Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jimskins]

Currently planning for a wedding next year (though in England at the moment in the middle of my MA) and would like some advice on trying to buy a property in Korea(I've trawled the previous posts but couldn't find anything), namely:

1.I've got a lot of pressure to buy a property outright from my gf's family as I'm informed "this is what the husbands family is supposed to do, we will provide the furniture." You can probably imagine the answer I got when I went to my parents and asked for a loan of �100,000 or thereabouts . Is this really the norm or just among the upper middle class?

2.From what I understand mortgages in Korea are only available for up to 25% of the property price, the rest has to be paid up front. President Lee has proposed allowing mortgages for 50% of the value in the near future, but that is still a hell of a lot of money to stump up. I don't want a palace, just a 2-3 bedroom place to raise a family in, but even outside Seoul (Daegu is ideally where I'd like to be) I think I'm looking at �100,000 at the minimum. Are there any other financing options (apart from working like a dog and saving like a squirrel for 15 years or more) ?

3.Is it actually worth it? In the UK houses are nearly always a sensible investment and rise in price at a steady rate. In Korea does the obsession with 'the new' mean that apartments slowly sink in price as they get older? (This is will obviously depend on the area but a rough answer would be nice)

4.Are there any good Korean property websites people can suggest? (at least I can look at the pretty pictures and dream)

Any replies would be greatly appreciated (the last post I made on this sunk without a peep) I know it's not relevant for most people but again cheers in advance for anyone who can provide a bit of info on this topic.

[Hyeon Een]

Best advice:
(1) She's a chick, not a first son, it should be HER family paying not the fella.

Second best:
(2) Apartments will go down in value probably. Maybe try and find a bit of farmland on the outskirts of Daegu that's going to be turned into an apartment in the near future. Maybe look at the subway line and mountains and guess where the subway line is going to be extended to in the next few years for a good investment.

Good luck.

[pesawattahi]

The villa type apartments decrease in value while the apratment building ones tend to hold or go up depending on the maintainence of the building. Also you will have to pay hefty maintainence (management 권리비) fees.

Hyeon Een (현인?) is correct the wifes family traditionally pays for the pad, if you have a good job you could get a car out of it to. Its basically the Korean form of dowry. The money you get at the wedding as gifts usually go toward appliances and other household goods.

[TheBulimicFatGuy]

[Jimskins]

Cheers for the replies, I'm guessing the logic behind the first son's (which I am) family paying for the pad is that traditionally the parents would eventually move in with their son when they got too elderly (though this doesn't seem to happen too much these days).

It is worrying though that there seems to be a consensus that the value will decrease over time. Is there anyone else who has been renting long-term and/or plans to do so indefinitely?

Although I see nothing wrong with living in one of the big apartment blocks, exchanges with my gf such as the following are a little disconcerting...
gf: "the apartments at the bottom of the tower are most expensive"
me: "why?"
gf: "because you can get out quickly if it falls down"

[Unposter]

Traditionally, the man (and his family) bought the apartment (house) and the women (and her family) furnished it. Generally, one did not date (seriously) or plan to marry unless they could meet their financial obligation. If you could not meet such financial obligation, you were out of luck and weeded out of the gene pool (at least you were not considered part of mainstream society.)

Of course, this is tradition and you are not a traditional couple. Neither you nor your family were raised or plan for such social expectations so you should make a non-traditional arrangement such as 50/50.

Even in a traditional arrangement, one need not purchase the apartment, but merely cheonsae or put down a deposit or key money for an apartment. In fact, I'd say traditionally few owned property and those who did were quite eligible.

These days apartments are pretty expensive, experiencing significant growth in the last 5 years and it is hard to believe that they could continue to gain in value. Added to this is the fact that real estate had been such a lucrative business in the last 5 + years that there are numerous building projects, leading to an over-suply of housing (except in a few areas such as Gangnam in Seoul). On top of this, Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world, which will dramatically reduce population, leading to an even greater surplus of housing.

One of the main reasons that Gangnam in Seoul is so expensive is the supposedly best hakwons are located there. If the hakwon industry were to be handicapped in any way this would be a further blow to housing prices in these select areas.

On the plus side, new President Lee Myungbak has said he would work toward maintaing and even increasing housing prices, unlike the Roh Moohyun government which actively worked to lower prices. Some people think housing prices will go up once Lee takes office. If you were a gambling man, you might want to take this bet.

Another possibility is that as population decreases, it will be possible to have larger and larger apartments so a large apartment (even better the land) in a good area of Seoul could increase in value where as smaller apartments are just bad bets. All speculative.

Good luck because if you think an apartment in Korea is a good investment, you might as well play roulette because the chances of you winning big time are probably the same.

[Hanson]

[PRagic]

1) The man's family shells out for the apartment/dwelling
2) The wife's family shells out for the stuff that goes into the place

There is no law that says you have to buy, and now is probably not a good time to do so. Get a place on Chunsae, and tell them that you'll think about buying after you've settled in a bit. As long as you are providing the digs, they should be satisfied.

[kimchikowboy]

Korea Law Blog has several good posts on housing in Korea. Here is an exerpt from one.
http://www.korealawblog.com/entry/housing_policy_and_the_korean_dream/

[blaseblasphemener]

You should consider Daejeon.

The economy is booming here, with the government town of Sejong being created just north of here.

New apartments can be had in the 130-200 range, for a pretty good place. If you want to own in a not great part of town, you can get a villa style apartment for less than 100, with big pyung.

It's Daejeon!

[Jimskins]

You're right Hanson, i am getting a little ahead of myself with this one, I'll get a much better idea when I'm married and over there.

I think it is probably a dodgy time to buy what with the state of the housing market in the US and the UK (which also looks like it is about to go South). I guess what I'll probably do is scrape together some Chunsae over the next few years and wait.

I wonder if putting down the key money for a place would be enough for my future in-laws; -probably not- as another poster said this will be a none-traditional marriage so they'll just have to accept it (but would one of you guys mind telling the mother-in-law for me )

[Drew345]

Apartments/real estate may not meet all the requirements of a "good investment". They have high maintenance fees and aren't easy to sell. But what other investment can bring you joy? You can't decorate and live in a stock fund. If you have the means (beg and borrow), and can find a place you love, buying a home is a great part of life.

[bejarano-korea]

It takes a Korean builder 10 days to build a house.. have you seen how they build a house? One is being sprung up across the road from me as we speak.

I would pay 50,000 won for one! Thats about the real worth of a Korean built house.

I would say to the parents! 'Thanks for the offer of furniture like but I don't think IKEA in Warrington take credit cards from wooribank!'

[Jimskins]

[PRagic]

Don't go into this with your tail between your legs as you'll regret that over the long run. You are the '100 year guest', and your future mother-in-law should mind herself around you. Be respectful and polite, but be firm.

You don't need to put up with 'demands' on housing provision. Do what you can. In most cases, a good effort wins the day. If you are trying hard, you are doing well.