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Re: Anyone hear about the 100 floor tower Goldman Sachs is planning on the waterfront?
#1
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Quote:

jcwalkingman wrote:
That's also true.

GS has a tenant (I forget which bank) taking up a substantial portion of its current JC office tower, and it took a huge incentive from the state of New Jersey to get that tenant in place (gotta love how NJ basically passes tax payer money directly to landlords through these Grow NJ EDA incentives...).


RBC (Royal Bank of Canada). It's their US headquarters.

Posted on: 2015/9/14 3:33
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Re: Greece, Puerto Rico and Democrats
#2
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Quote:

hero69 wrote:
so now i see that hilary clinton is in favor of letting msi-managed puerto rico file for chapter 9 which is only available to municipalities. if illinois can not file for chapter 9, why should puerto rico be able to while it also gets benefit of being able to offer lower rates on its debt since interest on pr debt is triple tax free (another subsidy).

one would have thought democrats would have learned something. most of pr's economy is underground and the pr government needs to find a way to tax this.

anyway, if democrats keep up with nonsense of letting pr file bankruptcy, they will be even more in the minority come 2016.



It's not Puerto Rico that would file for Chapter 9, it's some of Puerto Rico's municipal entities, which are no different from municipal entities stateside (such as Jefferson County, Alabama; Detroit or Stockton, California) that have filed for Chapter 9 in recent years except that Puerto Rico's municipalities are currently specifically carved out of Chapter 9 for no good reason. Puerto Rico's debt problem is primarily at the municipal level, though it also has a lot of debt at the commonwealth level as well.

Posted on: 2015/7/8 14:25
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Re: Renaissance or Gentrification?
#3
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Renaissance and gentrification are the same thing described with different political lenses.

Posted on: 2015/6/16 19:37
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Re: High demand in Hoboken and Jersey City drives brutal bidding wars
#4
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Quote:

tommyc_37 wrote:
Yet most of the new buildings going up are rentals. When will we see a large influx of condos onto the market? The housing prices are inflated.


Blame the banks. They (mostly) won't lend to developers for condo construction in New Jersey generally because, (i) as a whole, New Jersey has one of the weakest owner-occupied housing markets in the country, and (ii) they don't separate out the Gold Coast market when determining market conditions for their lending.

Posted on: 2015/6/12 17:00
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Re: Dixon Leasing bought my building, raised rent; what rights do I have?
#5
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Quote:

baxtyre wrote:
I'm not even sure they want to rent out the apartment if I were to leave, since the two below me have been empty since they bought the building in April. I'm guessing they just want me out to renovate it and increase the rent even higher than 2k--as has happened to several other brownstones on my block--or even just sell the building itself.

I also should have mentioned in my original post that I received this letter of an increase yesterday, and they are stating they need a decision by June 30. Not sure if that makes a difference, the fact that they are only giving me 2 weeks.


A decision by June 30 is within the law. They do have to provide you with 30 days' notice to vacate (so, if you turn them down, you can continue occupying and your month-to-month lease would continue until the end of the lease period that is at least 30 days after the decision not to renew), but that's not the same thing as notice of renewal, which does not have any specific time limit under NJ law (and would definitely be fine at anything more than two weeks).

Posted on: 2015/6/12 16:54
 Top 


Re: Dixon Leasing bought my building, raised rent; what rights do I have?
#6
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:
jerseymom wrote: Quote:
user1111 wrote: If its not under rent control then you either agree to pay it or move.
No, that's not the case at all. A rental increase of 50% could reasonably be considered by the courts to be "unconscionable." You have every right to fight this in court, and do not suggest a number yourself if you are amenable to an increase. Let the judge decide what is a "reasonable" amount to raise the rent - if at all. And shame on Dixon for rent gouging like this. They are counting on folks not understanding the laws and just moving away. I would absolutely fight this. Read Below: Unconscionable rent increases (Excerpt) Under the Anti-Eviction Act, a landlord cannot make you pay an increase in rent that is so large that it is unconscionable, meaning that it is extremely harsh or so un- reasonable as to be shocking. Unconscionability is not important to tenants if the apartment, house, or mobile home is covered by a rent control ordinance adopted by the city or township. In that situation, rent control limits the amount of the rent in- crease. Also, if you live in subsidized housing, or receive Section 8, federal law will determine how much your rent can be increased. In all other cases, the only protection you have is that the statute states that the rent increase cannot be unconsciona- ble. Cite: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(f). Whether an increase is unconscionable depends on the facts of each case. The eviction law does not state what makes an increase unconscionable. In deciding disputes between tenants and their landlords over rent increases, judges have not de- fined how large an increase must be in dollars or percentages to be unconscionable. It is clear that some rent increases are unconscionable because the increase is much larger than the prior rent, or because the landlord has asked for many small increases in a short period of time that all add up to a large increase. For example, an increase of over 20 percent, if made by the landlord without a very good reason, could be un- conscionable. Even a five percent increase could be unconscionable if the conditions in the building are very bad and the landlord has failed to make needed repairs. If you believe that the rent increase your landlord is asking for may be unconscio- nable, you can refuse to pay the increase. Your landlord can then take you to court to try to evict you for nonpayment of the rent increase. If the notice ending your lease and increasing your rent is proper, then you can defend against the increase in court by arguing that the increase is unconscionable.
"Unconscionable" increases are only ever found when the rent increase is exploitative, i.e., intended to gouge (charge above market rate) a particular tenant who cannot move for a reason specific to that tenant. Rents at market rate are never going to be found unconscionable, regardless of the percentage increase required to reach it. It would be a profound waste of money to fight the increase on unconscionability grounds.

