06-11-2008, 12:25 PM
I will try to answer all the questions in one posting. My wife is Taiwanese and she moved to Hawaii for me, so I promised her we will spend some time in Taiwan when I retire. That was the main reason of our purchase there. Most foreigners are allowed to stay up to three months in Taiwan. However, had it not been for Cathy, I wouldn't have bought anything there. Hardly anyone speaks English, all the signs are in Taiwanese, and I am not ready to learn another language. We bought directly from the developer and my wife handled all the details of the purchase, I was just there to ask questions. The salespeople of the developer were salaried and I don't know what the commission rate is there. I don't know the property values in East Taiwan either.
We also have a condo on Penang in Malaysia. (It's an island of about one million people about an hour from Kuala Lumpur.) http://ferringhi-heights.com. That will be our main retirement place. They have a "Malaysia My 2nd Home" program there. (http://MM2H.gov) It gives you a 10-year visa and many other tax benefits too. The official language is English there. Even though we bought the condo from a developer, we hired our own agent to represent us. He got 1% as a commission, though most developers in Malaysia pay 3% to foreigner real estate agents for a referral. However, I believed I would be better served by an agent there representing me than taking the 3% of the commission myself.
Everything I buy is an investment and investing in foreigner countries has its risk. Don't buy anything without extensive research. I bought land in Fiji 10 years ago, that's how it began. SE Asia is the fastest growing part of the world and investing in properties there can be very lucrative. As they used to say, follow the "big boys" (like Costco, Home Depot, etc.,) they usually are 3-4 years ahead of the local boom. (I didn't know about the Costco in Taichung, maybe they were just following me?)
I don't think I will spend much time in Hawaii after I retired. I have no close family anywhere but in Hungary, and I certainly wouldn't go there, so I can move anywhere. The world is big and the cost of living is much lower in Malaysia (and Taiwan) than in Hawaii, not to mention the quality of the service. In addition, I like it there.
As a footnote, I would be interested to know how can they build super-luxury properties there for $120/sq.ft. while we can only get a package home for that price here, or maybe not even that.
Aloha,
John S. Rabi ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"
We also have a condo on Penang in Malaysia. (It's an island of about one million people about an hour from Kuala Lumpur.) http://ferringhi-heights.com. That will be our main retirement place. They have a "Malaysia My 2nd Home" program there. (http://MM2H.gov) It gives you a 10-year visa and many other tax benefits too. The official language is English there. Even though we bought the condo from a developer, we hired our own agent to represent us. He got 1% as a commission, though most developers in Malaysia pay 3% to foreigner real estate agents for a referral. However, I believed I would be better served by an agent there representing me than taking the 3% of the commission myself.
Everything I buy is an investment and investing in foreigner countries has its risk. Don't buy anything without extensive research. I bought land in Fiji 10 years ago, that's how it began. SE Asia is the fastest growing part of the world and investing in properties there can be very lucrative. As they used to say, follow the "big boys" (like Costco, Home Depot, etc.,) they usually are 3-4 years ahead of the local boom. (I didn't know about the Costco in Taichung, maybe they were just following me?)
I don't think I will spend much time in Hawaii after I retired. I have no close family anywhere but in Hungary, and I certainly wouldn't go there, so I can move anywhere. The world is big and the cost of living is much lower in Malaysia (and Taiwan) than in Hawaii, not to mention the quality of the service. In addition, I like it there.
As a footnote, I would be interested to know how can they build super-luxury properties there for $120/sq.ft. while we can only get a package home for that price here, or maybe not even that.
Aloha,
John S. Rabi ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"