Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Radius]

There are many apartments that have been foreclosed and being auctioned here. Have you or anyone you know here married to a Korean flip any of these homes? I was thinking of buying cheap foreclosed homes in the States and renting them out for passive income, but if I can make just as much here, why not?

[Koreadays]

[GoldMember]

The "foreclosure" auctions here that are held at the court are a joke.
Firstly there is a minimum price. Which is actually damm high compared to the so called market price. If this minimum price is not met then the property does not sell and that's that. The minimum price is openly advertised.
If a property sells for x dollars below, so called market price, then guess what, that auction price IS the new market price.

In the US and other countries, the property sells, the owner takes a hit and possibly the bank also takes a hit, and then a bad debt is off the books.
Here it seems the priority of the court is to maintain the illusion of high property prices, even if it means the bad debt stays on the books.

[Radius]

Well, I can forget investing here then.
My plan is to every year or two buy a REO house and rent it out as close to 2% of the purchase price of the house as I can, and get a property manager to manage it for me while I'm away. Sticking to the 50% rule (expenses, taxes, vacancy, repairs, etc. on average costs you 50% of your total profit annum), it should cash flow.
I'm just trying to figure out which part of the US to do this in. I hear Texas is hot right now.

[Jimskins]

I've been following the property market and credit situation in Korea closely for the last few years and I would suggest that you'd have to be INSANE to buy any property in Korea at the moment, no matter what price.

Imagine a baker, who has been selling 250 loaves of bread daily and because the last few days he has been selling 300 loaves a day he suddenly decides to bake 500 a day. Unfortunately he only sells 300 and asks the government for help. The government, instead of saying "this is a free market, that is the risk you take," bails him out with cash and then encourages to keep baking 500 loaves a day (despite little increase in demand), any that are unsold he will be reimbursed for.

This is the Korean property market at the moment. In every city, (I saw it again in Daegu at the weekend) you can see blocks and blocks of new apartment buildings, all empty, and more being built.

Even the average adjumma has caught on to the situation, which is why the Jonsei prices are soaring, no-body wants to buy, a crash (or at least sharp correction) is coming soon.

[bobbybigfoot]

I would be cautious investing in the US. After some research, I'm of the opinion that the US dollar is going to implode within the next few years.

Inflation will go sky high. Markets will crash.

It's fair to say that if the US goes, Korea will follow.

Gold and silver, that's the way of the future.

[Stan Rogers]

Investing in property is all about location location location.

[Koreadays]

[GoldMember]

This is how property works in Korea. Some schmuck buys a badly built ugly concrete box dangling in mid air with near zero land value (the real value). Said schmuck sells to bigger schmuck. who then sells to a much bigger schmuck. System works great until you run out of schmucks.

[Koreadays]

[chungbukdo]