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EB-5 News Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Exclusive Visas EB-5 Question of the Week
The EB-5 process involves many players. Agents, economists, attorneys, regional centers, USCIS (as well as others) all play specific roles in the EB-5 process. Additionally, the entire process typically takes five to six years to complete. Combining intense timelines (and deadlines) with the multiple interests of the above professionals can be confusing — even chaotic.
And that’s where the EB-5 consultant comes in. The consultant is an EB-5 expert, intimately familiar with all (general and specific) facets of the EB-5 process. The consultant serves as the EB-5 process administrator, managing application submissions, timelines and professional input from all professional sources.
An EB-5 consultant has three primary goals:
- Qualify the Investor for a permanent Green Card under EB-5;
- Minimize Loss of Original Investment (if possible) and;
- Maximize the investor’s best chances of a Return ON Investment (if possible).
EB-5 investments — like all investments – carry significant risk and as such are not guaranteed. In fact, all EB-5 investments, per USCIS, must be made at risk.
In accomplishing the above goals for the client the Consultant focuses on minimizing client risk, proof of jobs (developed by the regional center), I-526 approval, transparency within the transaction, and a well defined (simple) exit strategy. The right EB-5 consultant can be the difference between a predictable (usually successful) result and an extremely stressful experience.
The EB-5 U.S. Immigration program is the quickest way for investors to gain permanent resident status in the U.S. There are two EB-5 programs: Direct and Regional Center. Under either program candidates invest $500,000 to $1 million in return for U.S. (conditional) Permanent Residency for themselves and their family. The investment must result in the development of 10 jobs. Consult with your EB-5 professional as to which program is appropriate for you.
For more on the EB-5 program contact Exclusive Visas. An Exclusive Visas EB-5 Expert will see to it that the investor has all the factual and trustworthy information necessary to give them the piece-of-mind they seek, while making the best of the EB-5 opportunity. Exclusive Visas brings together all the elements of the program, manages timelines, and gives the client the broadest likelihood of success. Contact us
South Florida Business Journal by Oscar Pedro Musibay, Reporter
Date: Friday, October 26, 2012, 6:00am EDT
Foreign investment has been driving the residential real estate market for the last 18 to 24 months, making the sector’s recovery possible, real estate experts says.
And that trend is sure to accelerate as a result of the recent election in Venezuela, as business owners and well-heeled executives continue to look to South Florida as a haven for their money, said Peter Zalewski, who heads real estate consultancy Condo Vultures.
As for other commercial sectors, like office, hotels and retail, investment is not as strong, but interest is growing, said Jon Bourbeau, vice chairman of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
Zalewski says Latin America’s buying appetite is one of the main reasons that South Florida’s inventory of new condos from the last cycle continued to shrink in the second quarter.
Basically, when the economy is good, like in Brazil, wealthy investors look to plan their money in south Florida because real estate in the region is cheaper than in parts of Latin America, said Jorge Perez, chairman of The Related Group.
“Residential is dwelling based,” Bourbeau said. “It’s basically a safety deposit box.”
The sales velocity, however, has slowed in recent months.
New condo sales decreased by 19 percent even as the average price per square foot dropped by 10 percent in the second quarter of 2012 in South Florida’s seven largest coastal markets compared to the first quarter of 2012, according to Condo Vultures report.
Even with the decreased sales velocity, the buying activity still reduced the number of unsold developer units from the last real estate boom to less than 3,400 condos, according to a report based on the Condo Vultures Buyers Guide eBook series.
In the second quarter of 2012, buyers paid more than $233 million – an average of about $420 a square foot – for nearly 450 condo units in projects built since 2003 east of Interstate 95 in the coastal markets of South Florida.
Related Group, which has already launched several condo projects with plans for more, said it is getting middle- and upper-middle-class buyers, largely foreign, particularly in the Brickell Avenue area, who want bigger returns than a bank could offer today.
“So when they come to the United States, they get 1 percent in a CD maybe, so instead of getting that, they say: “Here I buy my $300,000 apartment, I pay for my taxes an my maintenance fees, and I make 2 or 3 percent return.” Perez has told the Business Journal. “And there is going to be in their minds and in my mind an appreciation in these apartments because, comparatively speaking with Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo and Rio, apartments in Miami are a bargain.”
Investors are also pooling their money to buy blocks of distressed units. For example, Vulcan Investment Partners is seeking to leverage $ 150 million in investments from Mexico to buy 1,200 repossessed and foreclosed residences in South Florida.
South Florida developers, not enthused by the high cost of financing from U.S. –based banks and hedge funds, are also actively seeking to take advantage of the federal government’s EB-5 program, which begins a road to citizenship for foreigners who invest a certain amount of money to launch a U.S. company or project from which at least 10 U.S. jobs are created. The program is attractive to developers because the cost to borrow money can be lower. Jeff Berkowitz explained he would look to leverage foreign investment to finance his Gables Station retail project.
He’s not alone: VooDoo BBQ & Grill, a Cajun-Creole barbecue fusion franchise, is opening its first Florida location in Pembroke Pines in mid-November. It has three more on the way, with $5 million raised from EB-5 participants from Norway, Canada, India, Brazil and Austria.
The investor motivation varies, said Joe Sloboda, a partner in Exclusive Visas the Weston-based company that is promoting the foreign investment opportunity on behalf of the Florida VooDoo franchise group, called BBQ Boyz.
“Some are students attending medical school or graduate programs and looking to work in the U.S.A. after graduation, and others are business owners looking to move to the U.S. and open new business here once they get settled,” he said. “Others are simply looking to retire here in the U.S.A.”
Title: EB-5 Summit for Attorneys and Developers
Location: Houston, TX
Description: The EB-5 Summit for Attorneys and Developers will be held on Friday, November 16 in Houston, TX. The speakers will be Robert Loughran, Ignacio Donoso, Charles C. Foster, and others to be announced.
For location, registration, and syllabus, click here.
Date: 2012-11-16