Posted on 09/28/2013 9:58:32 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
The continuing influx of well-heeled homebuyers from Asia has Bay Area real estate firms competing for a lucrative and growing slice of the region's residential market. "It has gotten big enough to where people are starting to pay attention to it," said James Yang, an agent with the Sereno Group.
One Palo Alto real estate broker, Ken de Leon, bought a Mercedes-Benz van that seats 14 and is using it for tours of Palo Alto and Los Altos with a Mandarin-speaking agent.
Palo Alto has become a point of interest for many mainland Chinese shopping for a second home or planning to move to the area...people are cashing in on gains from a run-up in real estate values in China over the past decade.
On a recent weekend, the van passed the home of Steve Jobs and the garage where David Packard and William Hewlett founded HP. Each time the van passed a school a second de Leon agent called out its Academic Performance Index score. The tour ended at a home in Los Altos Hills listed at $3.998 million...a week later, it had drawn three offers.
De Leon said he has sold at least 20 homes to buyers from China in the past year, usually in the $1.5 million to $2.5 million range. Roughly half are buying as an investment, a third are buying because of the area's highly rated schools and one-fifth are buying second homes.
"Compared to Asian prices, Palo Alto is considered pretty dirt cheap," said Kenny Weng Kong Lo, general manager of Intero Real Estate Services' Hong Kong office.
Intero agent Jinny Ahn: "People are cashing out their property and moving money to the United States. Three (million) to $4 million is considered not that expensive."
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I guess it was naive to think that all the money we send to China wouldn't be recycled back to the US. It was bad enough that the Chinese bought up so much of our profligate government's debt, but it seems worse to have them use all the money we sent them over decades to snatch up our properties and drive our housing prices way beyond the stratosphere. We just traded low prices for TVs, VCRs, DVD players, cameras, and clothes for unaffordable houses and new neighbors who don't speak English.
It is shocking to think that our Silicon Valley housing prices are "cheap" to the Chinese.
DeLeon Realty Director of Asian Operations Kim Heng, second from left, addresses potential buyers during a tour of a house in Los Altos Hills by DeLeon Realty, for visiting Chinese buyers, in Los Altos Hills, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group)
Qian Yao Zhang, from front left, and Xin Juan Huang, from Shanghai, and another Chinese couple from Shenzhen, (in background, who declined to be identified) pass an upcoming listing from DeLeon Realty during a tour of Palo Alto and Los Altos by DeLeon Realty for visiting Chinese buyers, in Palo Alto, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group)
I remember these same lamentations about the Japanese in the '80s. I also remember how that worked out.
Foreigners, Asians, Muslims etc., have been buying all the fast food franchises, greedymarts etc...
All this while the American private sector middle class gets economically gang banged by government.
Good point. But they didn’t drive real estate prices to the stratosphere like the Chinese are doing. There was more business investment.
I wouldn't go back there on a bet.
The Chinese can have it.
In the booming wino country real estate markets as of this past month Asian buyers were number 3 in buying expensive homes.
#1. Texas buyers
#2. NY buyers as they continue to flee NY’s taxes and miserable cold winter weather, hurricanes and July/August dog days to go with those ever increasing high taxes.
#3. Asians, often whom, we would call senior citizens, buying a second or maybe a third home.
#4, A few Canadians trying to escape their winters.
Most of the time, the above buyers pay cash for the homes, often starting at a Million $’s with bidding wars. After buying the home, they will contract with contractors for upgrades and sometimes take out a home improvement loan. As a result, good contractors, bath and kitchen re doers are booked for months.
In the booming wino country real estate markets as of this past month Asian buyers were number 3 in buying expensive homes.
#1. Texas buyers
#2. NY buyers as they continue to flee NY’s taxes and miserable cold winter weather, hurricanes and July/August dog days to go with those ever increasing high taxes.
#3. Asians, often whom, we would call senior citizens, buying a second or maybe a third home.
#4, A few Canadians trying to escape their winters.
Most of the time, the above buyers pay cash for the homes, often starting at a Million $’s with bidding wars. After buying the home, they will contract with contractors for upgrades and sometimes take out a home improvement loan. As a result, good contractors, bath and kitchen re doers are booked for months.
Yep. Japan had a phony currency backed by a dimwitted government.
They are still stuck in the 80’s because of it.
Let em buy real estate. it’s not like they can take it back to China and it’s good for our economy.
Here’s an example of how free trade works in the long run.
Their standard of living goes up, ours goes down.
This is how free trade works. The Chinese sell us stuff and then come to the US to spend the money. It works. But, don’t overlook every opportunity to speak to these Chinese visitors and the immigrants, too, about American culture and the pre-2008 Constitutional government that made the US the economic success it has been. Let them know that socialists are a threat to their investment. Use the example of the decline of Britain and of their own obstacles due to socialists. They will not be comfortable responding, but they get the message.
Maybe if we’re lucky they’ll hire us to be their gardeners and maids.
Wait all those jobs are taken by illegals errr undocumented workers.
” it’s not like they can take it back to China and it’s good for our economy.”
And their children and grandchildren will be prosperous, hard-working, and successful American citizens.
Yep.
Red apples and oranges. Free Traitors didn't ship all our wealth creating jobs to Japan. Japan was rich and we were rich. Our jobs were sent to Red China so now we are poor and Red China is rich.
And their children and grandchildren will be prosperous, hard-working, and successful American citizens that consistently vote Democrat.
Absolutely...Eventually all the Hispanics, illegals and most white people will be working for those from the Mideast, Muslims and Asians etc....
Strip the assets out of your company, get your family set in the US and try to time getting out of China before they execute you.
“American citizens that consistently vote Democrat.”
That’s probably true of the city dwellers. It’s not true of the more successful suburban Chines-Americans. That seems to be the case with almost all city people. But we’re not talking about those types here. This is about wealthy, successful people. I know many Chinese-Americans. They are all doing well as engineers, accountants, computer people, and businessmen and women. Their kids are all at the top of the class in highschool and college.
SOLD,
TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER!
Not a chance. By and large, we are too fat,spoiled & lazy.
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