That's cool, Freckle, not everybody likes everything. Personally, I've yet to find a single source that provides the full berth of weekly Asian RE news reports in English, let alone online – so far I've been forced to "manually" collate those (you can see a partial list of the sources at the bottom of the article, which should also help…[Read more]

There's nothing in the text to credit or discredit the IMF's report (or other publications), Freckle, only a compilation of the week's news – and news are, as always, a reflection of a great many things. I think you might be confusing the format of the article with opinion or analysis, which it was never meant to be – the only opinion expressed…[Read more]

As it turns out, btw (I didn't know that) – Japan surpassed China as Asia-Pacific's largest RE investment market this financial year – so the radiation, real or not, isn't deterring anyone, Japanese or otherwise.http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/24/australia-property-idINL4E7ML0GQ20120724

I was considering china for a while, but don’t consider myself the gambling type. Their “policies” are too capricious, to be mild.

The fallout map's becoming clearer and clearer as months pass (not thanks to the government, but rather thanks to international groups and concerned citizens) – but we're with you there, we started our investments in the furthest-most regions from the accident location (south-west, over 1,300 kms from Fukushima) – and do not progress further east…[Read more]

Short answer – don't invest in Japan for capital growth or preservation – it's a pure cash-flow investment.Long answer -1) capital value – Personally, I don't think you should count on capital appreciation or preservation anywhere you buy, as it's pure speculation, particularly in the last five years. Example – my…[Read more]

Heard bad (as in unstable and unsafe) things about the Philippines…not much about Taiwan. Would be good to get some feedback.

whathouse wrote:
As someone with several properties in Bulgaria and who lives there for 6 months a year I can categorically say that nowhere can you get double your money here. Maybe if you were in at the start of the boom back in 2003/2004 but not now. Now you can get property for peanuts because there are so many desperate sellers. Great…[Read more]

Cheers – hope this sheds some light on the vital differences in mentality, and why Japan's probably the safest environment one could purchase real-estate in.

emma171 wrote:
…pay the sheriff to do it (I think about $39)… you go back to the Sheriff and say sigh, they haven't paid (interestingly they take your word for it – how bizarre)…and the sheriff will then toddle off down there, do a lock out and you get your house back…

Loving it. We have a variation on this with Gov Sup (eq of sec tena…[Read more]

LiamT wrote:

Hi everyone, I was looking at buying an investment property in either QLD or WA…Also weighing up the idea of investing overseas… I hear some pretty encouraging stuff but I am not exactly an expert…Go Gladstone, or any other industry and manufacturing (as opposed to "pure" mining) areas – better chances for it to be a bit longer…

[Read more]

emma171 wrote:
NOMADS are us…..we are a rare breed!  Thus why I make the commitment to the client and their investment, not the specific property and city…

I hear ya. Getting headaches keeping up with timezones too. Japan-Aus not too bad, but now looks like US and Europe entering the mix. Strange two or three years up ahead.You just can't…[Read more]

Fascinating thread, boys, thank you.

There are countries in the world (Japan, China, India) where you can buy a single $20K apartment profitably – but I don't think the USA is one of them – the banking, insurance and HOA systems there make it unprofitable, as far as I can tell from what I read on here. I'd put $40-50K as a minimum profitable entry there, but I could be wrong.

emma171 wrote:
too reliant on someone else that I wouldn’t be able to take over…

Yup, English, Japanese or Urdu, you can’t remote-manage properties in more than one country if you’re into micro-mgmt, this is all about putting your dd, then faith, into the best team you can get, then “letting go” and just making macro decisions. quite the…[Read more]

jayhinrichs wrote:
But then again 15% and higher is an illusive imaginary figure anywhere as well.

Don’t know about higher, but 14-15% is quite achievable, just takes a few months of waiting and some aggressive negotiation. If you can get more than one property and reduce legal/facilitation fees further you might not even have to wait that…[Read more]

The General wrote:
Trust in God.

Gramps used to say "In god we trust. Everybody else pays cash".

nor could the planet, all good

showoff…looks wicked but

That's great news, Terry, thanks