Korean Job Discussion Forums

fosterman · Joined: 16 Nov 2011

when you sit there and eat an apple or drink an imported beer and eat some delivery chicken, you don't feel like you are privileged, so you probably don't stop to think about the MILLIONS of people in Korea who can't afford such a luxury so often. you basically just take it for granted and don't think twice.
you are fine, you can afford it.

Rich people, politicians are no different. they don't care about the rest of the world. they will take what ever they can get.
politicians are the worst! don't EVER expect to see change. it's been this way since humanity begun and it will never change.
if you rent, you are a slave to the man.
and the person who said rents are going up due to less people buying.
yes true, but don't ever expect the prices for the rents to go back down again.
just like in korea with the whole FTA thing. hahahahahahah
this is the biggest scam if ever I saw one. the FTA agree is nothing more an extra money for the middlemen. they will just pocket the taxes and keep charging the same for their products.
without government intervention, on housings, rents, and products HUMANS will rob, steal, back stab each other until they are stopped.
but once we try and regulate things, then we get called socialists

so don't ever expect to see equality on rents, products or services in a capitalist society.
may the best man win, and the winner take all!

soon rich people will buy up all the houses and start to rent them only.
eventually there will be a huge shortage of houses to buy as businesses will start to go into the rental business and then humans will be forced to pay rents at what ever the market price will be, and they will be based on what the greedy rental companies want to charge.
30-40% of ones paycheck going to rent is not unheard of.
how will it be 100 years from now?
unless we have another super world war to bring the prices back down people who acquired land and buildings in the past 50 years have it made for EVER. and that's global. we are a new world when you think about it.
everyone who has bought now, their bloodline is set until the day the earth explodes. the dark ages are over.

Unposter · Joined: 04 Jun 2006

Fosterman,

Interesting post. I have thought about much of what you say and could see things like that happening. But, there is one thing that I strongly disagree with though: It hasn't always been that way. There have been plenty of cultures and periods of time when people didn't think that way. And, that is the thing. When people get upset enough to actually do something, things change. The problem is people aren't getting upset. People may push you and everybody else but they will only stop when you tell them enough is enough. Go for it. Change is possible.

The powers that be may be removing them from the history books but there have been plenty of people who have stood up and said enough is enough. It takes a strong person. And, many of these people have been destroyed afterwards but we all owe a great big thanks to those with the courage to make a difference.

Whining on an Internet forum is unlikely to make that difference, though, just my opinion.

fosterman · Joined: 16 Nov 2011

NYC_Gal 2.0 · Joined: 10 Dec 2010

On a side note, my soon-to-be-former apartment is up for rent, if anyone's interested. I'll throw in the custom-fit shades that I had installed. I'd also leave a chair and assorted kitchen stuff. It's pretty spacious for one, and 2 can live there comfortably enough, though not for more than a year Embarassed

We're moving into our new place at the end of the month, so if anyone's interested, it's pretty cheap and nice. Send me a PM if interested.

It's in Incheon, a 5 minute walk from Juan station (on the rapid line) and pretty close to Art Center by taxi or bus.

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

fermentation · Joined: 22 Jun 2009

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

edwardcatflap · Joined: 22 Mar 2009

meangradin · Joined: 10 Mar 2006

One of the English papers recently ran a series of articles about how per capita debt in Korea has almost doubled over the past four years, with most of this debt tied to the increase in housing costs; quite scary if those, like myself, expect a crash.

For this reason, I bought an older apartment in a quieter and more rural (thus undesirable) location and had it renovated with high quality materials - Italian wood kitchen cabinets, top of the line build ins, and so on. Personally, I don't really care how nice my elevator or parking garage is, but I do care about the quality of the interior of my apartment.

In Ulsan, there are signs that cracks are appearing in the housing market. Anything in the 40-50 pyg. area can be had at a discount, but the price of the smaller units (28-34 pyg) is very stable.

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:13 am Post subject: Re: Rent prices in Seoul ... wow!

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

wishfullthinkng · Joined: 05 Mar 2010

Poker · Joined: 16 Jan 2010

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2012/03/123_106294.html

alongway · Joined: 02 Jan 2012

Unposter · Joined: 04 Jun 2006

Yes, basically, what alongway said was right. The basic purpose of cheonsae is that the owner wants an interest free loan. The "rentee" gives the land lord a large deposit and the landlord than uses the money instead of getting a bank loan.

These days, Korean banks will not loan you more than 50% of the value of the house. The rest comes from you but many people offer cheonsae to a renter who then furnishes up to the other 50% of the value of the house, if you can get it. Technically, you don't have to put any of your own money down. You then become the technical owner of the place but the person who provided the cheonsae becomes the tenant. It is why there are places where you can rent through cheonsae.

Then the owner has to make and save enough money to pay off the person who provided the cheonsae so you can eventually move into the apartment. If it works well, you can save on interest payments and have an apartment that you might otherwise not afford. If it doesn't go right, you have nice deed that says, yes, you own an apartment, but you will never set foot in it. And, in absolutely worse case scenario, the bank is stuck with your apartment and the person who gave you cheonsae is considering ways to get your legs broken.

In the days when apartment prices were rising at amazing rates, it was a great idea. Now, I would be very cautious.

The trend in Korean real estate these days is for medium sized apartments in high demand locations (think Gangnam or other places with good schools or near other valuable locations such as Subway Stations for example). Large sized apartments are going the way of the dodo and prices are falling fast.

Korea has become a very tricky market for real estate. It is not for the un-researched. Places in high demand locations are holding their value quite well, even increasing believe it or not. In other places, prices are dropping, sometimes by a lot, because there just isn't demand. But, be careful, some of these places are relatively cheap (right now) but there is a reason for it - nobody wants them. If you want to live there for the rest of your life, great, go for it, but if you think you can re-sell it, buyer beware; it may not happen; certainly not at the price you bought it for.

The same thing with cheonsae. Please research who you are giving your cheonsae to. You don't want someone who is teetering on the brink. On the other hand, plenty of people are doing fine, and they are fully trustable but to protect yourself register with the local dong office, ask your real estate agent all the right questions and get some insurance.