Posted on: 2015/6/12 16:51
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Re: Of course this is not JC, Bayonne mayor wants to build municipal parking lot
#7
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Home away from home


Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
A parking garage is not a misuse of land. Your car is your second most valuable piece of property a person's own after their home.


Second most expensive =/= second most valuable.

Posted on: 2015/3/4 20:43
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Re: Of course this is not JC, Bayonne mayor wants to build municipal parking lot
#8
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Home away from home


Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
Municipal parking lots in the area, plus another garage being built between 23rd and 24th streets make the spot an ideal place for residents to stroll, dine and shop, Davis said.

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... ne_mayo.html#incart_river


Move to Bayonne, then.

Posted on: 2015/3/3 22:43
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Re: 13 major development projects that could change N.J.'s skyline
#9
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Quote:

neverleft wrote:
The PANYNJ link has ridership by station month/hour data for 2012 to 2015. Interesting.

Traffic & Volume Information

http://www.panynj.gov/path/statistics.html


Ridership was up overall considerably for the year 2014 over 2013, despite being significantly down at Exchange Place and WTC due to the weekend closures. (Ridership was up at every other station.) Of course, a little bit of that is weekend WTC/Exchange Place riders relocating to other stations, but it's still pretty dramatic. (Weekday ridership was up in most stations, but down considerably at Exchange Place and slightly at Newark and Newport.)

On the other hand, ridership was down in January 2015 on January 2014, though it's hard to draw many conclusions from one month.

Posted on: 2015/2/18 21:03
 Top 


Re: Rethink the grand plan of Jersey City !
#10
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

bodhipooh wrote:

As for property rights and rates of ownership in Europe, I think you are again misinformed. For most Europeans, home ownership is very, very hard. And, often time, not even desirable. It's complicated, but in some countries (Germany, for example) renting is actually encouraged by governmental policies. And, in many other countries, ability to borrow money for a mortgage is very hard. Many European acquaintances of mine marvel at the ease with which you can borrow money in the US for a mortgage. In most cases, in their home countries, you have to be able to put down HUGE down payments that make home ownership a very distant possibility for most young people. I have heard that in some countries you must have on hand at least 50% of the total worth of the property. Compare that with our "traditional" 20% which is now lowered to anywhere from 3% to 20%.


This really varies dramatically country to country based on historical and current policies. Some European countries have the highest home ownership rates in the world, peaking at 96.6% (!!!) in Romania.

It's the German-speaking countries that have low home ownership rates (Germany, Switzerland, Austria). Nearly all of the rest of Europe is around or above the US in home ownership (France and Denmark just below, UK and Netherlands, just above, Italy and Spain way above, most of Eastern Europe stratospheric).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ ... es_by_home_ownership_rate

Posted on: 2015/2/12 21:50
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Re: Rethink the grand plan of Jersey City !
#11
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Home away from home


"It is easier to park in NYC compared to JC."

lol. Yvonne, when you have to make blatantly false statements to make your point, you should probably abandon that point and try a different tactic instead, as you usually do.

Posted on: 2015/2/12 14:35
 Top 


Re: Rethink the grand plan of Jersey City !
#12
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Quote:

bodhipooh wrote:
Quote:

Conformist wrote:
The no-tall-buildings rule seems to have been taken as gospel without any evidence by a certain school of urban planning. The article is mostly right, but they've imbued their thinking with the short-building mysticism that has no basis in reality.


