Daylife/AP Photo by Al Behrman
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Attracted by the real estate plunge on the other side of the globe, Chinese homebuyers are gearing up for visits to the United States in February to buy cheap homes.
A pioneering house-buying team of 20 to 30 people, organized by Soufun.com, one of the largest real estate portals in China, is scheduled to leave for the United States on Feb. 12.
The U.S. mortgage crisis and the downturn in the global economy have presented people with a golden opportunity, said Liu Jian, an official of the Beijing-based real estate portal.
The trip, which costs up to 25,000 yuan (3,500 U.S. dollars) per person, will focus on cities with huge ethnic Chinese populations including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York, Liu said.
The applicants include real estate professionals who want to investigate in the U.S. real estate market, and parents who want to buy houses for their children studying or to study in the United States.
I imagine they’ll pay cash. In U.S. dollars.
What is a “rich chinese person” except someone who really has been hosing his fellow chinaman?
Not to put too fine a point on it: the rich are mostly disgusting, BUT even more disgusting are the social policies and mores that allow such disparities to develop.
May gawd judge them all asap.
Great. A bunch more cheap-ass, weird-ass Chinese people ruining our country! Maybe we can get them to build the tracks for our high speed rail.
And lay them on it. BTW why does America support communism?
I see all the small-minded parochialistos are here.
You left out skin color and lack of godliness – as long as you’re listing all the reasons most of the world holds the America First crowd in contempt.
# 3 Ah so so so said, “BTW why does America support communism?”
It is no longer a communist country. That is an economic system. China is just a totalitarian regime that allows a certain amount of free market enterprise.
They have come to lay claim to our assets.
Not surprising.
Of course, they are not buying homes to live in, just to rent until the housing market recovers.
In 3-4 years, when the home pricing has increased maybe 30%, they will sell and take a nice profit.
BTW, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that the US is economically doomed, and here is why. (And I am speaking through direct experience).
Say we have two companies, American and Chinese, which produce a clock which is identical in every way.
Now say the American company sells the clock for $30 and makes a $10 profit. ($20 production cost + $10 profit).
The American company has higher labor cost, utilities cost, and materials cost than the Chinese company. China labor is less than 1/6th US, China hugely subsidizes utilities cost (nearly 50% less than the US), and sells raw materials at less than market price when the Government obtains them.
So, given all this, the price to manufacture the same clock for the Chinese company is -say- only $15. (In reality it would be more like $10-$12).
Now, what about the $10 profit for the American company? In America the going tax rate for the vast majority of companies is 35%. So our American company looses $3.50 in taxes, giving a real profit on $6.50 on a $30 sale. Not bad, eh?
But our Chinese company only pays 17.5% total tax, (half the US rate).
So our Chinese company only pays $15 for manufacturing and $7.50 taxes for a total profit of $7.50.
Now the Chinese company can discount the clock $1.00 and keep the same profit!
So, all things being equal, which would you buy, the $30 American clock or the $29 Chinese?
For most Americans, the Chinese one. This is why Wal-Mart is the mega corporation it is.
The only way to fix this horror is to subsidize the utilities like China does and cut corporate federal income tax in half.
Which is never going to happen, and so America will never catch up, ever.
Did I mention that India has cut their corporate tax rate to only 12% to compete with China?
#7 Correct analysis. You forgot one thing. China also has NO capital gains tax.
These are ALL point that libs generally ignore. Weird.
#5 – I believe the word you are looking for is fascism.
#8 – no capital gains tax, but if you don’t pay off the bureaucrats and party officials, you may find all your capital gains confiscated by the state.
#7–Ah Yea–so what you are really arguing for is more expensive oil so that the shipping cost to china raises the cost of the clock to $31 dollars?
-or- should US Government take the burden of healthcare cost off the backs of business and spread it to everyone?==or just do away with healthcare all together and we can start holistically eating weeds and bear balls?
-or- its all temporary until the chinese people get tired of being screwed?
Competitive advantages ebb and flow.
Maybe now we’ll get some decent dry cleaning!
I can’t believe someone didn’t say it yet:
I, for one, welcome our new Chinese overlords.
We have laid our children to the altar of the global economy to be slain, and all for some stock investments and a mcMansion.
It still, after all is our fault. We elect the leaders. One interesting side effect of the push for fair clean voting rules is that remarkably conservative people get elected, and they ask the questions that career politicians don’t ask.
