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House prices
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skarper



Joined: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 477

PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would just chip in - you may trust your wife now - but if things go bad and it can easily happen then the woman who is divorcing you will not be the sane, balanced and reasonable woman you married or are married to now.

I know - been there done that.
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Okie from Muskogee



Joined: 31 Jan 2014
Posts: 55

PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 12:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hope you guys ain't got any kids.
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mushroom_season



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 42

PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 6:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Married with daughter so far. There are some things that you shouldnt plan for. Divorce is one of them. If you plan for it you fulfill your own prophecy. Marriage is a bed of roses. You take the good with the bad and hopefully there is more good than bad. Maybe I shouldnt have been so preachy but I dont think you understand risk. There is risk in anything in life especially marriage. The best way to handle it is never pay more than you can afford to lose. If you can do that you are safe and happy in my opinion.
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toiyeuthitmeo



Joined: 21 May 2010
Posts: 213

PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is not the best place to invest in real estate. Our friend Mark is right on, yet not representative of the majority of people who take a look at this forum, or this country, and make it home. Lucky is the person who can note that they have several houses. Blessed are the few that listen to his wisdom. Thanks, Mark. Now could you please give us some advice about the best burger in town?
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I'm With Stupid



Joined: 03 Sep 2010
Posts: 432

PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 2:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mark_in_saigon wrote:
I have several houses in the U.S. One of them is worth about the same as the house I am renting here. However, the rental income from that house is about 3 times as much as I pay for this house. Return on your invested dollar is far higher there than here.

True. It seems to me that in Vietnam, buying a house is overpriced by a long way, and renting one is actually pretty cheap (and at least in the 4 years I've been here, not subject to inflation in the same way that other products and services have been). So if you've got money to buy, you might as well buy back home and use the rental income to cover your rent here (and still have something extra). With all of the benefits that proper rule of law bring back home.
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mark_in_saigon



Joined: 20 Sep 2009
Posts: 837

PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I totally agree that your money is more wisely invested in the U.S.

Costs here are so odd. We could study it forever, quite a topic. Mainly, the labor component is so low that we should always try to take advantage of that. But if the item is some generic product you can get anywhere in the world, then the price is not nearly such a bargain. One of the books we use talks about coffee prices, only 3 cents goes for the original coffee product, most everything else is labor and overhead (in the west). So a drink with 3 cents worth of coffee is costing 3 or 4 bucks over there, or I guess if you go to those high priced places it does. Maybe a normal cup of coffee is still less than a dollar there, I don't know, but even then, it is still 3 cents for the coffee farmer. Over here, you can bypass so much of that high cost, of course you do not get the barrista or whatever they call them, nor the fancy atmosphere, though you may be able to find that in District 1 now, along with the 3 or 4 dollar price tag. So a lot of the things for normal daily life are a tremendous bargain. Rent can be too, but they do try their best to do this smoke and mirrors thing on housing for us here, which seems to end up pushing the price to about double of what it should be. What it should be in terms of supply and demand, when you see all this unused capacity, you realize it should be a buyer's (or renter's) market. But with high end stuff here, it does not always work that way. Someone or something has built this stuff and often would rather just let it sit empty than to rent it at a market price. Lots of things are built with sitting empty as a goal, the wealthy build stuff for children and speculation and ostentation, there often is no clear logic to it all.

I would just suggest to all the guys here in SE Asia, we are really taking a big risk when we put our money on the table here. It is their system, not ours, we are never going to understand their convolutions and corruptions. We are doing great to be able to earn a decent income here and see it worth far more than back home, if we use just a bit of common sense. Seems to me, that should be enough. If we can accumulate bucks, there are far better investment vehicles back home for us. Even just putting it in the bank is a better play than buying property here (for us), in my opinion.

On the question of burgers, that is a tough one. I am usually disappointed with the high priced places here, including western food. I find it crazy that what we consider cheap fast food is considered gourmet fare here (Burger King and McDonald's). I mostly give those places a pass. I do think that the new Star Burger (or is it Burger Star?) at Lotteria is possibly a better choice for a burger than what you get at BK or McD, but I am not giving it a high rating, maybe just better than the others which do not excite me at all (over here). Seemed like BK had a decent enough burger back home years back at a fairly decent price. But in the states, lots of places could put out a much better product if you got away from the mass production environment. Mainly you need meat that has never been frozen, thicker patty, higher fat content (exciting the charcoal), not overcooked, quality condiments and a few other things which mass producers cannot manage. Also helps to grill the bun in some butter, use freshly shredded lettuce (they do not do this anymore in mass production, they get lettuce ready to serve in bags, and the lettuce is treated with antioxidants which give it a bit of an off taste). Mainly, you want an individually created product, and mass production can never recreate that. May be a market for this in the backpacker's area, but getting the ingredients is not easy, and then if you are successful, you are going to have to pay off the burger enforcers or whatever, it just aint worth messing with. Don't come to HCMC for the burgers. However, the fried chicken at some of these fast food places can be quite good, if they could just come up with some decent side dishes for it.
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mushroom_season



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 42

PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 4:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought Carls Junior wasnt too bad. Magumbo's and Black Cat make some decent burgers. The fact that its comparitively easy to set up your own small business and keep it going so long as you are not trying to compete with the locals is what makes life beautiful here. I would consider buying property here if you are trying to get out of the rental game and your heart is set on a particular place. If you intend on buying in your wifes name it opens you to a greater range of propertities. I myself dont care for strata title or condo's as you cant alter them to suit your needs.
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calidan



Joined: 06 Aug 2014
Posts: 44

PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mushroom_season wrote:
The fact that its comparitively easy to set up your own small business and keep it going so long as you are not trying to compete with the locals is what makes life beautiful here.


This is something I've been thinking about. What kinds of business do you see as a good opportunity? A friend of mine suggested currency exchange.
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mushroom_season



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 42

PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would avoid currency exchange like the plague for security reasons. The locals seem to have a monopoly on it and unless you could provide a local as a front you could be in trouble.
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Okie from Muskogee



Joined: 31 Jan 2014
Posts: 55

PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pawn shop!!!! I'm thinking about opening one soon.
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calidan



Joined: 06 Aug 2014
Posts: 44

PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haha! I'm not sure if you're joking, but I also thought about a pawn shop. Are you seriously considering it?
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Okie from Muskogee



Joined: 31 Jan 2014
Posts: 55

PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

calidan wrote:
Haha! I'm not sure if you're joking, but I also thought about a pawn shop. Are you seriously considering it?


Hey why not?!! I know a lot of Vietnamese who love to gamble their life away. They'd even pawn their wives and kids to feed their habit.

Seriously, I'd have a sizable warehouse to store lots of pawned motorbikes and other junks. I'd make a sizable profit from reselling 'em.
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calidan



Joined: 06 Aug 2014
Posts: 44

PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh, nice. I thought having storage would be an issue, but it sounds like you have that covered.

Since you brought up motorbikes: What about motorbike rentals? Too hard to make money at it?
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mushroom_season



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 42

PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are married and your wife likes sewing you could always start a sweatshop. Im personally thinking of getting in on the act and bludging off her. Very Happy Twisted Evil Very Happy
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ielts_professional1992



Joined: 06 Sep 2014
Posts: 16

PostPosted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i want to buy a house not got enough saved though,any ideas
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