Thread: Is giving Foreigners special investment visas the answer to our Real Estate problems?

Other countries, including our neighbor in Mexico, promote foreign investment by making it easier to emigrate as long as you invest in property there? This article from Foxnews suggests that if we let investors retire here after buying property, it will help the US domestic real estate market rebound. What do you think?

NOTE: 1 million Americans are already taking advantage of generous government concessions in Mexico...reply to this post or contact me through my profile if you would like more info.

Cheers, Thomas


Realtors Say Foreigners Hold Key to Real Estate Revival

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
By Phil Keating at Foxnews.com

American real estate agents say there's a surefire way to help the country's plummeting real estate market: Let foreigners retire here after they buy.
Miami agent Tony Macaluso is leading the charge to create a special new "Silver Card visa" that would ease restrictions on older immigrants — but the National Association of Realtors, Congress and the State Department aren't biting just yet.
"This idea would be for someone who is over 50, who is retired, who has proof of income, who is not relying on our health care system or our welfare system," Macaluso told FOX News.
"When they come here it would be on a non-work visa, so they would be retired [and] their wealth that they are earning in another county would be spent here in the United States. And if there is something we could clearly use is more money coming into the country," he cotinued.
Foreign nationals who no longer work, but desire to spend their golden years in the United States can currently buy property here — and many do.
But most of them have only tourist visas and must leave the country every six months and wait a few months more before they can re-enter the United States.
"I don't want to leave," said French citizen Estelle Nezel, who owns property but lives in the U.S. on a tourist visa. "I just want to stay here."
Other countries have realized the economic value of foreigners and the retirement capital flowing in to their nations.
Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica all encourage wealthy retirees to live in their respective countries with special visas, and even offer tax incentives. Partly because of this, an estimated 1 million Americans have retired to Mexico, 65,000 to Panama and another 35,000 to Costa Rica.
Nezel says she's an example as to why it makes sense.
"If I stay here, I rent a car, I go shopping, I spend money. I'm not taking anything from America. On the contrary, I'm just giving," she said.
While the National Association of Realtors has studied the "Silver Card" idea, it has yet to take a stand on it. The U.S. State Department, which issues more than 80 different types of visas, doesn't comment on proposals before they're mandated by Congress.
In the meantime, while Macaluso and other real estate agents struggle to find home buyers in dire economic times, they continue to work to persuade anyone who will listen of the advantages of a "silver card visa" for the United States.
"We need to step up to the plate saying, 'This is a really great place to be. We have a fine country we would like you to share. We would love you to come and spend your retirement funds here within our borders,'" Macaluso said.

I think this is a problematic solution. As China is investing in more and more real estate in Africa, it will be the winner if and when oil is found under those deserts. In the United States, that won't necessarily be the issue, but with more dollars being siphoned off to China, America is already owned by a foreign government. The future success of the nation depends on reversing that trend, not continuing it.

It's not happening because a foreign US visa holder in the US has much less rights than in other countries, like Mexico.
Plus, there are a lots of other advantages to go elsewhere: less crimes, more rights, more products in stores, less discrimination, better healthcare (and cheaper), less monopole, etc...etc...etc...
Foreigners who come in the US are here to make business, doing stuff that does not exist in the US but exist everywhere else.
You are wayyyyyyy more welcome to retire in the Bahamas, Mexico, Spain, Maldives, Bora-Bora than in the US where discriminition and racism are omnipresent, unfortunately...

Codythebest,

Excellent points.

It is not the answer to ending our troubles in the real estate sector. This problem is not just a U.S. problem either it is a world wide problem right now. And it will continue and snowball further into other world financial systems if the secondary market for mortgage backed securities is not re-established. The so called bail out funds should have been used to do this but the orginal 700 billion has been nearly squandered. It should not have been used to prop up banki books and the givernment should not purchase up all the securities themselves as this first takes to long second the U.S. government has no business owning financial assets.

What should have been done is the treasury should have offered to make 70% loans to anyone who purchased these mortgage backed securities as long as the investor put up the other 30% in their own money. The the investor would be on the hook for the full 30% before the federal government took any kind of loss. Next all the securities should have been offered in auction like fashion. Going forth in this fashion whould reestablish a market price for these securities so that our mortgage market could get back to functioning. Right now almost non of these securiteis are trading and that is preventing banks from having the cash on hand to absorb the defaults and make new loans. If the banks do not make new loans the whole system will collapse.

Yes, at this time we need all the influx of capital we can. Remember, it
will be years till everyone who lost there home will have repaired their
credit. There is not enough real estate investors to possibly take on all
the mortgage and tax foreclosures that we have and are still to come.

ive living with my boyfriend for over 3 years and i am thinking about purchasing an investment property under my name only. If we break up will my boyfriend be able to claim half of the property? i live in Australia by the way.

Originally Posted by CipGrode

ive living with my boyfriend for over 3 years and i am thinking about purchasing an investment property under my name only. If we break up will my boyfriend be able to claim half of the property? i live in Australia by the way.

No. For 2 reasons:
1) He's your boyfriend, not your husband.
2) You'll be alone on the deed.