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Although it is "officially" impossible to wire money out of China (you can always wire in), there are lots of underground banks that help you repatriate fund in and out, in whatever currency you desire, for a fee, of course. There is a risk of these underground outfits running away with your...

I have invested in Shanghai real estate, in an office and an apartment. My general advice is, NO NO NO. I have a long horror story to tell, only if you guys are interested. Here is the biggest catch: One cannot own land in China, so all office buildings are built on leased land for 50 years...

Is there any first home purchase incentive for Japanese citizens in Japan? I am married to a Japanese citizen who has since birth moved overseas and therefore never purchase a property back "home". For rental yields, is it better to buy a house or a unit/apartment (or mansion as the japanese...

CG is way too touristy, live in Brisbane and visit CG on weekends. Plus, once you discover the Sunshine coast, CG just doesn't seem that attractive any more. Shhh, let the tourists head for CG and save Sunshine coast for ourselves.

The buyers in this case are ethnic Chinese. Just as a rule of thumb, and this is of course entirely cultural, an average ethnic Chinese won't consider living in any dwellings where a person was murdered, not to mention a crime of such severity. Death of natural courses (old age, illness, natural...

Perhaps you need to update the calendar setting of your DC :-) I thought you were talking about some recent transactions, not of transactions 4 years ago. Thanks for the clarification, we just call it realty tax in general, which essentially is money paid to the county for funding local...

Great article. Did you mean realty tax (equivalent of council rate in OZ) when you were talking about school fee?

Aceyducey, Well, I put a qualifier after the word housing bubble (some areas) :-). But that didn't stop me from buying my first real estate in Australia just a couple of months ago. Another concern I have with Yen and AUD is, both seem to be too dependent on the boom in China, Japan is...

I am of the school of thought that USD may very like revisit the 1971 scenario again. But there are other certainties that I'd like to sort out, for example, which currency will be a better haven? Euro or the commodity-based currencies like AUD and CAD? I am under the impression that...

Cool stuff. Keep on!

any chance that the mighty AUD may come down below 65 cents sometimes next year?

I am not sure about the Canadian law, but American law allows citizens and residents to own foreign real estate (vacation home) and deduct mortgage interest from taxable income. You can still negatively gear your property in Australia as an overseas investor as far as Australian taxation is...

http://www.apm.com.au/osbuyers/buying.htm This is a good start. Cheers

I just completed an OTP purchase in Brisbane, QLD. I followed the recommendation of some forumrites to use Tunns Lawyer which is now AP Hodgson's & Associates. At first I was not very happy with their service because the paralegal was not very responsive with email. Then later on, my...

Hi Pitt Street, it is an OTP and I believe the latest law changes require the buyer to put down 10% (the Mirvac case). I am fine with the 10%, but I am concerned that my solicitor sounds like she doesn't care if I pay before her reviewing the contract. Let's say, if during the conveyancing...

Thanks Geoff and crest133 for your input, sounds reasonable and fair to me.

Hi there, I employed the service of a solicitor based on recommendations of the forum. Unforunately the solicitor / or the clerk seems quite irresponsive. I have signed the sale contract but haven't paid the deposit. Now I am about to make the 10% deposit but the solicitor still hasn't...

I strongly suggest your checking out the neighborhoods very carefully in the US because the wealth and income disparity is way starker than Oz. Therefore, if you invest in the wrong side of the town, you won't see your money back for years. Inner-city problems are rampant, and since our...

Thanks a lot for the advice above, you guys are great.

My mom has signed an one-year rental agreement which will expire next June. However, she found a perm place to move into around Oct/Nov so I'd like to get out of the rental contract. Here is what I have in mind. Can we offer the landlord to show the apartment from Oct/Nov onwards and if...