I make regular trips to China on business, typically I spend anywhere from 2 to 4 months in China/Hong Kong/Taiwan/Japan out of a 12-month calendar, and with my new position I see myself there even longer and more frequent.

Recently I stayed at a friend's place in Beijing, and I have to say I was really impressed. It's basically a condo, about 2,200 sq. ft. in size, 3bd/2.5ba. The place is called "Palm Springs" because some California architect designed it, and it's designed as a fully isolated five star resort with parks, 24-hour guards with limited access, club house that serves 3 meals a day, cigar lounge with a nice collection of wine & liquor, huge fitness club with the latest US fitness equipments, huge indoor swimming pool heated by a hot spring pumped from about 2.4km underground, waterfall, etc.

All of that for about USD$400k. Mortgage rates are about 6% right now, and you can lease that place out for about $4000/month (if I don't want to move there so quickly) - it seems that foreigners (expats) who get postings there are looking for good places to lease but not to own. Locals can't afford the housing, and those who can afford it don't want to buy, thus creating a slightly odd housing market.

Has anyone looked into this? I'm thinking of moving my whole family there as I can afford to hire a driver, a nanny for each kid, a cook, and a maid to help my wife out in China, but not here.

The added bonus of course is that my kids can go to school with large corporations' top executives' kids, and even local Chinese family who are in the top echelon of society - connections that can pay dividends throughout their lives.

 

You're outsourcing your cost of living to China? I like it!

Don't know about China, although I'd like to live on the Bund in Shanghai.

I was looking to buy a place in Bali, and the "ownership" for a expat is really a long term lease. If I were to sink any equity into a property, I'd want to make sure I would own the deed. Maybe there's a reason that expats are leasing.

 

interesting idea. If you crossed your T's and dotted your I's and it makes financial sense for you then why not! Living in California isn't really the cheapest place in the US. It depends on what you figure you and your family need in terms of what's available in NA versus Asia. If you find that there aren't too many negatives then go for it!

 

Actually I've seen some of those places just outside Beijing. Looks almost EXACTLY like a US suburb, even with the sign at the edge of the tract with a price (I think $300k roughly). Seemed like every other house had an Audi A6 sedan with the blacked out windows in the driveway.

 

I'm guessing with your income like many others income on this board you can almost live like royalty in China, but some negatives that come up in my mind is the major difference in culture.

In my personal opinion I find the majority of Chinese people a little bit on the rude side. Like there would be no waiting at lines at a Mcdonalds in china, people would just run up to the counter. Beijing might be a big city but like the rest of china once you step a little outward from the city its very rural and not modern.

The weather would also not be as nice in cali, I live in Texas and when I went to Beijing during the summer it was way hotter than I am used to. And don't forget about the snow in winter.

You may be able to have your child in a good school at first but I see that most of the rich people in asia often send their kids to the states or europe when they grow older. Do you really want your kid to grow up with rich snobby chinese people.(unless there are schools mainly with foreigners)

Some other negative points is the crowdedness and pollution. Driving whenever you don't have a driver can be bad also.
The only place I would condsier living in Asia would be Hong Kong or Japan, but then the living expenses would be about equal to those in the US.
my .02

 

Neat idea, Richard. Please continue to keep us updated on whatever you find or do, because it is a very interesting idea. Seems like you are considering two different possibilities: one as an investment (buy the property then lease it out to expats who work in China for several years); the other one is owner-occupied (move your whole family over to live in the property). I don't know if these developments have requirements that the property be owner-occupied or not, but you should find out before you consider the investment idea further.

The one other thing I'd look into is resale of the property. Unless you plan to own it forever, eventually you must sell the property and that is when you find out if there is a market for such properties or not.

Please keep us posted on any new developments or information.

Edit: Another thought came to me. I've heard that it is easy to bring money into China but very difficult to take it back out. So you may want to look into whether you can take your money back out of China when you sell. Also heard that there is a big tax when a non-citizen sells a house in China, don't know if it is true or not. But please tell us whatever you find out. Thanks.

 

one potential risk is that china is a communist government.

if they decide that they don't wan to do the capitalist thing anymore, they may decide to "give your property back to the people."

Don't think it can happen? It's YOUR money!

 

Yea, i'd be hestitant to live and put my kids through school in a communist country...
If this was just for investment. Hey if profits to be made, why not.