Jalsalmi

Hi, we are also thinking in investing with CMB or Jay Peak. I would appreciate to hear your experiences with either. I like that CMB has a clear exit strategy.
Did you use a lawyer through CMB? If anyone has a referral to a lawyer who is reasonably priced ( under $10,000) please post.

Thanks

John_K.

We filed our I-829 in early January 2013 and it was approved in early March 2013.

We used http://darrensilver.com/ The fees also depend on how easy/difficult the collection of the required documents will be.

Jalsalmi

Thanks John and congratulations!
Has Jay Peak defined an exit strategy for you? They told me 5 years, but when I asked if anyone has had their initial investments returned I felt like they were avoiding answering me. They also said to expect between 4-6% annual return did you find that to be true?
Some people in this forum said that with the EB-5 you should not expect to get anything back. That basically it is the price you need to pay for the green card. Is that how you see? Thanks again it is a big decision and I appreciate the advice.

John_K.

Hi Jalsami,

We have invested in Phase II which has been fully completed. We have received our first annual return for the year 2012 and a quarterly payment for 2013. This was below the return mentioned by you but lower returns were planned for the early years of operation. We will have to wait and see.

An exit strategy has been defined but without a specific timeframe. Personally I am not counting on an exit earlier than 5 years from now. In this business you will need a longer period of operations and returns in order to make an exit financially interesting for all parties. If the annual yield is OK I might even consider staying for the long term.

Any investor in a real business will have their money at risk and my advice is that you should account for the possibility that part or all will be lost. The joint investors will obviously try to do all they can to avoid that but there are legal and practical limitations to really influence the business. Therefore, you are in essence dependent on the integrity and quality of the management.

As regards green cards, I am not aware of a regional center with better results. So far Jay Peak seems to have a spotless track record.

Jalsalmi

Thank you John for your answers. I appreciate it. Good Luck to you.

dm2b

Hi John,

So I understand that the returns you have received so far were below 4%/year; Could you please be more precise? If not (ie, signed NDA, etc), could you tell us whether they were at least above 2.5%/year (average yearly inflation, ie, at least the investment is keeping its actual value)?

Good info on Jay Peak exit strategy, and one I did not have before. Thanks for posting it; I wonder whether this is a common characteristic of "partnership"-like projects.

Very good observation and advice.

I beg to differ. I'm still a rookie in matters EB5, but in my googling I have turned up the PIDC (aka CanAm) track record, and they report 100% I-829 approvals for most projects that have crossed the 2-year timeline. Also, they report 100% repayment of principal for all (or nearly all) projects that have crossed the 5 years timeline.

I understand that their projects are all "loan-based" and so are much less risky (at least if the proper loan guarantees have been secured), but also provide very little return (in the range of 0.5-0.67%, according to this post from 2010). Low return could be considered by many an acceptable compromise for a more certain repayment of principal....

I have searched this forum for posts from folks that have invested in PIDC/CanAm projects but found none, but found many from folks that have invested in Jay Peak/Vermont; I also have searched for a published track record for Jay Peak/Vermont, but could not find it. So, I wonder why people seem to like Jay Peak/Vermont so much better than PIDC/CanAm...

Not trying to be a smart alec, nor do I have any relation to PIDC/CanAm... just trying to understand things so I can make the best informed decision possible.

Thanks!

sedi

I am in the process since october 2012 , and still waiting for I-526 approval . It's over a year . But the project is not the jay peak . It's in Newyork state. Hope you get your approval soon ..Pls share with us if you get your approval , may be that will mean that our will coming...:=)

cazconnors

I am in the phase one jay peak we invested in 2007 ,and have just received the exit strategy $21500 for 9 years and $306000 in the ninth year so we will have had money invested for 15 years ! We still only get back $500000.

kslm2007a2

Hi cazconnors ,
I am also in Jay Peak, but Phase 2. 9 years wow? what is $21500 are you getting paid $21500 yearly and how much will you get when receiving back the investment? Based on your reply, I can atleast visualize the kind of exit strategy I may be getting few years from now!!!
We invested in 2010, got condition GC in September 2010 and got unconditional GCs in December 2012.

eb52012

Has anybody invested with Amlife?

civilservant

Consider yourself fortunate to be receiving your original investment back. Many have not in other projects.

ottotheboar

An EB5 project I am indirectly involved in took 12 months for the first I-526 applications to be approved

fritz

I'm also trying to find a good project. Till this moment I have found only three regional centers that have both good I526 and I829 approval history. American Life, Canam and Jay Peak. Do you guys know others who also have excellent track record?

civilservant

Please stop reviving old EB5 threads - starting your own would get much more attention

dm2b

Three months ago, I was in exactly your situation (trying to pick a regional center), and was heavily influenced towards CanAm (as you can see in my posts here in this forum). But then I did my due diligence on them, and... well, let's just say that I did not like what I found. So I strongly suggest that you verify their claims: you might find they are not as sterling as they seem to be.

I suggest you also verify CMB. They are have been in business about as long as CanAm (since the 1990s), and they claim to have a spotless I-526 and I-829 record on a few tens of projects and many hundreds of investors (and I could not find any evidence to the contrary). Also, differently from Jay Peak and AmericanLife, they also have a spotless repayment track record (albeit with a single project so far).

For the record, I have no affiliation with CMB (or any other Regional Center) apart from being a very well-impressed prospective investor; right now I'm examining a number of projects from them and trying to decide on one.

- DM2B.