I am not well versed on where this whole "only short buildings" philosophy comes from, but I would guess it is heavily influenced by those who look to past architecture as their guiding principle. I totally get that old European architecture can be beautiful (it is no coincidence that almost everyone that visits old European cities is always impressed by the architecture) but to limit ourselves to those types of buildings of that height seems impractical on the face of increasing density and practicality. Again, I definitely believe that a proliferation of buildings with 50+ stories would be impractical and undesirable, but I think 10-20 story buildings are fine and manageable.


I do think that old, beautiful buildings are a great addition, and they are often short.

The problem is really that tall buildings were almost uniformly built in an anti-urban style from the 1950s through the 1990s, and that's harmed the reputation of all tall buildings. No one would claim that pre-war skyscrapers, even enormous ones like the Empire State Building, are bad for their surroundings. They interface with the street level very effectively, such that height is essentially irrelevant. The problem isn't tall buildings at all; it's the anti-urban design philosophies of the mid-late 20th century.

Posted on: 2015/2/11 20:56
 Top 


Re: Rethink the grand plan of Jersey City !
#13
Home away from home
Home away from home


The no-tall-buildings rule seems to have been taken as gospel without any evidence by a certain school of urban planning. The article is mostly right, but they've imbued their thinking with the short-building mysticism that has no basis in reality.

Posted on: 2015/2/11 15:55
 Top 


Re: Valentine's Day Deal: Newark selling sweethearts vacant lots for $1,000
#14
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Home away from home


Probably illegal discrimination to sell only to couples, FWIW.

Posted on: 2015/2/10 0:57
 Top 


Re: Gay Men, Moms Sue Jersey City Jewish Gay Conversion Therapists
#15
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Home away from home


Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
I usually watch the Catholic network EWTN, and a program came on about same sex attraction. It was 5 men and 2 woman. All seven decided to lead a chaste life, although many mentioned they are still attracted to the same sex. The men said an older male had sex with them at 13 or 14 years of age and the women said they were afraid of the abuse they saw in domestic violence with men and started dating women. If there was a link to the show I would post it.
The bottom line is, Catholics do not pray away gayness.
Also, I picked up I believe People's Magazine awhile back waiting in a doctor's office many years ago. It quoted the former partner of Anthony Perkins, apparently, Anthony was getting some flack from the gay community for going for treatment for his "gayness." His former partner told the community to leave Anthony alone because he was unhappy as a gay male. Anthony Perkins was still alive when this article came out. Do I think children should be subjected to this? No, but adults, like Anthony Perkins should have that choice. I understand the Archdiocese of Newark runs that program on living a chaste lifestyle called Courage.


You're a vile human being who needs reparative therapy.

But we knew that already.

Posted on: 2015/2/9 16:29
 Top 


Re: High-rise development at Metro Plaza (Shoprite, BJs, Pepboys)
#16
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Quote:

ianmac47 wrote:
Quote:

tommyc_37 wrote:
Does anybody know if a lot of the high-rise developments in Brooklyn and Queens have as much parking as Jersey City's buildings have typically been including?


This has been a major issue with creating new housing in Brooklyn in Queens -- antiquated parking requirements, especially on smaller buildings -- lead to higher costs for construction and often oddly designed buildings with parking at street level.


Yes--in many places in Brooklyn parking requirements are actually higher than they are in DTJC. Often a 1-1 ratio of parking spaces to units (whereas DTJC is closer to 0.75-1 typically, though some buildings have more). NYC has reduced the number of parking spaces needed in some places but has also been slow to change things.

Pretty sure it's less of an issue in Long Island City because recent rezonings reduced parking requirements substantially. Also, there are fewer entrenched interests of local car owners that demand more parking spaces despite the plethora of empty parking decks than in Brooklyn or DTJC because Long Island City was mostly industrial before the recent boom (and still has abundant street parking, with many streets that have perpendicular parking).

Posted on: 2015/2/6 16:36
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Re: More craziness! NJ Teens Just Learned What Happens When You Start A Business In America
#17
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Quote:

Binky wrote:
There is no source listed for this story. It's third hand and doesn't even include the name of the town so that it could be fact-checked through the police.
In other words, it's been made up from whole cloth to get people worked up into a lather.
I hope you realized that when you posted it.


You should just see "Zerohedge" and ignore. It's all conspiracy theories.

Posted on: 2015/2/3 15:51
 Top 


Re: 1/31 - Massive fire West of JC?
#18
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It's a warehouse on 2nd St in the industrial section of Kearny.

At first I thought the Beacon itself was on fire, which is what it looks like from Paulus Hook.

