Sensible city to buy property

Post Reply
fine dude
Posts: 651
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:12 pm
Location: SE Asia

Sensible city to buy property

Post by fine dude »

Where did you buy a condo/house to lay your roots? A sprawling asian city like Bangkok, Kuala lumpur, Singapore or a european one? Would love to hear first-hand experiences from genuine home owners in these cities. Thanks.
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: Sensible city to buy property

Post by sid »

My friends who used to own places in Thailand have all sold up given the political uncertainty of recent years. Ownership for non citizens is already iffy and could get worse easily.
KL is still a bubble. Prices are high to buy but the market is flooded with empty places and everyone keeps building more. My rent is going down by 25% and the general rental market is down by close to 30% compared to 18 months ago. So if you want a place to live in yourself, wait until the bubble bursts. If you want to rent it out, don't imagine the rent will cover your costs. Assuming you can even find tenants. And there's political uncertainty here too.
I'm taking a wait and see approach to Europe too. Brexit and NATO and Ukraine and Greece and so on all make me wonder which country has a good outlook in a 30-year time span.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

A number of DoDDS ITs use their LQA instead of renting to buy, mostly in the EU. Asia has a lot of different rules, one of the biggest is that in regions like China and Thailand Foreigners cant really own property. There are ways around it but your taking a risk.
fine dude
Posts: 651
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:12 pm
Location: SE Asia

Re: Sensible city to buy property

Post by fine dude »

Thanks, Sid. You did hit the nail on its head. I feel parts of W.Europe offer relatively better protection for foreign homeowners than Asia. Would you consider W.Europe for the long-term, Sid?
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: Sensible city to buy property

Post by sid »

I might, but there are so many questions. Prices can be so high there. The price of security? But will I be able to get residency as a retiree? Which economy will stay stable without crashing or seeing unaffordable inflation? Which cuisine do I like? What will happen with health care and insurance for foreigners?
Sooner or later I'll have to roll the dice and set up a retirement nest. It's going to be a crap shoot.
Teach1010
Posts: 60
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:25 am

Re: Sensible city to buy property

Post by Teach1010 »

What about in Latin America? Are there any countries or cities that you know of with a stable real estate market?
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: Sensible city to buy property

Post by sid »

Ten years ago Venezuela looked like a nice bet.
Costa Rica and Mexico are popular options. Nicaragua is closing the gap and getting more expat buyers.
But stability is a tough word. Who can predict what will happen over the (very very very) long time between now and death?
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Discussion

Post by PsyGuy »

I would agree with @Sid that you really have to look at the ability to get PR or Citizenship in the EU to properly invest in property. Tenant rights are very strong and if you arent local managing it from a distance can literally leave you with negative coin flow. The prices can be high but no more higher than you would find in equivalent SEC demographics in US/UK/AUS/CAN.

Otherwise I have to disagree with @Sids description of "risks", they are no different than investing in property anywhere, and the best returns are those where you intend to reside in the property at some point.

Venezuela was indeed the place to put your coin for real property investment, now all those properties have been seized by the government.

Costa Rica is popular as is Mexico, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic are getting a lot of attention as nesting places for retirees. However, given the economy you cant really make any coin in such regions, you basically are breaking even, meaning youll get the note payments made, but not much more, until such time as you retire and can move into the property.

The ME is getting a lot of interest in real estate investing, especially places like Dubai
Post Reply