Buy a house get a green card free!!

[Kimbear 53]

Just saw this one one of my real estate sites:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203752604576641421449460968.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

bascially the short of it is this:

The reeling housing market has come to this: To shore it up, two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to buy houses in the U.S.

The provision is part of a larger package of immigration measures, co-authored by Sens. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), designed to spur more foreign investment in the U.S.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

This country and its economy needs people who are able and willing to spend a cool half million dollars here. Makes more sense than importing people with empty pockets, or does it?

[Minu Luvs Pinu 2]

Yeah I could see that making sense.

[Kimbear 53]

This country and its economy needs people who are able and willing to spend a cool half million dollars here. Makes more sense than importing people with empty pockets, or does it?

If you want to invite all the terrorists..sure....

[Nina~ 431]

They are talking about a visa, not a greencard. It looks like the people opting for this visa will not be authorized to work and their visa will be void once they sell their property.

[CDN2US 10]

There's a similar visa for those investing the same amount of money in a US business, no?

[Flames9_RN 358]

There's a similar visa for those investing the same amount of money in a US business, no?

Yep, think its an E-1 or E-2 visa.

[Kimbear 53]

From what i've read in all the articles its a permanent resident visa, valid as long as you own the home, AND They'd be allowed to bring a spouse and any children under the age of 18 . Immediately...that is one of the parts that really really irks me.

meanwhile most of us have gone through the process, bought homes, or are attempting to buy a home, and for sure as hell are not able to bring our entire families here immediatel even though we have spent thousands on our immigration journey...

also the residence home only has to cost 250k...the rest can be invested in other homes that you rent out etc...

i mean #######..fix the shite here for the current people living here...

Edited October 26, 2011 by Kimbear

[SapphireDreams 71]

The US needs more people to SPEND lots and lots of money to boost the economy. The economy is really suffering and Americans, even ones that can spend, are not spending and this is really hurting everyone. Unfortunatly the few thousand we spent to get here is small pennies in the grand scheme of things. And, if we aren't bringing large savings to invest when we get here, we're just adding to the population.

Getting people with the cash flow here and spending, especially in such large amounts, poses no risk and also stimulates the housing market and the economy.

I say, let the people who want to spend, spend! Essentially, it IS helping the people who already live here and it will lead to more jobs, more taxes being paid and a better economy.

[Kimbear 53]

The US needs more people to SPEND lots and lots of money to boost the economy. The economy is really suffering and Americans, even ones that can spend, are not spending and this is really hurting everyone. Unfortunatly the few thousand we spent to get here is small pennies in the grand scheme of things. And, if we aren't bringing large savings to invest when we get here, we're just adding to the population.

Getting people with the cash flow here and spending, especially in such large amounts, poses no risk and also stimulates the housing market and the economy.

I say, let the people who want to spend, spend! Essentially, it IS helping the people who already live here and it will lead to more jobs, more taxes being paid and a better economy.

I get that..but how is that going to happen if these people cannot earn money here? how are they going to spend something they are not getting? you dont just buy a house move here get a residency card not work and live a happy live. none of what they are proposing makes sense to me unless they are allowing the kings queens princes richest people in the world etc to buy homes here.

And what aobut the tourist industry? rather than these people visiting here and spending money in hotels etc. they wont be ..thats a loss right there.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I get that..but how is that going to happen if these people cannot earn money here? how are they going to spend something they are not getting? you dont just buy a house move here get a residency card not work and live a happy live. none of what they are proposing makes sense to me unless they are allowing the kings queens princes richest people in the world etc to buy homes here.

And what aobut the tourist industry? rather than these people visiting here and spending money in hotels etc. they wont be ..thats a loss right there.

I can picture snowbirds perhaps being interested. 500K isn't really that much depending on where you are - that buys a nice townhouse in DC

[Darnell 8,478]

as long as it's a cash deal, and not any mortgage, I have no issue with this, at all.

[SapphireDreams 71]

I get that..but how is that going to happen if these people cannot earn money here? how are they going to spend something they are not getting? you dont just buy a house move here get a residency card not work and live a happy live. none of what they are proposing makes sense to me unless they are allowing the kings queens princes richest people in the world etc to buy homes here.

And what aobut the tourist industry? rather than these people visiting here and spending money in hotels etc. they wont be ..thats a loss right there.

If someone has $500,000 sitting around, I'd be shocked to think that they have to work a typical job. I'm sure many of them own businesses that would allow them the flexibility to live in the US 180 days/year OR are priviledged not to work at all due to smart investments. Or, this could be a good fit for retired people. My in-laws purchased their retirement home in full cash and will eventually move to that home and live off their retirements and savings without needing to work, so I'm sure there are other people outside of the US who can afford to do this too.

And in terms of the tourist industry - $500,000 cash investments into the economy are much better than short trips where I'm sure people aren't spending that much, even within a couple of years.

There are a lot of wealthy people in the world that aren't royalty. I say let them in and spend spend spend!

[Kimbear 53]

You assume they will buy things here. well i can tell you if i had that kinda cash, i wouldn't.

You can bet your lifes salaray if i had tha money i'd be buying from Canada all the ketchup chips, montreal style bagels, neo citran, robaxacet, kraft dinner, real coke, etc etc and shipping it to myself in the USA....just like some clothes from ceretain stores up north...buy em online ship em here. If i had the choice and the cash..hells ya..oh and dont forget my damned bagged milk..if i could have that sent here..oh god i would asap. i hate effing hate the milk containers here..among other things.

most of you know this is true..lol i mean how many threads do we have of what we miss from canada on here? for some of us, we dont have certain stores to get items of the same value and quality. so yes IMHO i do not think these new visa's will help..at all. not in the long run anyway.....

[thetreble 19]

Kimbear,

You aren't looking at this one logically. Do you know how many wealthy people there are in Europe, East Asia, etc.? I think that is probably who it is geared more towards, not necessarily Canadians.

I'm with Sapphire on this one. We need people to spend, spend, spend! That's the only way we are going to pick ourselves up out of this mess. My house is now worth 100,000 less then what I owe. That happened in less than 2 years. I need rich people to bail me the F out!