It is not easy being a citizen of India who wants to live and work in the U.S. and become a legal permanent ...
(CNN Money) — Facing a crackdown on their favorite visa to enter the United States, hundreds of wealthy ...
In a reversal from last year, the U.S. dollar has strengthened against other major currencies in 2018, ...
EB-5: The Best (and Only?) Option for Many Indian Nationals
It is not easy being a citizen of India who wants to live and work in the U.S. and become a legal permanent resident and possibly a citizen of the U.S. We know – – we represent many of them.
Topics: EB-5, India, USA, Immigration, H1-B, FD+
Upbeat real estate execs in D-FW are more bullish on 2018
Commercial real estate execs are traditionally an upbeat bunch.
The latest read on the industry's mood forecasts another strong year in 2018 -- even better than previously expected six months ago.
Commercial real estate execs credit the federal tax cuts, which benefit many companies and high net worth investors with helping to boost their attitudes about the rest of this year.
The Urban Land Institute surveyed four dozen of the commercial property sector's top economists and analysts for its semi annual economic forecast.
Topics: real estate, Dallas, Texas
Proposed corporate tax hike in California could drive more businesses to Texas
An attempt by California politicians to raise the state’s corporate income tax rate will drive more businesses from the Golden State to Dallas-Fort Worth and other locales with similarly business-friendly laws and policies, a top site selection consultant and researcher predicts.
“I’ve got to tell you this has just caused an uproar out here,” Joseph Vranich, president of Irvine, California-based Spectrum Location Solutions, told the Dallas Business Journal in an interview Monday. “If anything is representative of cruel and oppressive treatment, this has reached new levels.”
Vranich was referring to an attempt led by Democratic State Assembly members in California to raise the state’s business taxes in response to President Trump’s federal tax overhaul.
The measure would more than double the state’s corporate income tax rate, giving California the nation’s highest rate of 18.84 percent, up from the current rate of 8.84 percent. The legislators who sponsored the California amendment characterized it as “middle class tax justice” and argued that, given federal cuts in the corporate tax rates, businesses could afford to pay more in California taxes.
The proposed California rate would be three times the current median rate nationwide. It would raise corporate taxes on California companies with revenues higher than $1 million. The state tax hike would be for an amount equivalent to half what they received from the federal tax cut.
Vranich in November 2015 released research indicating roughly 9,000 California companies moved their headquarters or diverted projects to out-of-state locations in the prior seven years, and most of those went to Texas.
Vranich said he hasn’t updated the number of California move-outs since the 2015 report, but he senses growing dissatisfaction in the phone calls he gets from companies considering a move.
Topics: Taxes, Texas, Corporate Tax, California
D-FW dodges overbuilding thanks to steady flow of new jobs
The current real estate cycle is now well past middle age.
Analysts are pondering the life expectancy for North Texas' building boom.
By now in most building cycles, it's typically time for overbuilding. So far there's no sign of a glut building in Dallas-Fort Worth's development sector.
"With D-FW topping charts across U.S. construction totals, some question if, or when, this new supply will outstrip demand," CBRE research director Robert Kramp says in a new report. "The market is different now than past expansion cycles for several key reasons and it impacts all major asset types across D-FW - mainly due to job growth and population gains."
With almost 400 people a day moving to North Texas to fill new jobs, there's so far room in the local real estate market for more building, Kramp concludes.
About 40 percent of the office buildings under construction in North Texas are already spoken for by tenants. And 50 percent of the warehouses being built are already leased.
"By the close of 2017, 22 new office projects were in the pipeline totaling 4.4 million square feet, with the majority being speculative," Kramp found. "D-FW industrial developers delivered 26.8 million square feet of industrial space in 2017 -- a market record; 20.6 million square feet was absorbed immediately.
"Developers delivered 102.3 millions square feet since 2009, more than the total existing Austin and San Antonio industrial market inventories combined."
While North Texas employment growth is forecast to slow to below 100,000 jobs this year, the economy is still expected to be one of the strongest in the nation. It should be enough to support the current pace of building.
"Since 2010, D-FW has seen 16.7 million square feet of new office space completed," Kramp said. "Meanwhile, 96.7 million square feet of industrial space was added to the Metroplex inventory and 115,499 multifamily units constructed.