A whopping 300 Chinese, eek. This is nothing but a publicity stunt.
Thousands of plants in China are shutting down, it’s about to get very bad over there.
Here’s an answer, and admittedly not a great one.
More expensive oil won’t work (of course). Shipping a clock in a bulk container from China to the US is only ~ $0.11 – $0.15 each.
So increasing the price of oil to the point of crippling incoming shipments also cripples our exports, not to mention $50/gallon gasoline.
“should US Government take the burden of healthcare”? What the US government needs to do is stop piling on the pork like we can afford it. No more 860 billion dollar “stimulus” packages so full of pork that it gives Spam a heart attack.
So when they get tired of “being screwed” (say, in 100 years or so?), well there is always India or Burma or Vietnam or Cambodia or …
Simply, America is uncompetitive. The world doesn’t need us anymore.
Ah Yea–I hate it when you are being simple minded===and right.
#15
“Thousands of plants in China are shutting down, it’s about to get very bad over there.”
A vastly overstated problem, and here is why.
The economy of China was growing by more than 10% annually as compared to less than 2% for the US.
Now their economy has shrunk to only 7% growth, a net loss of 3%! That means a loss of jobs, factories closing, etc.
But… that’s still a huge net growth of 7%! Since when has the US approached a 7% growth rate??
So who, overall is in the better position?
#17 bobbo. Thank you!
Less is Best!
So who, overall is in the better position? /// USA of course. Good to see you are fair to your competition. Always simple minded–half time right, half time wrong.
Good man~!
LOL! Of Course! 🙁
Now wait, didn’t this happen before with the arabs? #15’s got it right though small potatoes, the arabs were buying office buildings.
Personally I think China’s prospects are good, times of crisis or not there are still alot of consumers out there, addicted consumers, they want more stuff. Name brand stuff, premium stuff, maybe not. Cell phones, digital cameras, multimedia players, in a word (or 2) consumer electronics. Check ebay or the direct online sellers, quality stuff at bargain prices is a proven formula for success.
Don’t worry. The market will sort it out. Nothing to see here.
It seems fair enough.
oh great, international house flippers. Another reason to rent.
Rich people here or there are the same. How do you think most of them got rich? The “fair” and “honest” business way? That’s news to me *shrug*
As for China doing well, it isn’t. The numbers might have you thinking otherwise but 99% of you don’t realize what the little percentage drops means. You’re talking about the poor, those being taken advantage of for others to get rich and richer.
They can’t go home cause there’s no work there, their pay is being cut from $50/month to half of that, they can’t find work in the same city cause there’s none, they can’t beg because Chinese residents won’t give you a dime, you can’t get government assistance because there is no building to be found that could help you, and lastly the small percentage is probably larger than your entire city. And yes I know what’s happening there due to my business trips.
If US didn’t have the services they do to help those in need I don’t think I be reading these smart-ass know-it-all attitudes with many of you here.
#18, all well and good with numbers it seems but
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13012736
# 26 The0ne said, “Rich people here or there are the same. How do you think most of them got rich? The “fair” and “honest” business way? That’s news to me *shrug*”
I know about 20 millionaires. All of them worked their way up by building businesses that gainfully employ people. So, your questions is nonsensical.
I think we should consider one thing about the Chinese growth rate. They HAVE to grow quick in order to include more poor peasants from the interior, into the society. There is a huge social debt in China, that so far has been addressed (even if poorly), by this growth. I sincerely think that social unrest would flourish without an explosive rate of growth.
Their internal market is big, but not enough to keep the engine working, as they have a HUGE population not included in the consumers population.
China is an exporting country that will face difficulties with the downturn. Luckily they have a big reserve of cash. If the government is smart they can do well, but they will be hurt deeply anyway.
#28, Paddy
Well I appreciate your defensive stance, a business is there to make money. Your 20 million friends may be good people but I highly doubt that the company or companies they have are 100% free of unfair practices, wages, competition or what have you. Give me an example of one of the businesses and I’ll do research to prove it.
And lastly, I said “most” not all. I can appreciate someone who’s worked hard to get where they’re at and in a few instances has given back to the people/community/etc without any tie-ins. But I’m not cynical enough to say the all are good or bad.
# 30 The0ne said, “Your 20 million friends may be good people but I highly doubt that the company or companies they have are 100% free of unfair practices, wages, competition or what have you.”
And you base your belief on evidence or just your uneducated opinion?