Posted on: 2015/1/31 19:36
 Top 


Re: NJ W2 Tax Question
#19
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Quote:

jmiz wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
In 1980, I started to work for a Catholic School in NYC. My principal paid taxes to NJ not NY. The following year, I had to pay NY state and NYC taxes. You are required to pay taxes to NY not NJ if you work in NY. My principal made the corrections when NYS came after me.


Hopefully you've changed your ways.

NJ residents do NOT pay NYC Local taxes. That's for residents of NYC only. If you do pay NYC Local as an NJ resident, you should get every last penny of that back.


Long story short: You will only get a NJ W-2 if your employer takes out NJ state taxes. If they don't, you'll receive just a Fed and NY State tax form. You'll still have to pay taxes to both states, but you'll get a credit for most of what you owe on the NJ side.


I think the laws may have been different decades ago. Certainly you shouldn't be paying NYC income tax now.

Posted on: 2015/1/31 19:21
 Top 


Re: Rent Control
#20
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Quote:

brewster wrote:
Your 4 unit prospect will only fall under NJ anti-eviction law. This guarantees lease renewal and restricts raises to something that would not be considered "unconscionable" by a judge. You will also get 5 year "green card" inspections by the state. You would not need to issue rental statements like you describe.

MDM, are you sure about the commercial being considered a unit for RC? When I looked into it years ago while viewing properties, I was told it did not. This makes sense, it's not a "residential housing unit". The big downside to those properties is they are commercial, requiring commercial mortgages with large downpayments and higher rates.


FWIW, my recollection is that the NJ Supreme Court has found a 20% annual increase to not be "unconscionable", so that provision is essentially toothless.

Posted on: 2015/1/29 23:05
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Re: Goldman Sachs Scaffolding
#21
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Quote:

bodhipooh wrote:
Quote:

Conformist wrote:
... they don't plan to stay in New Jersey thereafter, especially since they were never able to convince the top brass to move to New Jersey.


I would be very surprised if this is true. The Goldman Sachs move to JC is not an isolated case. More and more law firms, hedge funds and other financial firms are moving a LOT of their back room operations to locations outside of NYC. With networking technologies that allow for offices over disparate locations to work and collaborate as if they were literally one door over, many firms have come to realize that paying premium rates on office space in NYC (what's the current rate per sq ft in Midtown and/or Downtown!?) is not worth it when you can buy space elsewhere (a client of mine just moved ALL of their support and backroom operations to Florida) for a fraction of the cost. Over the past year or two, many of my clients in Wall Street have leased and/or announced plans to move their staff to JC, keeping a small footprint in NY to use for upper management, some conference rooms and working offices, and for the NYC corporate address.


Not planning to stay in New Jersey doesn't mean moving back to NYC, for what it's worth. At the very least, I'm sure they will shop around again for massive tax breaks.

Posted on: 2015/1/24 16:14
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Re: Goldman Sachs Scaffolding
#22
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Quote:

hero69 wrote:
Quote:

JCMan8 wrote:
Quote:

Monroe wrote:
They give out millions and millions of dollars in bonuses every year to partners, but they can't fix their own building? And Fulop as an ex-employee has no juice to get this eyesore fixed?


I thought the rumor was they were moving out of this building. If true, it explains why they don't want to pay to maintain it.
i thought i read somewhere that gs was looking to build another building in jc,which was surprising given office vacancies in north jersey


Back in 2006 that was true. They still own the site north of their current building and also the adjacent parking lot between Hudson and Greene. But they're not planning a new building any time soon.

My understanding is that the tax incentives they were given by the state in 2002 (actually agreed to with the Whitman administration, I think) to lure them in expire in 2017, and they don't plan to stay in New Jersey thereafter, especially since they were never able to convince the top brass to move to New Jersey.

Posted on: 2015/1/24 14:47
 Top 


Re: Goldman Sachs Scaffolding
#23
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Home away from home


Quote:

dtjcview wrote:
As far as I know - this is an issue with every single high-rise building, period. Ice sheets form on sides of buildings, then it slips off and falls when it starts to melt. Ever seen the yellow tape around the WFC?

You could just as easily die from falling ice from a 5-story building.



I thought it was bits of the facade itself that had fallen, not ice, which would explain why the netting is up year-round.

Posted on: 2015/1/24 1:16
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Re: Massive Edgewater fire
#24
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

Vigilante wrote:
Anyone who has seen the newer construction in downtown JC could tell you how cheap and flimsy the materials are that are used. The only building I would move into is the Hamilton Place building and that's because it was built on the bones of the old St. Francis Hospital.


