fake Chinese ads only to propagandize the idea that you have to buy or else the Chinese will.

 

[Zoe]

Would still like to see actual stats on the % houses bought by foreign buyers. Last I heard the number was in the single digits, even in big cities.

http://www.realtor.org/reports/profile-of-international-home-buying-activity

That's where the article is drawing the graphs from.

 

[numble]

Would still like to see actual stats on the % houses bought by foreign buyers. Last I heard the number was in the single digits, even in big cities.

Real estate agents have more than once made fake Chinese ads only to propagandize the idea that you have to buy or else the Chinese will.

This is not an ad for buying a home. This is an ad in a relatively upscale Chinese housing complex in Beijing for the EB-5 investment visa program, for a project in the Silicon Valley. We do know that there have been about 30,000 EB-5 visas granted to Chinese investors (they are allowed to bring their families). If they are mostly concentrated in certain areas, they can certainly distort a local market. I know a family living in SGV (where I'll say a majority of Chinese buyers go) where the houses on both sides were bought by foreign buyers to be torn down and are currently under construction for mini-mansions).

 

[jellies_two]

They are starting now to enforce them though since there has been some loud complaints about how crazy it has gotten in Sydney and Melbourne. Quite a few people have been forced to sell their homes and received heavy fines.

The enforcement is weak ass. Just sop for the press.
An example given the press was a German resident who bought a $150k rental in the country 20 years ago and was now forced to sell it.

There are cases due to bad press for the government but the number is tiny, and only in the most obvious situations do they dare to do anything. In one case a tycoon was forced to sell a trophy home that had set a record in price when he purchased. But all that happened was a non-entity local Chinese, living in a unit, "bought it" off him in a private off-market transaction - despite having no obvious financial means to do so.

 

[Kieli]

So who else is waiting for the China economy to implode on itself in the next few years and housing prices will come down? Lol

China is digging its own grave at the rate money is flooding out of its country.

There's nothing stopping China from printing a whole bunch of cash and they've kept the Yuan artificially low in valuation.

I wonder what the implications are of the IMF including the Yuan in the accepted basket of currencies.

Edit: Also, what does it mean to buy a house in all cash? Don't you have to pay cash regardless? I don't think I've heard of a typical house-owner willing to accept stocks in a startup, free membership to the local gym for life, or other non-cash payments.

 

[akileese]

There's nothing stopping China from printing a whole bunch of cash and they've kept the Yuan artificially low in valuation.

I wonder what the implications are of the IMF including the Yuan in the accepted basket of currencies.

Edit: Also, what does it mean to buy a house in all cash? Don't you have to pay cash regardless? I don't think I've heard of a typical house-owner willing to accept stocks in a startup, free membership to the local gym for life, or other non-cash payments.

No mortage. They're essentially cutting a check for a house and not mortaging it through a bank. This is happening in Carrollton, TX but it's a different reason than foreign money. All the large businesses are relocating to Plano/Frisco, TX (this is still DFW) so you're having people pour in from California and New York basically paying cash for houses. It's driven the valuations through the roof around here but we have some of the best schools in all of DFW so it's not unexpected. Anyone moving here is going to want to send their kids to the best schools.

When we buy a house we're probably moving up to Denton. It's too far from Plano/Dallas/Fort Worth to have the valuation driven sky high and it has a rep as a college town (it is and it isn't). You can buy massive new build houses for under 250k there. The same size house in Carrollton is more than double that now.

It's staggering. When I moved here you could buy a very nice house in Carrollton for less than 400k and that was three years ago!

 

[Darren870]

The enforcement is weak ass. Just sop for the press.
An example given the press was a German resident who bought a $150k rental in the country 20 years ago and was now forced to sell it.

There are cases due to bad press for the government but the number is tiny, and only in the most obvious situations do they dare to do anything. In one case a tycoon was forced to sell a trophy home that had set a record in price when he purchased. But all that happened was a non-entity local Chinese, living in a unit, "bought it" off him in a private off-market transaction - despite having no obvious financial means to do so.

Yea, I do agree. However, at least its something. I do wish they would be stricter with it.

Like I said, its not even checked when you buy a house here. They never once asked me about my status here and if I was allowed to buy, even though they knew I was an American and not an Aussie.

 

[Schlep]

When we buy a house we're probably moving up to Denton. It's too far from Plano/Dallas/Fort Worth to have the valuation driven sky high and it has a rep as a college town (it is and it isn't). You can buy massive new build houses for under 250k there. The same size house in Carrollton is more than double that now.

