Posted on 03/03/2007 8:39:09 AM PST by rellimpank
I used to work in the "letter of credit" business. One of my clients owned the sole franchises in Venezuela of three major US fast food chains, among other businesses. Taking advantage of favorable laws governing foreign investment in the U.S., he started opening a chain of bakeries throughout South Florida, not so much with the intention of going into the bakery businesses, but as a means to transfer his assets to the US.
rich Americans head to Florida to avoid growing tax burden of Big Blue states.
Where are we going to go after the Democrats finally have their way?
These are the kind of people we should be bringing in, not the high school dropouts the "open borders" crowd is trying to bring in.
Thanks for the report - very interesting! Of course I'm not surprised at the hatred for Hugo, but I am encouraged that the conversations were in English.
Looks like the next Presidential election won't be quite so close in Florida, although I suppose it will take a while for them to get voting rights :-(.
The only bad news is that Florida real estate values will wind up going up, and I really wanted to be in a position to buy some of my own before that happened :-(.
D
Too funny. A country getting too rich and causing massive inflation.
Zimbabwe must be a paradise.
Actually, the engineers are leading the way. When he fired 20,000 oil company workers, it included a huge percentage of the engineering talent in the country. They can't work for the government, and they can't work for any company that works for the government, which leaves them little choice but to emigrate.
They're scattering to the winds, going where ever there is work to be had, but a good percentage of them are headed here. Some are claiming refugee status (since a lot of them were caught up in the anti-Chavez movement), some are establishing businesses here in order to qualify for a visa. Some are in the middle east working, others in Mexico, others finding work with oil contractors all over the world.
It truly is Venezuela's loss, and our gain. They are talented folks, and kicking them out of the country is a big reason Venezuela can't even make their OPEC quota.
Any takers?
Foreign workers or domestic?
A very real possibility, with strong parallels. The South American upper class and professional classes are mostly of European descent. The poor classes from which Chavez gets most of his support are mostly native. The Venezualans are driving the whites out
A society needs some minimum critical mass of high-IQ individuals in order to function as a modern society. Venezuela is busy trying to drop below that critical point
PDVSA, the Venezuelan government oil company, was at the center of the opposition movement against Chavez. Both management and the unions were opposed to Chavez and very nearly succeeded in unseating him.
Once he got firm footing, he fired 18,000 (I said 20,000, I was rounding up) from top to bottom. He pretty much wiped out the engineering and management ranks. Since a lot of the lower ranking people live in company housing, that means a lot of them lost their homes as well.
Some of the engineers were able to find work with the US companies operating in the country for a while, but eventually the Chavez government told them to fire the ex-PDVSA workers on their payroll or else.
Others tried to start their own companies, but the oil business in Venezuela is a state enterprise, your client is the government. No one who was part of the opposition can be on the payroll. I know of one guy, for example, who started a brick-making enterprise. Since one way or the other their main clients would be associated with the government, he had to put a friends name on the paperwork, and remain a secret and silent partner in his own company.
The movement to remove Chavez legally was centered around a recall election that was preceded by petition that was signed by several million voters. The government took that petition, which had names and ID numbers, and put it into a data base. When you go into any government office for any service, they can click in your ID number, and know immediately if you are opposition or not. The data base has been pirated, you can buy it for $2 in the street. So, basically, everyone knows if you are opposition.
If your name is on that list, you are subject to official harrassment of every kind. Your best hope is to ask for forgiveness. You have to write a letter, claiming you were misled, and swearing allegiance to the Chavez movement. A special board will consider your request, and maybe you can be re-instated. Or maybe not.
Zim also has lots of mineral resources. All Mugabe needs to do is kill off most of the population, so that all that's left are the miners and his thugs, and he can maintain power for a long time
If you want to buy real estate in Florida, now's the time. Millions of people are desperate to escape Florida. They can't afford the skyrocketing homeowner's insurance policy rates and are selling their houses at very low cost. But before you snap up one of these bargains, make sure you can afford the property taxes and the insurance premiums. Usually the lack of state income tax does not make up for the costs of owning a house there.
Do you know anything about the Lake Worth area in Palm Beach County? There were some decent looking homes for about $150k.
Typical taxes in Pittsburgh (where property taxes are notoriously high) on a $150k home are around (believe it or not :-( ) $5k.
Income tax @ 3% on a $58k income are $1,740.
Insurance is about $800 a year.
So to live in Pittsburgh in a $150k house is about $7,540.
Let's say I found a $150k house in Lake Worth. I think the property tax rate is 2% so it would cost about $3k a year. Less than Pittsburgh, actually much less.
No state income tax.
So how much is insurance on this house? I have a friend with a cheaply built condo in Wellington who says his insurance is $3.5k. If it's similar for the $150k house, it would cost me $3k a year in taxes + $3.5k in insurance, or $6.5k. Although that's a lot of money, it's actually cheaper than Pittsburgh, and the quality of life in terms of nearby businesses, recreation opportunities and just plain comfortable weather seems many, many times higher.
Or is Lake Worth an area so miserable that people should not even dream of living there? I noticed $1m+ lakefront homes just a few blocks from $150k homes, so it can't be too bad a place.
Thoughts?
D
David, I'm not a real estate professional or a tax specialist. When I have questions like yours I go to a business advisor I have as well as tax and real estate people who have no vested interest in draining money from me. I don't even live in Florida. My small knowledge of Florida real estate comes from in-laws, cousins, and close friends who live there, as well as my own exploratory investigations of buying horse property in Wellington. So do go talk to whoever usually advises you on investments and taxes and have them help you make a decision. Perhaps in a few years we'll be neighbors!
Exactly what Castro did.
I have a friend that left Cuba with a $50 bill folded up in his Zippo lighter.
That's all he could get out.
As long as they speak English, pay taxes and vote Republican, they're welcome as far as I'm concerned
Geez... Wow -- hints of Stalinism huh?
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