LogFAQs > #970559020

meestermj posted...

A new Canadian law took effect January 1 that essentially bans foreign buyers from buying residential properties as investments for two years

Absolutely on board with this.

Australia has a property development crisis, where these slimeballs are buying up massive swaths of land, knocking down houses and putting up shoebox apartments with substandard materials. Last decade, a bunch of these apartment complexes had cracked foundations and had to be evacuated. With the global shift towards the right-wing in 2016 and the ensuing cuts to industry regulations, coupled with the rise of organised crime and cronyism seeping into parliament, it has left the property market in this awful state where rich leeches drive up prices and make millions more dollars every year. And that's just Australia.

With that being said? The issue isn't wholly foreign investors. Plenty of true blue Aussie investors are doing the same thing, to the point of trying to infiltrate local politics to sign off on controversial building leases that will enrich them and leave communities worse off. There have been property developers who've argued successfully in court to have the term "property developer" dismissed in legal cases, because the term "property developer" has negative connotations that is tantamount to defamation. If Canada is anything like over here - and for all I know, it might not be so bad - the property market is a rort whether your buyer is from Saskatchewan, Bulgaria or China.

Though with that being said, this helps to stem the flow of crooks turning housing into a commodity rather than a human right. And while I've emphasised that this is an issue locally, it can be argued that foreign investment companies are a huge part of the problem. Cutting back to Australia again, we have a big issue with Chinese investors buying up all our shit. Even a temporary ban like this is great - be vigilant for loopholes and for your various home-grown crooks to seize the opportunity to fuck you in the ass, but I feel like this is a great idea if nothing else.