patrick.net

I take being anything like Jimmy Stewart in any Frank Capra movie as a compliment. Yes, l do believe in all that ignorant crap. Some parting words for you to roll your eyes at: "Now wait…now listen…now listen to me. I beg of you not to do this thing. If Potter gets hold of this Building and Loan, there’ll never be another decent house built in this town. He’s already got charge of the bank. He’s got the bus line. He got the department stores. And now he’s after us. Why? Well, it’s very simple. Because we’re cutting in on his business, that’s why. And because he wants to keep you living in his slums and paying the kind of rent he decides. Joe, you had one of those Potter houses, didn’t you? Well, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten what he charged you for that broken-down shack? Here, Ed. You know, you remember last year when things weren’t going so well, and you couldn’t make your payments? You didn’t lose your house, did you? Do you think Potter would have let you keep it? Can’t you understand what’s happening here? Don’t you see what’s happening? Potter isn’t selling. Potter’s buying! And why? Because we’re panicking and he’s not. That’s why. He’s picking up some bargains. Now, we can get through this thing all right. We’ve got to stick together, though. We’ve got to have faith in each other."

hrhjuliet says

indigenous says

Why?

I think this article sums it up better than I could: http://robertreich.org/post/11881926504

I feel this is a vastly underated issue and much more important than half the topics people are currently involved in.

This is one of the dumbest threads yet. No one with any real money is going to subject themselves to US taxes. People with real money are going to buy residences or citizenships in Andorra, Cayman Islands, Rarotonga etc., etc.. There are already US visa's for investment and they never come close to being used. There were something like 4000 e5's issued out of 10000 last year and that was a record year for the program. Less than a third go on to permanent residence.Holy cow batman, out of 9 billion people on the planet there are 1000 or so a year that actually have money and want to be in the US. That's certainly going to drive real estate through the roof. Get a grip.

bob2356 says

This is one of the dumbest threads yet. No one with any real money is going to subject themselves to US taxes. People with real money are going to buy residences or citizenships in Andorra, Cayman Islands, Rarotonga etc., etc.. There are already US visa's for investment and they never come close to being used. There were something like 4000 e5's issued out of 10000 last year and that was a record year for the program. Less than a third go on to permanent residence.Holy cow batman, out of 9 billion people on the planet there are 1000 or so a year that actually have money and want to be in the US. That's certainly going to drive real estate through the roof. Get a grip.

Taxes are low compared to Europe?

Living elsewhere is not as good an option as it might appear in your minds eye?

The premise of the OP is specious and not worthy of any effort as these things work themselves out through exchange. This is because the Chinese e.g. have created a huge imbalance through devaluing the Yuan. So the Chinese are forced to buy American assets because they sold goods for dollars, in other words there is a re balancing of debt from the trade deficit. This is changing because the US is projected to produce as much oil as Saudi Arabia by 2016, because car technology has lowered the need for oil, the trade deficit is projected to be 1/3 of what it is today.

I respect hrhjuliet's comments, but the issue seems a distraction. There is practically no limit to the amount of housing that we can build, so if foreign buyers want to balance our trade deficit by buying houses and apartments here, and paying property tax, that's fine. The real issue in "the zoned zone" is the restrictions on planning and zoning, which create artificial shortages and drive prices above where they should be. Then, having created that problem, local politicians use it as an opportunity for "affordable" (below market) housing programs that tax their enemies, drive prices even higher, and create a class of housing that can be allocated to favored recipients. SF unemployment is already below 6%, but if it ever got to critical mass, SF could achieve full employment by building more housing units and selling them to buyers from around the world. SF has currently somewhere around 300k units in a city of 800k that anchors a metropolitan area of 9 million. SF could build at least another 100k without running out of land, probably another 1 million if necessary, so I don't see why we would need legislation prohibiting foreign buyers.

indigenous says

The premise of the OP is specious and not worthy of any effort as these things work themselves out through exchange.

The premise of the OP is a confused muddle. He talks about limiting real estate purchases then links to an article about real estate purchases for residency. Which does he object to, investment purchases, residency purchases or both? Foreign real estate purchases have been around 10% of transactions for decades. Why worry about it now? I'd worry more about the other 90% of real estate being snapped up by the wall street 1% and being rented back to the 99%.

Even more confused is the part about a law to restrict foreign purchases based on scandinavian and french laws. There are no restrictions on foreigners buying real estate in those countries, so I can't figure out what he is babbling about. I want some of what Stanford professors smoke.

Yup there are shortages created by government, my favorite are the shortages created by rent control.

The politicians with their extensive list of now you are supposed tos only exist where there is a lot of money that can afford such absurdities.

bob2356 says

I'd worry more about the other 90% of real estate being snapped up by the wall street 1% and being rented back to the 99%.

Yup and the situation is created by low interest rate loans from the FED.

indigenous says

Yup there are shortages created by government, my favorite are the shortages created by rent control.

The politicians with their extensive list of now you are supposed tos only exist where there is a lot of money that can afford such absurdities.