I'm buying a house in the Fort Worth Alliance area (Heritage Trace and 35W) for $285k. 3100 square feet, 4 bedroom, media room, game room, wood floors, marble counters, etc. Base price (without upgrades) is $265k.

 

[vern]

Here is the ad:

Thanks for that!

Affordable Housing has income limits. Around here it's 60-80% of the area median income. I have never seen anything which similarly targets those making middle class wages which means they're at a huge disadvantage when someone comes along looking at the same property with a huge wad of cash.

Sure. I'm talking fundamental changes in how cities should be developed (or should have been) and how society should be. Targeting people for being "other" is bullshit.

This is not the norm though. You personally have helped about 1-2% of the total number of Chinese EB-5 applicants. You really think the small number of EB-5 investors would sway markets to this extent?

Of course EB-5 investors are not the problem that most people in this thread are talking about. EB-5 are primarily Chinese middle-upper class with net worth in the 1-5 million dollar range. Things like cost savings on schools are a big deal to them, as Numble pointed out. Most people in this thread are talking about investment properties left to sit vacant. I was responding to the guy who said people were buying houses in his neighborhood and I asked if they were living there... because that was the implication that I got from his post. I think at the very least most people in this thread don't have a problem with foreigners coming to their country and buying a house and living there. At least I hope no one has a problem with immigrants.

 

[Yamauchi]

The Japanese were doing this just before their economy crashed and burned in the 1990's.

Let's hope the Chinese are a bit better with managing their economy than the Japanese were.

To me, and I'm just another loser on the internet, it seems like China is headed for a hard landing. I'm not one of those people who has been saying it for 10 years, either.

 

[akileese]

I'm buying a house in the Fort Worth Alliance area (Heritage Trace and 35W) for $285k. 3100 square feet, 4 bedroom, media room, game room, wood floors, marble counters, etc. Base price (without upgrades) is $265k.

Nice! Yeah. Denton or Fort Worth for us. Almost all of my friends live up by that area.

 

[Mr. Pointy]

Well, I'm lucky I bought my apartment in Darwin when I did.

 

[poppabk]

Thanks for that!



Sure. I'm talking fundamental changes in how cities should be developed (or should have been) and how society should be. Targeting people for being "other" is bullshit.



Of course EB-5 investors are not the problem that most people in this thread are talking about. EB-5 are primarily Chinese middle-upper class with net worth in the 1-5 million dollar range. Things like cost savings on schools are a big deal to them, as Numble pointed out. Most people in this thread are talking about investment properties left to sit vacant. I was responding to the guy who said people were buying houses in his neighborhood and I asked if they were living there... because that was the implication that I got from his post. I think at the very least most people in this thread don't have a problem with foreigners coming to their country and buying a house and living there. At least I hope no one has a problem with immigrants.

Me to, as I am myself a filthy foreigner.

 

[numble]

This is not the norm though. You personally have helped about 1-2% of the total number of Chinese EB-5 applicants. You really think the small number of EB-5 investors would sway markets to this extent?

EB-5 investors are concentrated in certain areas, so they can sway local markets:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/where-r...sh-americas-hotels-and-strip-malls-1449556200

Brokers say the impact of Chinese money is concentrated in certain metro areas. In New York, for example, neighborhoods with sizable Chinese communities are attracting a rising tide of money from wealthy mainland Chinese.

In Flushing, Queens, where people of Chinese and other Asian descent make up nearly half the population, commercial-property sales have totaled $1.2 billion this year through November, according to CoStar. That is up 44% from the full year in 2014 and more than double the amount in 2013. The average price a square foot this year for these transactions is $382, compared with $234 in 2013, CoStar data show.

Chinese investors have been particularly aggressive bidders for commercial real estate on and around Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst. Over the past 18 months, Cushman & Wakefield made eight property sales along the street. Chinese investors had the winning offer six times, and were the runner-up bid the other two times, said Tom Donovan, vice chairman of broker Cushman’s capital markets group.

“It is definitely impacting pricing,” said Mr. Donovan. “There are not enough buildings for sale, and with aggressive buyers coming in, it has had a good uptick in price.”

Some Chinese high-net-worth investors from Shanghai recently joined with New York investment firm Borland Capital Group in the $40 million acquisition of 66 condo units in two of the tallest buildings in Westchester County: the Ritz Carlton in White Plains and Trump Plaza in New Rochelle.

Founder Brent Borland said the plan is to rent out the condo units for a period and then eventually put the units back on the market.

“When we look to exit,” he said, “our Chinese partners will have the ability to sell these units to buyers in China.”