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The real estate market in southern Florida has always been semi dependent on the international buyer. The jet setters like to have a place in Miami to call their own. However, the real estate agents in south Florida are now blaming homeland security for the drop off in sales. They think that homeland security is enforcing the visa regulations that have been on the books they are unfairly going after potential buyers.

“It seems like we’re putting the thumbscrews down on the very type of people we want here,” said Tony Macaluso, a real estate broker in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and vice chairman of the international operations committee for the Florida Association of Realtors.

Under the State Department’s visa waiver program, citizens from 27 countries, including members of the European Union, can visit the United States for as long as 90 days without a visa, as long as they have a machine-readable passport. But anyone wanting to stay longer must obtain a visa, usually under special designations for tourists, businesspeople, students or immigrants seeking citizenship.

Owning property does not play a role in the visa application process and a visa does not guarantee entry. Once a visa is obtained, it is still up to the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether a visitor will be admitted to the country and for how long.

Florida real estate agents with international clienteles all have stories about longtime property owners who faced visa problems for the first time in recent years - some encountered long delays in getting their visas renewed, others had family members who, after visiting their home countries, were denied re-entry to the United States. via the International Herald Tribune.

So let me get this straight, these brokers think that they can sell more homes if the Department of Homeland Security does not do their job properly? You have to be kidding me!

I would much prefer that we have a few less condo buying jet setters come to Miami who are unable to count to 90 days before they leave the country for a day or two. If that is what these real estate agents in Miami think hurt their sales, maybe we need a better licensing exam for them to weed out the idiocy.

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2. International Real Estate Blogs Taking Off
3. Weak Florida Residential Sales Main Part of Fed Report
4. Ivanka Trump Interview Shows Potential With International Buyers
5. Florida Agency Teams Up With European Real Estate Network