October 17, 2011
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the little business man in me (2).
my UK visa is still in process. i won't know whether or not the visa will be granted until i get my passport back, which will be next week. the travel agency has contacted me asking whether or not i still want to keep the booking of my flight to london. i told them that i would need to get my passport back from the embassy first before i can give any kind of confirmation to them. until i get my visitor’s visa, i won't pay a cent for the ticket.
another money matter just risen this weekend. a long process of property hunting with a friend that started since last year finally resulted into a fruitful search. we found a property yesterday that we both feel positive about and are planning to purchase it for a long term investment. we plan to rent it out and use the rental payment as our second income. we'll try to keep it going for at least 10 years before we will start thinking about selling it. we should be keeping it for longer than that since property price always goes up. and we probably will. however, there is a regulation here that allows property owners to own their land for only 20 years (starting from the date of purchase) before it goes to the government, unless we apply for a renewal of ownership. if the renewal is granted then we'll get another 20 years, otherwise it goes to the government and they can do whatever they want with it. the regulation applies to everyone and goes for all kinds of land property, whether that be a home, an apartment, an office building, a warehouse, a factory, or a hotel. that's how it is here.
considering the circumstances, i think i really need to save more money than I already have. not sure how i'm gonna manage my trip to london if the plan to purchase this property is confirmed. not to mention another trip plan to korea with two other friends for next year. AND my stocks are not doing so well this year either. i need to sell off my stocks to get the funding for all of my travel plans.
Comments (12)
I wonder how much rent you can collect out of the money you guys invested? In other words, is the rate of return decent?
So what happens after 20 years and you forget to renew your property ? Does the goverment come in and throw you out ? Thats one hell of a law. So you never truly own anything. Got to watch your back with those renewal dates, especially if you own more than one property.
Strange laws concerning the property. I am not sure I would make the investment. Buy then again I am 71 and love to travel.
Oh that's a different situation about property ownership. Does the government usually allow you to renew? I'm guessing there's a renewal fee of some sort. As for stocks... well, I'm moving to dividend paying stocks.
@CurryPuffy - i won't be able to get a high rate. i would need to wait for several years before i can get the full return for the amount of money i have to spend for the purchase. which is why this is a long term investment. so i take this as something to help me in paying the property tax while waiting for the value of the property to go up.
@The_Eyes_Of_A_Painter - this will be my very first one but a second one for my friend. from what understand, there will be a notice sent to land/property owners when the due date is near. since the property is located inside a housing complex, there will also be a notice from the management of that housing complex. i think.
@Fatcat723 - it's the reason for my love to travel that i decided on this long term investment. i would need a second income to assist my financial needs for future travels. initially, my stocks meant to cover that expenses, but they have not been a reliable source of second income apparently.
@ElusiveWords - yes, there will be a renewal fee. not sure how much, though. i have never been good in the field of finance and so haven't been able to get the maximum return from my investment on stocks. i feel like i should divert my attention to something different and less risky, hence my interest in owning a property.
Wow, you have quite a few plans. I wonder what the reasoning behind that 20 year rule is? On first thought, it doesn't seem to make sense. If you're raising a family and then the government doesn't renew your ownership, then you're booted out. Hope you get to go to London. Just an amazing city. Let me know if you need any restaurant recommendations.
@brooklyn2028 - not sure about the reasoning for the regulation. then again, there are many strange regulations here and we the citizens are used to them. london? hell yeah! pls do give your recommendations as you always seem to go to the best places.
Gosh, that's an odd regulation and one that would seem to discourage home ownership.
@christao408 - @CurryPuffy - @The_Eyes_Of_A_Painter - @Fatcat723 - @ElusiveWords - @brooklyn2028 - guys, i have to clarify a little bit about the regulation here. there are two types of certifications when it comes to purchasing a land/property. one is concerning the 'ownership' and the other concerning the 'usage'. i think i gave you the wrong explanation.
'ownership' certification gives you the title of ownership for the rest of your life, however, the 'usage' certification gives you the license to use your land/building/unit for only 20 years. this may be renewed, however, it may not always be granted, depending on whether they may want to use your land/building for road expansion or for other means. if this sort of thing happens, then the government has the right to reject your request for renewal of 'usage' certification and they will purchase that land/building/unit of yours from you, which usually lower than the market price.
depending on the property, you may or may not always get to have both certifications, but you will certainly have at least the 'usage' certification and free to do whatever you like within the 20-year limit.
@rudyhou - thanks for clarification. I think it makes sense.
@rudyhou - So basically the same as "imminent domain" but in this case you actually have to go through the renewal process every 20 years. Interesting...
@christao408 - yeah, pretty much.