Job Discussion Forums

zaneth · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 7:31 pm Post subject: A little piece of heaven

Anybody out there bought a little piece of land for themselves in their home away from home?

basiltherat · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 952

yup. have a house rented out in jakarta.
btw current contract runs out soon. anyone interested in renting it ? pm me 4 details
basil

ntropy · Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 671 Location: ghurba

That'd be free rent, right Jerms? After all, money isn't meant to be hung on to, right?

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Foreigners cannot buy in Saudi - although there is talk of changing the law.

I have bought some real estate in another corner of what used to be the Ottoman Empire.

Bindair Dundat · Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 1123

zaneth · Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 6:00 am Post subject:

As for laws, isn't it possible to have a 99 year lease or something with a local as legal owner if you put up the money? Or is this seen as fraud? I know that sort of thing used to happen in mexico. I thought it was slimy when it was a corporation enslaving peasants. But for a little house it doesn't seem particularly immoral.

Did you ever actually use the place? Plan to retire there someday? Or youthful folly, delusions of grandeur?

I'm thinking about getting a little place. I'm checking into the laws and such (though this can always change either way, land rights and private property are not exactly stable things in Russia).

Taxes are another thing. Governments don't seem to be comfortable just letting somebody have a piece of land.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Zaneth, where are you talking about ? I assume Russia but you should make it clear.

The tradition of house ownership was disrupted by 3 generations of Bolshevism.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

basiltherat · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 952

gugelhupf · Joined: 24 Jan 2004 Posts: 575 Location: Jabotabek

$5 on Susilo for president.

basiltherat · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 952

$0.50c on Soeharto comeback. Odds would be terrific ! A stroke ? hahaha. Pull the other one !
basil

gugelhupf · Joined: 24 Jan 2004 Posts: 575 Location: Jabotabek

A stroke of good fortune more like... goodness knows what that one cost.

But what about old Wiranto? A bit of firm government.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Asia is weird, really! Socialist China is the only, or one of very few countries here where a foreign national can buy property, albeit from well-connected developers who have to have a special permit to sell their homes to non-Chinese nationals.
The snag is that you will only own the house or a part of it, while the land will be on lease to you, for no more than 70 years.
You should think that scarcity of housing is fueling speculative buying. THis may to some extent be true, but the prices have not gone up very high over those ten years or so that the law has allowed foreign nationals to own property here. There are exceptions - Shanghai - where the prices of brand-new homes have been going up by two-digit percentage rates.
But where I live you will have to accept a certain loss if you sold your property after a few years. My neighbour below myself is selling a beautiful two-bedroom flat with wooden floors and a western-style bathroom at a little over half the original purchasing price!
She is moving out because of FENG SHUI considerations - not because she wants to cash in!
On the other hand, the vast majority of Chinese will for years to come be unable to come up with the amount of money needed to buy any dwelling place!
That's why foreigners are, at least now, allowed to buy... Maybe in the distant future this may change!

zaneth · Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 4:37 pm Post subject:

Ummm, yeah, I said Russia. But I also mentioned Mexico, I guess. Yeah, 3 generations of Bolshevism, and 50 years before that was feudalism. The serfs of Russia were freed about the same time as the black slaves in America. Problem of land rights in Russia goes back a lot further than Bolshevism. It's interesting, in reading Russian history (little that I have) how much we think of as Soviet actually has its roots further back (like secret police and lack of freedom of movement).

Prices for Real Estate here are going up very fast. The normal system here has been for parents to buy a flat for their children, since the system of mortgages is somewhat in its infancy. But a lot of people go to Moscow and work for a few years so they can buy a flat. And some of the old people are selling their village wooden houses to try and move into towns. Prices have doubled in a few years time or less in some places. I'd like to get something before everything hits American rates. But all I can afford right now is one of those old village houses being abandoned by the old folks.

A flat would be a good investment, though, I reckon.

This neighbor is a foreigner? Taking a loss because of Feng Shui?

Nexus · Joined: 08 Mar 2004 Posts: 189 Location: Moscow

Zaneth, if I were you, I wouldn't touch Moscow property with a barge pole at the moment. You're right, of course about how much prices have increased and property is over-valued so it's probably better to wait. I heard that you can get 10 or 15 year mortgages now but it's not common, so without the credit culture that's present in the Uk, I don't think these prices will be supported for long. Wait for the next crash then swoop in.

It also seems dicey buying a flat in a country where you have to jump through so many hoops to get a visa. Having a flat will get you registration but I think you'll still be subject to visa restrictions.