Crazy like a fox . . .

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

>    Seriously, isn't there any popular concern of the sort that the US
>masses had when Rockefeller Center was sold to Mitsubishi?
>Best,
>Larry
>

Larry, just wait! Mitsubishi did indeed buy Rockefeller Center, in the very
heart of Manhattan - and patriots everywhere went into mourning . . .

But consider what happened: Rockefeller Center didn't move to Japan, even
though the name on the deed may have been non-American. The huge pile of
money Mitusbishi paid for this "signature" or "trophy" property came here,
helping our balance of payments.

Mistubishi then had to pay US property taxes, US insurance companies, US
labor, US maintenence, US everything - and guess what - the rents they were
able to collect from the US tenants were less - much less - than their
expenses.

They wound up selling it back to us 'Murricans for far less than they paid
for it, and went home considerably poorer and with their tails between
their legs, so to speak (figure of speech only, no anthropological slurs
intended).

You watch - Rolls Royce will be firmly back in British hands within five
years, and it will be the Proud Germans who get whacked - again!

Personally, I'm quite willing to sell ANY immovable asset to anyone from
overseas - let them pay me top dollar, let them maintain it for five or ten
years, and then buy it back for half price - wanna buy a bridge?

(Note that I in NO WAY regard foreign citizens as stupid, or "marks" or
"suckers" - it is just that the vast majority of foreign real estate
investments DO NOT work out anywhere near as well as the real estate agent
invariably predicts . . . )


Best Regards,

Mike Arman