"No wonder D-FW developers have been busy."
By Steve Brown, Real Estate Editor. Original article published on April 2, 2018 and a link to it can be found here.
Topics: real estate, Employment, jobs, EB-5
A winning opportunity
For students planning to study in the U.S., the EB-5 Visa offers several advantages over the F-1 Visa.
The American Dream has captured the fancy of many, especially those Indians aspiring to live and work in the U.S. Moreover, with limited options and tough competition in the motherland, many choose education as a stepping-stone towards starting a new life abroad.
One of the reasons why international college applications keep pouring into the U.S. is the multicultural environment that enables like-minded foreigners to integrate socially and adapt easily. This is why, even while Britain and Germany are in the running as choice destinations for overseas students, according to a study by the British Council’s Student Decision Making Survey, 38% prospective students chose the U.S. to enhance their career prospects.
According to World Education Services (WES), the U.S. is the most favoured destination among overseas Indian students, with close to 1,00,000 prospective Indian students getting admitted to various institutes every year. Most of these students travel to the U.S. on
a F-1
Visa — a student visa that allows them to stay in the country for one more year after their course, to find suitable employment.
Added advantage
While the F-1 Student Visa is the first choice for Indian aspirants, it comes packaged with its own list of worries, spanning from changing visa rules to getting a job within the U.S. This is where the lesser-known EB-5 Investor Program is fast picking up, especially since resident tuition under the EB-5 Visa is often one-third the cost at many participating public universities in lieu of the F-1 Visa.
The EB-5 Investor Program is a winning opportunity for HNIs looking to obtain permanent residency to the country. Immigration benefits apart, EB-5 investors gain attractive benefits after relocation to the U.S. The EB-5 investor gets a Green Card (Legal Permanent Resident status), helping them receive almost all of the same benefits as anyone who is a U.S. citizen. Furthermore, the investor and their family will have equal opportunities available to their children and succeeding generations.
For those who qualify, the EB-5 Investor Visa Program offers many increased advantages over the traditional F-1 Student Visa. No annual renewals, fees, or expenses are required under the EB-5 Visa because it is permanent, rather than extended annually. Also, students have the option of changing their course details, selecting new courses, and applying for internships. Students have no work limitations and may continue to reside and work permanently within the U.S. after graduation, without restrictions. After five years of permanent residency in the U.S., the EB-5 Visa enrollees are eligible for U.S. citizenship automatically.
David Gunderson, the writer, is founder and CIO of US Freedom Capital.
Original article featured in The Hindu on April 01, 2018 and a link to it can be found here.
Topics: EB-5, F-1, Visa, Education, USA
Study shows Dallas' rental market has balanced supply, demand
Rent growth over the past year show supply and demand are relatively aligned in Dallas’ rental market.
That’s according to a report by Apartment List, which showed year-over-year rent growth in the city was 1.8 percent. Some increase in rental prices is healthy and a matter of inflation, according to Chris Salviati, a housing economist with Apartment List.
Dallas’ rent growth over the past 12 months and flat growth in the past month show builders are keeping up with more demand for rental units in the city, maintaining a healthy and vibrant rental market.
“Dallas has a strong economy with solid job growth driving demand, but the area has also been building a good amount of new housing to keep up with that demand,” Salviati added. “For those reasons, I expect that rents in Dallas will continue to increase, but a relatively modest pace.”
Despite any anticipated increases, the average rent in Dallas for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,100, below the national average of $1,170. And rents are growing at a slower rate than the country’s average of 2 percent and Texas’ average of 2.1 percent year over year.
“Dallas has been and continues to be relatively affordable compared to most other major cities in the country,” Salviati said. “Despite experiencing increasing rents, growth over the past year has actually been slower than the national average.”
One factor that could change Dallas’ supply-and-demand ratio is an influx of new residents from a major corporate relocation, like Amazon’s HQ2. Landing the campus would bring roughly 50,000 jobs to the region.
But even that would raise rents only slightly, between 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent annually, Apartment List estimates.
Topics: real estate, Dallas, Texas
Salary you need to afford the average home in your state (2018)
The salary you need to afford the average home in your state (Based on a 30-year mortgage with a 10% down payment).
Topics: USA, FD+, EB-5, Immigration, real estate