Loomio
Wed 30 Mar 2016 1:14PM

Welcome to OPEN GROUP: Responding to Global RE speculation

LHB Loomio Helper Bot Public Seen by 257

Please take a moment to introduce yourself: post a comment in the form below.

If you have clear intentions for this Loomio group, you could share them here so everyone has an idea of what they want to achieve together.

BW

Bill Wendel Thu 7 Apr 2016 12:11PM

Copy of email sent to Cambridge Residents Alliance

Greetings,

Thank you for your efforts! Is is possible to speak to Mike Connolly or someone else at Cambridge Residents Alliance about the impact global real estate buyers are having on local affordability? As you can see from the tweet below, there's a growing awareness of the threat they propose:

https://twitter.com/RealEstateCafe/status/717803554048774144

Here's what I first wrote about the problem two years ago. Regrettably, the situation has gotten worse:

http://bit.ly/BidReform

​Rather than simply complain, here's my effort to use a transformative new technology -- blockchain -- to bring verification and transparency to BLIND bidding wars. This proposal won 1st place in an MIT Hackathon in January 2016.

http://bit.ly/BidWarHackIntro​

​Finally, the Panama Papers have raised awareness of hidden money. The Patriot Act gives ​the Treasury authorization to scrutinize real estate transactions, and the Feds have begun tracking sales in Miami and NYC:

https://twitter.com/RealEstateCafe/status/717357102658940928

At a minimum, I would like to suggest that Cambridge Residents Alliance explore asking the Attorney General's office to look at what's going in Cambridge under the powers they have to collection depositions under Chapter 93A. When I wrote this blog post two years ago, bidding $100K over asking price was the behavioral anchor. In some recent cases, it's now over $200K:

http://bit.ly/BidDrone

In your opinion, who is most likely to want to know more about the issues above and build a coalition to respond?

Bill