Korean Job Discussion Forums

[baedaebok]

I want to buy real estate in Seoul. Where can I research information about this? Is it a good idea? Could someone provide me with contact info about real estate agents.

[PRagic]

If you have to ask on an ESL chat board, you're definitely not ready to spend the minimum 300-400 thousand USD necessary to buy anything in Seoul.

Save your money or buy something in your home country where you can better assess value and potential.

[baedaebok]

I am ready to buy property to the tune of what was suggested but it is difficult to find online info, forums, or contacts for buying real estate in Korea. I'm looking at Seoul but all I've come across is a Busan real estate agent and advice about the logistics of foreigners buying property in Korea.

I know this is a website about teaching English in Korea but what are appropriate websites?

[dogbert]

[baedaebok]

Does www.r114.com have English counterparts? This looks like an informative website but there is no English part. Are there English Real Estate agents website for Seoul?

[PRagic]

Ok, then I'll ask your motivation for wanting to buy property. Do you need a place to live? Even if you have that amount (300-400 USD in cash), you really couldn't buy much in terms of a long-term investment. You could get a villa, but they tend to stay the same in price or even decrease. If you're single, you could go with a large officitel, but then you'd be paying crazy monthly fees, and it's a gamble as to whether or not the price would actually increase (officitel tax regs have changed). You might be able to find an apartment unit in a less convenient/popular area of Seoul for around 400-500, but you'd probably have to gut it, and even then, it wouldn't be much to look at.

Are you looking for rental income? If that is the case, Seoul is not for you. You'd do better to put your money in an account at 6 or 7% here.

Land is an option, but that can be a crap shoot. If you're lucky enough to buy where a development will go in, and can buy before the big news gets out, then you'll make a buck. However, if you buy 'dead land', it can stay the same in price for years and years.

Apartments? Yikes. Would depress me to own one now, unless I had bought it 7-10 years ago. WAY overpriced, and with an unstable economy, I can't see them going anywhere. Even the smart Korean money is buying outside of Korea.

What exactly do you want to know. I'm no expert, but I've been around for a long time.

Cheers, and good luck to you.

[jetrash]

my 2 cents worth..have spent most of the last week dealing with estate agents in seoul.

you can pick up apartments for $350,000 or under..if you look around...(IE.no excellent schools close by,not next to subway etc, esp.anything OLD,..koreans hate this.. so no premium.
there are relatively few properties on the market at moment as prices have leveled ,owners want growth,hence there,s a bit of a waiting game going on.
thusthe market is stagnating,and of course with seoul house prices per sq meter still one of the highest in the world a correction should be coming..or even a crash end of this year or maybe next?.
no one knows for certain when,of course,or we would all be Donald tRUMP billionairs etc.
ive seen price crash/corrections happen in london( similar overpriced market) and it feels right for seoul to have one now too.

the korean economy will also dive,assiting the end of the the property boom.
there are already sale price reductions happening across the market nowesp. if some seoul home owners are overstretched and need to sell reluctantly,quickly.

The new developments currently on site are way overpriced in this market,and are not selling so fast(at the developers crazy "hoped for" prices)

koreans got used to making tons of money on the property market and are confused it has stopped..last pres. tried to cool it with anti speculation measures.
Koreans think the new pres. will let it re inflate.i dont see how he can facilitate that in this economic climate.the money is not there.

if you wait till the crash/correction..if it comes...and get a bargain..thats possible..but that would be on the assumption the k economy will pick up again(taking housing market with it) ..and with the china factor /poss US crash/Won tanking/etc..not sure it will.
korea could revert to a very dead place,full of debt,no oil/food etc..industry moved to cheaper bases, china etc.
seoul will be a graveyard of hell hole of ugly overpriced towerblock million $ homes housing 20 million people in a tanked economy.
if one buys, buy for utility(ie.'cos you need a house,a roof over your head)..not as an investment.. expect to lose money.

(NB.to make money in property, my advice right now..buy in australia.
that will crash/correct too at some point as there are now affordability problems and too much speculation,but it will recover as the wider aus economy/currency is actually based on something real(minerals,agriculture etc ,unlike korea) and will carry on rocketing afterwards
simple as that.
i cashed out of the london market middle of last year at its total peak...i planned it over a year in advance of that.it has been falling since then.)

[PRagic]

Good post.

Australia? Maybe, given their pretty nasty household dept ratio. Still, for my 2 cents, I'd be buying on auction in the States. Stuff is going cheap.

[baedaebok]

I'm only interested in investing in Korea for rental income and market appreciation. I lived in Korea for 6 years so have no intention to live there again.

Investing in the US sounds attractive. I'm from Canada so I'm not familiar with the housing market in the US. Would being a non-citizen be a problem for buying US property and collecting rent? Where are some good buys? Where could I get more information?

[PRagic]

If your looking for rental income compared to your investment, Seoul is one of the worst places to invest.

Upside potential in Seoul for market value is also bleak.

In the States, you can check out any real estate agent, or do a simple search for real estate auctions. I'd imagine that you'd have to fly there to handle the paper work, but it could be worth it.

If you're in Canada, why not buy there? Mortgages are cheap, and there are some booming areas where at least your rental income will be attainable.

Honestly, though, it sounds like you have some coin, but haven't done any homework. This can be a bad combo. Good luck, though.

[jetrash]

good advice,pragic.

[baedaebok]

PRagic....it is true that I haven't researched into the market that much....a fool and his money are easily separated.

I've hardly invested....just a little officetel in Seoul a few years ago which has hardly increased. But a friends apartment in southern Seoul (near Kwachon) has doubled in value in 8 years. That's around 15%. Can that be beat in Canada?

I'm looking at property in Qatar (where I live). The property values have doubled in the past year and they haven't even finished constructing the properties. The doubling property was the ZigZag Towers. The Pearl is the other option but that's a bigger investment of min USD300,000 to USD3,000,000.

[Thunndarr]