Dear Governor Brown, :(
Dear Governor Brown,
I am writing to tell you about a terrible situation we are seeing here in Southern California. My son is attempting to purchase his first home. He has worked hard to have a great credit score and has a good job. First of all, he could not even get pre-approved for a loan until he had been at his job for two years. In the last six months he has seen housing prices increase to a point where he is now priced out of the local market. So he has lowered his expectations and looked farther afield. Now the problem is predatory groups of Chinese investors that are snapping up all the moderately priced housing in those markets. We visited a house last week that was on the market for one day. While we were there, four groups of Chinese women came and viewed the property. They spoke no English and were obviously on a buying spree. That afternoon the property received three CASH offers from these groups and they were ten thousand dollars over the asking price. A first time buyer hoping to get an FHA loan has no chance of being considered, even if they match or exceed the bid price.
It is impossible to outbid a CASH sale. There are no loan closing costs, the escrow is extremely fast, and there is no danger of the appraisal coming in too low to qualify for the loan. My son has been looking for a home for six months, he is priced out of the market and his realtor has told him that every home, even remotely in his price range is getting cash offers from these investor groups.
The stricter rules for home loans is killing the American dream in California. I have watched six homes go up for sale in my neighborhood. All have been sold to Chinese investor groups and are now rental properties. While the rising home prices seem good for the economy, and I am finally not upside down on my mortgage, it is a shame to see the housing market cornered by foreign investment. My realtor tells me that the money for these cash purchases comes from China and the folks buying the homes are family members living here in the US. They find and purchase the homes for the large groups of family and friends back in China.
Something needs to be done! My son is now considering moving out of the state to simply find a home to purchase. This is not the way our state and country is supposed to work! We have seen the pendulum swing from overly laxed lending practices to overly strict requirements that eliminate our citizens from obtaining housing. These policies play right into the hands of these foreign groups. I guess those citizens who cannot purchase a home should find some solace in the fact that they can now RENT the home of their dreams from the Chinese investor group that out bid them for the property.
I am disgusted by this situation. I own a business in California and am finding it more and more difficult to justify keeping my company here. I own several properties and vow never to sell them to a foreign investment group. It is bad enough that the government is being financed by Chinese investors buying up our JUNK bonds, but we as Americans need to take a moral stand and turn down offers on properties that will eventually harm our country and fellow citizens.
I look forward to a reply on this letter.
Sincerely,
Lance Sweeney • President
sweeney + associates
IRRIGATION DESIGN AND CONSULTING
38730 Sky Canyon Drive, Suite C
Murrieta, California 92563
951.461.6830 p • 951.461.6850 f
I am writing to tell you about a terrible situation we are seeing here in Southern California. My son is attempting to purchase his first home. He has worked hard to have a great credit score and has a good job. First of all, he could not even get pre-approved for a loan until he had been at his job for two years. In the last six months he has seen housing prices increase to a point where he is now priced out of the local market. So he has lowered his expectations and looked farther afield. Now the problem is predatory groups of Chinese investors that are snapping up all the moderately priced housing in those markets. We visited a house last week that was on the market for one day. While we were there, four groups of Chinese women came and viewed the property. They spoke no English and were obviously on a buying spree. That afternoon the property received three CASH offers from these groups and they were ten thousand dollars over the asking price. A first time buyer hoping to get an FHA loan has no chance of being considered, even if they match or exceed the bid price.
It is impossible to outbid a CASH sale. There are no loan closing costs, the escrow is extremely fast, and there is no danger of the appraisal coming in too low to qualify for the loan. My son has been looking for a home for six months, he is priced out of the market and his realtor has told him that every home, even remotely in his price range is getting cash offers from these investor groups.
The stricter rules for home loans is killing the American dream in California. I have watched six homes go up for sale in my neighborhood. All have been sold to Chinese investor groups and are now rental properties. While the rising home prices seem good for the economy, and I am finally not upside down on my mortgage, it is a shame to see the housing market cornered by foreign investment. My realtor tells me that the money for these cash purchases comes from China and the folks buying the homes are family members living here in the US. They find and purchase the homes for the large groups of family and friends back in China.
Something needs to be done! My son is now considering moving out of the state to simply find a home to purchase. This is not the way our state and country is supposed to work! We have seen the pendulum swing from overly laxed lending practices to overly strict requirements that eliminate our citizens from obtaining housing. These policies play right into the hands of these foreign groups. I guess those citizens who cannot purchase a home should find some solace in the fact that they can now RENT the home of their dreams from the Chinese investor group that out bid them for the property.
I am disgusted by this situation. I own a business in California and am finding it more and more difficult to justify keeping my company here. I own several properties and vow never to sell them to a foreign investment group. It is bad enough that the government is being financed by Chinese investors buying up our JUNK bonds, but we as Americans need to take a moral stand and turn down offers on properties that will eventually harm our country and fellow citizens.
I look forward to a reply on this letter.
Sincerely,
Lance Sweeney • President
sweeney + associates
IRRIGATION DESIGN AND CONSULTING
38730 Sky Canyon Drive, Suite C
Murrieta, California 92563
951.461.6830 p • 951.461.6850 f
I am glad that we were able to help his son buy right here in Southern California so he did not have to move out of state!
ReplyDeleteSteve Tempel MLO# 254820