I'm sure in the libratarian ideal world the people most dedicated to having no government restrictions would be the first to scream to their local politician if someone built a whorehouse or oil refinary across the street from their house. The fact is most people that complain about "government" have no problem at all using "government" to their advantage. They actually have a problem with other people getting something from "government".

indigenous says

bob2356 says

I'd worry more about the other 90% of real estate being snapped up by the wall street 1% and being rented back to the 99%.

Yup and the situation is created by low interest rate loans from the FED.

This is relevant to laws restricting foreign purchases somehow?

bob2356 says

I'm sure in the libratarian ideal world

Before Bob came to this forum he could not spell libertarian and now....

bob2356 says

people most dedicated to having no government restrictions would be the first to scream to their local politician if someone built a whorehouse or oil refinary across the street from their house.

That is not possible Sacramento will not tolerate competition, because of the aforementioned there will be a plethora of fracking and maybe even refining in the great state of...

bob2356 says

The fact is most people that complain about "government" have no problem at all using "government" to their advantage.

Au Contraire they are too busy running the government gauntlet of now you are suppose tos to think about it, in fact their mantra is don't ever think again that you will ever think again.

bob2356 says

They actually have a problem with other people getting something from "government".

Yes your understanding is truly profound, I might even give you the mutt award for 2014, for the moment.

bob2356 says

1000 or so a year that actually have money and want to be in the US

Yes, it's not a large number, however, what's important about it is that all 1K+ are financially independent. They are not a burden on the system & some of them, may even invest in local companies as a way to diversify their portfolio. Why would any Anglo nation not want that vs having to take in struggling working class types to compete against local labor?

Well for my part I'd like to see anti-discrimination legislation for renters with pets. Too many pets are killed because of a lack of pet friendly rental space, especially in single family housing. And before the haters get worked up at the potential damage, allergens, liability, noise and whatnot keep in mind landlords are ALREADY prevented from discriminating against families with kids:

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/renters-rights-book/chapter5-2.html

Kids are WAY worse than pets in these regards.

Most Asian landlords I encountered in my rental search had a no pet policy. Perhaps forcing such landlords to accept undesirable tenants may dissuade some of the fence sitters from getting into the rental game.

I don't think foreigners should own property in US, either directly or through a complicated set of corporate ownership shuffling.

That's my opinion. Because I know that those who wish to make money will sell their own mother and their country to anyone as long as it makes them money.

FortWayne says

I don't think foreigners should own property in US, either directly or through a complicated set of corporate ownership shuffling.

That's my opinion. Because I know that those who wish to make money will sell their own mother and their country to anyone as long as it makes them money.

Exactly.

FortWayne says

I don't think foreigners should own property in US, either directly or through a complicated set of corporate ownership shuffling.

That's my opinion. Because I know that those who wish to make money will sell their own mother and their country to anyone as long as it makes them money.

Should we extend this to foreign owned corporations operating in the US as well?

Would there be any foreign consequences from this?

Should we outlaw comparative advantage as well?

Ppl, Anglo-Saxon countries, esp the USA, are known for long term political & financial stability, unlike let's say, the middle east, eastern Europe, & even southeast Asia. Thus, currencies like the US dollar and the Pound Sterling are widely held around the globe. And this, once again, is not a recent phenomena but has been going on for much of the 20th century, if not earlier, at least for the British Empire.

With the above stated, I don't understand this wanting to stop the movement of capital between outsiders (them) and Mother England or Uncle Sam? Nations, like Thailand, Malaysia, etc, have all had capital flights, when their respective govts decided to give the middle finger on protecting foreigner's assets. Likewise, do we want everyone to suddenly stop buying US treasuries, assets, currencies, a/o investing in our companies?

The US is not going to have some permanently sound economy by simply selling Wisconsin Ginseng, Midwestern Soy Beans, Vermont Cheddar, Kentucky Bourbon, or Jack Daniels to Asian countries. In fact, that would be an even more third world situation than today, as only the owners of those commodity exporters would make any of the money. The use of automation tools, etc, allow most of that stuff to be made w/o hiring many workers.

indigenous says

bob2356 says

I'm sure in the libratarian ideal world

Before Bob came to this forum he could not spell libertarian and now...

The most profound thing you can come up with is nah, nah you made a typo? Sad.

indigenous says

bob2356 says

The fact is most people that complain about "government" have no problem at all using "government" to their advantage.

Au Contraire they are too busy running the government gauntlet of now you are suppose tos to think about it, in fact their mantra is don't ever think again that you will ever think again.

Have you been toking weed with the captain? That level of convoluted nonsense is usually his exclusive preserve.

didn't read the comment section, so forgive me if this has been mentioned.....Greece, Portugal, Spain, Malta, Latvia (and maybe Cyprus) are now offering what's called "the golden visa". It allows people to get residency cards (valid throughout the EU) if they buy real estate in the named countries. In Greece and Malta, property valued at 250K (euro) will get you this golden visa, in Spain and Portugal it's 500k. Latvia is cheaper, but think they're changing the rules, come 2014. The scheme is similar to what this article is proposing....get foreign money (China, Russia, Middle East) into the country.