Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Radius]

My girlfriend and I are thinking about doing this. She makes more than me, but feasibly we can save 3 million a month. Over ten years, we can buy a pretty decent house in the US--cash.
The only thing then is worrying about property tax and start up costs. But it's a cause to get happy about socking Wons away without the temptation of spending it with a goal like that.
Have you heard any success stories like this? How did it turn out?

[Died By Bear]

Would this be an investment house with you continuing to live in Korea, or you're moving back and want to buy a house cash so you don't have a mortgage while looking for work and setting up shop, etc.?

assuming that you're just doing the buy for an investment and you'll continue to live and work in Korea:

Yes, a few of the long timers (Homer or one of that gang) had his house paid off and lived in Korea. There's a post about it back in 2005 or 2006. Another (in 1998) guy saved 120,000 (He was a PhD Ed and taught doctors and their kids in a hospital all day making bank) and left Korea to bike his way across Russia before settling back in NY.

Assuming that you're going back to live there in the house and looking for work, etc.:

Expect to have a boatload of expenses to factor in, especially if you're married.

cost of flying home
expect the both of you to crave Korean food and eat out a lot. If you have a decent Ksuper nearby you can stock up on the instant foods, they have a lot more these days. Spicy marinated pork and bulgogi and all the pan-chan are available in most cities. She'll find them no worries.
renting while looking for a house
Cars - don't forget the registration and plates.
Furniture - oh and if you don't have a truck, you'll pay $100 for delivery.
appliances/utensils/plates/oh man the good stuff adds up quick.
utilities deposits
cell phones

whatever you do, make sure it's in a decent area of town. Koreans don't want to feel threatened every time they go to the supermarket. A walking path or a big park nearby for her to feel like she's not stuck in a box is essential.


Of course, if you're single, anything is possible. Being single allows you a heck of a lot more freedom in how you invest your money while living like a bachelor at the same time because you don't need a lot of stuff right? A lazy boy recliner, fridge for the beer, and a good tv ought to cover the games and a car to get to work. Dang I miss being single.

[Illysook]

Having a mortgage can give you some serious tax advantages and investment wise, it's not good to put all of your eggs in one basket. Your portfolio will be safer if you balance it between your savings, real estate, stocks, and/or whatever investments you feel comfortable with. If you want to motivate yourself, set an amount that you want to save each year and continue to evaluate your investments as you go.

[Radius]

Thanks you two, but Died by Bear, yes we were planning to live there. Not rent. I was expecting the costs you mentioned as well.

[Died By Bear]

They offer classes on how to buy homes that are short sales and bank owned. Tips and tricks if you don't already know, or didn't want to read the book. Some people benefit more by the seminars. Good luck. This is a really good time to buy.

[rollo]

yeah I know a guy who worked for a long time in Korea saved like crazy and bought a nice home in the Us. I bought a home in the U.s. mostly from money earned in Korea also had a small inheritance . So long timers are not all losers often they save buy homes or open businesses yes this is a very good time to buy in the U.S. Canada I think next year the prices will be better.

[ttompatz]

I have (working in ESL).

Canada (not the states); we don't get the tax breaks or interest deductions from having a mortgage so a cash purchase makes sense, and a vacation home in the Philippines.

.

[Vagabundo]

[PRagic]

Haven't, but could. The nice thing about having been here this long is that the better half and I could now just pick up (we don't own a house here in Korea), move back to the US, and pay cash for the house, cars, and all the fixins.

We won't make a move without a job lined up, though, at least since we're still in our early 40s. That is 100% due to insurance necessities. Plus we'd probably want to build credit and get any associated mortgage tax breaks, so we might just take out a small load as a formality.

No matter how you look at it, if you work hard and bank hard here, you can move on with a good amount of coin saved up.

[willteachforfood]

First off.....you won't save any money with the tax break from a mortgage. A mortgage is good for your "taxes" in comparison to renting....but you'll be loads ahead by paying in cash versus having a mortgage in 100% of cases....all the tax break is is that you can write off the amount of money you paid in interest from your taxable income, so if you're in the 25% tax bracket, you essentially get 1/4 of your interest back. At any rate...the money you spend in interest over the life of the loan will BY FAR exceed the money saved.

To the OP: My girlfriend and I are doing something similar...at any rate, I am not going to share the details of our plans here, but yes, it is very possible.

Here are some things to remember/know:

1. It shouldn't take you even close to 10 years. We saved $120,000US in 3 years....and about $80,000 of that was saved over the past 18 months. We don't have extraordinary jobs at all....what you need to do is get university jobs that will let you teach a lot of OT, and that have the entire winter/summer breaks off....then you teach at camps between the semesters. You can make up to 4 million or more at a single camp. Even doing this you'll still have 10 weeks of vacation minimum.

2. Clearly a plan such as this requires a tight budget....I have 2 tips with regards to this....you can really get by on very little in this country and live quite well...we spend between 1 million to 1.2 million between the two of us per month, including ALL of our bills, everything.....tip 2 is that you would never be able to keep this up for 10 years, even 3 years would be horrible and make you crazy. We have lived like this for 18 months, but there is no way that I could take another year of it.

But if what you're talking about is a $200,000 home, then you ought to be able to easily save up $200,000 in 5 years. You have to remember that if you stay in Korea you will move up and get better and better jobs, and hence make more money.

[PRagic]

VERY good post...right on the money.

[quercus]

i did it.

been here since 2002 only really saved 2005-early 2010. saved my money, made money work for me as i saved more. paid mostly cash and have paid off all the mortgage except $25k. have the cash for that but with an interest rate of 4.6% thats the best loan i could find so saving my cash until we are settled and into a routine in the states with jobs, bills, furnishings, etc. have money set aside for the move and settlement too, just being safe.

doing it as a team makes your odds of success way better.

my case: had an after school program ESL job, worked 12-5. it can certainly be done. the more you work the less time you have to spend your savings. those after school jobs get knocked a lot on this board, but 2.8 for 5 hours-ish a day?? good by me. wife had housing.

didnt travel while here. bummer (just too expensive- not the cost of travelling, but the amount of money LOST NOT WORKING) .but then again i will have pretty good financial freedom in the future due to locking down and working when i had the opportunity here in korea, so should be able to travel plenty from now on.

now is a great time to buy in the states. also got that 1st time homebuyers thing! but thats over now

korea is a great place to drastically alter the course of your life for the better if you ignore all the horseschizer floating around you and focus on your own goals!

[atwood]

I know at least three people who've bought houses in their home countries. I think it's a fairly common financial goal of foreigners here, right after paying off student loans.

[naturegirl321]

We'll be doing it very soon as well. We already have one house back home and plan to buy another in a year or two. Granted though, houses are MUCh cheaper where I live

ON another note, you might look into buying a foreclosed home for cheap, fixing it up or waiting for the market to go up, then flipping it. Then buy another home, sell it, and then finally buy a nicer one. It'd take less than 10 years that way.

I'm speaking from experience. Bought a not so so home, put a little money in it and sold it at a profit after only 17 days on the market, but that was back in 2008.

[rumdiary]

How comfortably are you two living while saving 3 million won a month? If the two of you are living an extremely meager lifestyle in order to do it you may want to consider if you will be able to maintain that lifestyle for 10 years.

What about teaching back home? If you work in a rural or urban area you can get your loans reimbursed. You can make more money and also contribute to retirement. Or getting a masters and working at a university. The problem with wages and public schools and hagwons is that they often remain the same despite a rise in the cost of living.

Good on you to start planning for the future now.