Most the new buildings are much less flimsy than this. It's the new short buildings that are the real problems because they can use very cheap materials. Avalon Cove here in Jersey City is a classic example. The taller buildings are all reinforced concrete and steel and much more stable and fire-resistant.

Posted on: 2015/1/23 15:30
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Re: Liberty Science Center announces $230 million expansion
#25
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Quote:

dtjcview wrote:
Looks like LHS. I'd say f%%k that and f%%k LSC. I'd rather have LHS over LSC.


The map JCman24 posted shows LHC still around after the development. It's the square right above the new facility, at the corner.

Posted on: 2015/1/23 3:00
 Top 


Re: Liberty Science Center announces $230 million expansion
#26
Home away from home
Home away from home


Which plot of land is this going to be built on? It wasn't clear from the article. The north side of Audrey Zapp, or down by the Liberty Humane Society?

Posted on: 2015/1/23 2:09
 Top 


Re: Massive Edgewater fire
#27
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Home away from home


Quote:

jerseymom wrote:
Quote:

Conformist wrote:
Wasn't there a huge fire at Avalon Edgewater during construction about ten years ago as well? I seem to remember an enormous fire that nearly spread to the nearby oil tanks.



By James Kleimann | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on January 21, 2015 at 8:30 PM, updated January 22, 2015 at 12:42 AM

It's not the first time a massive inferno has engulfed the Avalon apartment complex ?? the 408-unit building overlooking the Palisades Cliffs was under construction on Aug. 30, 2000 when a fast-moving fire ripped through the property and destroyed a dozen surrounding homes before eventually fizzling out.

Though no deaths or serious injuries were recorded, the speed and ferocity of the blaze made it one of the most memorable in the history of Bergen County.

More - NJ.com


Yes, I remember seeing this burning from the West Side Highway at the time. It was dramatic!

Posted on: 2015/1/22 19:35
 Top 


Re: Massive Edgewater fire
#28
Home away from home
Home away from home


Wasn't there a huge fire at Avalon Edgewater during construction about ten years ago as well? I seem to remember an enormous fire that nearly spread to the nearby oil tanks.

Edit: Yes, definitely the same site, though I don't know if it was the same developer. It was about halfway finished when a huge fire consumed the entire structure, and it was just a smoking ruin for a few years before they started construction again. Not sure when Avalon came into the picture.

Posted on: 2015/1/22 17:52
 Top 


Re: Chinese Company in Talks to Buy Jersey City Site:
#29
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

Voyeur wrote:
Quote:

JGJDNYCJC wrote:

Developer/builder is the N.Am. sub of China State Construction Engineering.

http://www.chinaconstruction.us/Overview.jsp?id=2

The units will go to whomever is willing to pay. Given economic and wealth trends in China, there is a strong possibility that many buyers will emanate from China.



Perhaps - we'll have to wait and see.

It's worth mentioning that in addition to the unpleasant maintenance and property taxes that any foreign buyer would face, non-US citizens have 10% of the total sale price withheld at the time of sale as taxable income under FIRPTA if the sale is for more than $300,000 and the property has appreciated since purchase.

This is a tax that most Americans - understandably - are not aware of, but it is a big disincentive for upper-middle class Europeans considering a holiday home in Florida. Many opt to buy somewhere in the Med instead to avoid FIRPTA.


To be clear, FIRPTA actually imposes a lesser obligation than investing in their home market, with exceptions only for foreign investors from countries with extremely low domestic capital gains/income tax rates (e.g., the Middle East). A German investor would prefer to have $1 million of gain on real estate in the U.S. over having $1 million of gain in Germany, as FIRPTA imposes a low tax on capital gains of non-US investors while in Germany their tax rate on that gain would be much higher.

The (normally big) exception is for sales with little gain, or no gain at all, since FIRPTA withholding by default is 10% of the sales price (though this can be argued lower), which the seller will get back to the extent it is in excess of taxes owed but which will still be held by the IRS for months without interest. But this is mostly irrelevant in the immediate NYC area, since most sellers have large amounts of gain on their sales.

Posted on: 2015/1/21 21:21
 Top 


Re: Chinese Company in Talks to Buy Jersey City Site:
#30
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

asny10011 wrote:
Perhaps they may offer it as a EB5 visa program so investors can loan some money to build it and get citizenship at the same time. US immigration program is pretty cheap at 500K. It is relatively cheap compared to other countries who offer their citizenship for sale.


Yes, but EB-5 applies only to investors at the construction/development stage. Once you're talking about buyers, there's no EB-5 visa.

Posted on: 2015/1/21 17:33
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