Are you buying a house here or there?

[amos]

Ok, this topic was gathering some momentum before the now infamous Oriented System crash of a couple of days back, so we'll start again.

I've been thinking a bit recently about buying a house, but was not sure on whether to buy it here, or back home. I'd like to know how many people have bought places here, or bought places back home whilst still working here.

It's everybodies dream to own their own house, so I'd love to hear on what people have done, or plan to do with regard to where you will or have bought, and a little bit of how you've gone about it with regards to living here.

Cheers Amos

ps to the guys who posted on this topic before it crashed, Bri and Theo's mother? were a couple I can remember, please re post as there were some really good ideas and thoughts on the topic.

[Mr He]

Well, my inlaws built a house and bought an apartment (the last was an investment) a couple of years ago. Probably lost at least half the money invested by now...

While housing prices here are low, no law on the books decree that they can't go lower. Moreover, you may want to keep in mind that 17% of all residential units are vacant, meaning that there is tonnes of supply waiting on the sides.

In other words, if one of your objectives is to store some value, you'll end up with eggs on your face. IF you buy a house because you want to live in it for 15+ years, then it may be a good idea. Just make sure tht the rebar isn't radioactive(I kid you not). Moreover, make sure that the house is built legally and that the quality is ok. If you buy a duplex, it is likely to be illegal.

[Rascal]

I invested some of my hard earned cash in my parents new house back home which I will inherit one day (I guess), no intention to buy anything here or around Asia as I do not plan to stay for that long, at least there is no guarantee in my job that it will last forever and I do not think I want to settle down here (for sure not in Taipei).

Personally I would not invest locally unless you know you are going to settle down here, perhaps because you really love it or due to familiy committments or whatever, but as an expat this is IMHO not a good option.

On the other hand property (not necessarily here) is usually a good and safe investment as you can rent it out for example, but then you need somebody to look after it and may become taxable in that country (income from rent).

[sandman]

My mother-in-law is forever nagging me and my brother-in-law (2nd brother, so non-inheriting) to buy property here, but he just laughs at her and says that if he buys property, he wants it to go up in value, not down.

I kind of agree. I'd like to stop paying rent, but I know three or four people here who paid around NT$8 million for houses or apartments, here and in Taichung, and ALL have seen their properties lose a minimum of NT$3 million in just 5 years or so, not counting the normal wear and tear depreciation.

For NT$8 mil, you could buy a pretty fantastic renovated farmhouse in Spain or Portugal to retire to, or an upmarket flat in Edinburgh, I guess.

In value for money terms, I know what I'd choose.

[thyrdrail]

Here is a website to a really nice looking housing complexes. Beautiful architecture and seems like a nice suburban location. Who says Taiwan doesn't have some nice architecture.

http://arch.cec.com.tw/TheVillage/

[sandman]

Hey Thyrdrail, you ever been to The Village or are you basing your judgement on the (admittedly attractive) website? (which has the wrong link, btw -- check your other post on the subject for the correct one.)

I have been there, and my visit has coloured my view of the website somewhat. As I said in my post on that other thread, the photos are artfully taken but very misleading. The place is HORRIBLE! Like the worst of 80s British council housing. Squashed together houses like some kind of Legoland nightmare with every window in the house looking straight into someone else's place.

The architect may indeed be up and coming as you say, (although if that's the current standard ... shudder!) but the fact remains he's working to a brief, and that brief, as sure as god made little green apples, doesn't say "design a space for living that will be appreciated for its asthetic appeal while providing elegant open space, de dah de dah..."

More likely it says "We have xxx hectares. How many houses can you cram on to that space?"

Oh, and another thing. It doesn't matter what the architect does anyway -- and if you'd ever been to The Village, or any of the other numerous housing complexes around the edge of Taipei you'd know this. The very first thing a new owner here does, virtually without fail, it to build illegal extensions wherever he can.

Of course, this is not in the original architect's brief, so the construction company usually does it according to tried and tested local methods, using the materials it deliberately over-ordered just for this purpose and augmenting them with materials such as aluminum siding, plastic awnings and far, far worse. I'd go up there one weekend and take some pics of what the place looks like now -- it would open your eyes, I'm sure!

One of my friends lives in a three-story semi-detached in one of these places (not The Village, but similar) and has been trying for months to sue his neighbour who has -- get this -- managed to wrangle an old shipping container up onto his upstairs balcony, where he's apparently using it as a bedroom extension.

I'm not trying to flame you, but just trying to point out the real situation, and it shows no sign of changing, whichever architect you employ.

[amos]

Sandman, Wolf and Cranky and anyone else who's been here since the martial law days [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] , have you guys bought place back home? or plan too?

[sandman]

Bwahahahahaha! I can barely afford a new pair of shoes, let alone a house!

Seriously, I haven't bought anywhere just yet. I was on the point a few years back of buying a nice interior-designed flat in Edinburgh or Glasgow, but the plan petered out because I didn't want to trust a letting agency with it, and didn't want to lumber one of my sisters with being my proxy for all the little details that inevitably crop up.

I'm now leaning more toward a place in (or maybe that should be on) the Mediterranean, but right now its no more than a pipe dream that comes up every time I have a few drinks of pastis.

[thyrdrail]

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that was the wrong link, sandman. I clicked on it and it opened just fine. And I only had one post on this subject. What other post are you referring to? I must've missed something.

Well, I said the ARCHITECTURE looked quite nice. Mainly the aesthetics. It's alot nicer compared to alot of other housing complexes. I didn't say anything about the planned layouts. It does look cramped, but what the hell do you expect? It's Taiwan; it ain't the US or China where land is ample and cheap. Actually, it looks like there's alot of land in the surrounding area. At least there's no other complexes jutting up against it which would make it even more cramped.

If you want bigger houses or apartments with more space and land, then you should shell out a few million and buy yourself a place in the more affluent neighborhoods.

[cranky laowai]

I'm buying a place here, though I should state that in general I'm not convinced that buying in Taiwan is much better than renting. Buying a place in the Taipei area can be expensive [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] . The reason I'm buying is complicated; basically, I've taken over the house payments on a place my father-in-law was able to get a good deal on as part of his retirement package from the government.

But maybe I'll be moving to Xindian later this year. Dunno what I'll do with the Banqiao place then.

As for getting a place back in the States, I'm not interested for now. I hail from Oklahoma, which isn't such a bad place, really, but not one I want to settle down in. So where would I buy something? New York City? San Francisco? Too expensive. There are cheaper places, but there's the hassle of trying to get things taken care of from thousands of miles away. And then there's the fact that I don't have enough money to make house payments in two different countries.

But I do have vague, probably never-to-be-fulfilled plans to buy a house on some land in the mountains on the east coast of Taiwan. Maybe with a view of the sea. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. [img]images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img]