Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

luxury housing (or absentee condos for Chinese buyers).

The popularity of the anti-factual belief that foreign investors hold lots of empty properties is a significant beef I have with much of the performative left, especially when it is used to object to building additional housing.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Adder

The popularity of the anti-factual belief that foreign investors hold lots of empty properties is a significant beef I have with much of the performative left, especially when it is used to object to building additional housing.

I don't know the stats, but this is a reality in a small slice of the market - luxury high rises in Boston, SF, and NY. We've had a bunch of referrals from firms we work with in China, Taiwan and Australia to help them buy some of these, and one of my partners has developed a little guide (in English and Chinese) on buying such properties. I had one I passed on to someone who does that stuff where someone was buying a $30 million apartment in NY. Who does that?

It's almost comical in Boston because until recently we really didn't do luxury highrises. People with money in Boston live in Brownstones or single family houses, not highrises. But lately a bunch have been going up, and they fill almost entirely with people not from here (including a lot of relocated NYers - thanks GE!).

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I don't know the stats, but this is a reality in a small slice of the market - luxury high rises in Boston, SF, and NY. We've had a bunch of referrals from firms we work with in China, Taiwan and Australia to help them buy some of these, and one of my partners has developed a little guide (in English and Chinese) on buying such properties. I had one I passed on to someone who does that stuff where someone was buying a $30 million apartment in NY. Who does that?

It's almost comical in Boston because until recently we really didn't do luxury highrises. People with money in Boston live in Brownstones or single family houses, not highrises. But lately a bunch have been going up, and they fill almost entirely with people not from here (including a lot of relocated NYers - thanks GE!).

It happens in those cities, but it is not a meaningful driver of development activity even there. Yet it is invoked, for example, here, as a reason to block new housing.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I don't know the stats, but this is a reality in a small slice of the market - luxury high rises in Boston, SF, and NY. We've had a bunch of referrals from firms we work with in China, Taiwan and Australia to help them buy some of these, and one of my partners has developed a little guide (in English and Chinese) on buying such properties. I had one I passed on to someone who does that stuff where someone was buying a $30 million apartment in NY. Who does that?

It's almost comical in Boston because until recently we really didn't do luxury highrises. People with money in Boston live in Brownstones or single family houses, not highrises. But lately a bunch have been going up, and they fill almost entirely with people not from here (including a lot of relocated NYers - thanks GE!).

We had to change our laws, I believe, because this has been such a problem here. There was a huge article in the Times a few years back about it. Russians, Chinese, and Brazilians have been using high-end real estate in Manhattan to stash/hide their money. They used corporate entities to hide ownership, so I think the laws have changed to improve transparency.

Units in these ridiculous high-end buildings get sold and I constantly hear stories about how no one even lives in them. And the price inflation fucks with the real estate market here for sure.

TM

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Units in these ridiculous high-end buildings get sold and I constantly hear stories about how no one even lives in them. And the price inflation fucks with the real estate market here for sure.

TM

So those are a vacation place for the time someone might be in the States? Looking at the ads in the NYT each week for the new mega tower with 1 bedrooms starting at $4 million Always wonder who could be buying them-

[Hank Chinaski]

Anyone watching "Years and Years?" I really liked it.....




Spoiler




Until the end- maybe the most disappointing end ever....

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Anyone watching "Years and Years?" I really liked it.....




Spoiler




Until the end- maybe the most disappointing end ever....

I loved it. And then I got the end, where the only reaction can be, WTF?

Emma Thompson was great in it. But they never adequately developed her. It needed to be an 8 part series with an episode devoted to her and her financiers.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

So those are a vacation place for the time someone might be in the States? Looking at the ads in the NYT each week for the new mega tower with 1 bedrooms starting at $4 million Always wonder who could be buying them-

A lot of times not even a vacation spot, just left vacant and unfurnished as a dollar based investment.

In Boston they often get purchased when someone comes to school here. I've seen families buy a whole building, not just a single condo. It's done because they want to get money out of China, and there are limited exceptions to exchange control restrictions on transfers abroad. Those exceptions got narrowed by China about a year ago, so the practice is changing.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

So those are a vacation place for the time someone might be in the States? Looking at the ads in the NYT each week for the new mega tower with 1 bedrooms starting at $4 million Always wonder who could be buying them-

No. They are money shelters for the Russians and Chinese who aren't supposed to be taking their money out of the country, but who have managed to anyway.

TM

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

We had to change our laws, I believe, because this has been such a problem here. There was a huge article in the Times a few years back about it. Russians, Chinese, and Brazilians have been using high-end real estate in Manhattan to stash/hide their money. They used corporate entities to hide ownership, so I think the laws have changed to improve transparency.

Units in these ridiculous high-end buildings get sold and I constantly hear stories about how no one even lives in them. And the price inflation fucks with the real estate market here for sure.

TM

If those people are buying apartments as investments, I don't understand why they don't rent them out.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

If those people are buying apartments as investments, I don't understand why they don't rent them out.

Cuz the amount of money you could get isn't worth the headache? Especially given the investment.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Cuz the amount of money you could get isn't worth the headache? Especially given the investment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTyZY9II7hw


and wait for the last line, as it applies to all things, including the buying apartments issue.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Cuz the amount of money you could get isn't worth the headache? Especially given the investment.

You pay someone to manage it. Anything you make is return on the investment.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

You pay someone to manage it. Anything you make is return on the investment.

Polite answer: the amount you could get compared to the size of the investment makes it not worth while.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

You pay someone to manage it. Anything you make is return on the investment.

Nah, if you're going to invest any time and energy (either yours or your people's) in a property in the US, better to focus on finding a way to get another unit or maybe a building.