You sold everything!

[brewsterbudgen]

Yes, sold my London apartment after 2 years of a nightmare renting it out.  Now, nothing back home and no family either.  I "own" a house in rural Laos in my wife's village, but none of us fancy living there yet (or ever, for me) and living there legally for myself and my British son won't be easy, as my marriage isn't recognised in Laos.  None of us are Thai, so although our future is here for the next few years (hopefully decades), it might not be easy.

[Pitak Chirachat]

Why going back? I live here 35 years, happily married for 31 of them with a group kid. Have become Thai citizen a few years ago and we own 3 houses. So I can't really see a reason to go back to my country of origin. After all, Thailand is not so bad value for money if it comes to quality of living.

[georgegeorgia]

And if you don't have full Insurance in Asia wherever you are ,and the dreaded big C happens and you need to go back like most  ( one well known You Tuber left it too late to go back )

 

But if you do decide to go back don't think you can rely on others like kids or family they will get sick of you !

 

 

 

[georgegeorgia]

4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yes, sold my London apartment after 2 years of a nightmare renting it out.  Now, nothing back home and no family either.  I "own" a house in rural Laos in my wife's village, but none of us fancy living there yet (or ever, for me) and living there legally for myself and my British son won't be easy, as my marriage isn't recognised in Laos.  None of us are Thai, so although our future is here for the next few years (hopefully decades), it might not be easy.

Won't be easy ? Well where are you living now ??

[brewsterbudgen]

Just now, georgegeorgia said:

Won't be easy ? Well where are you living now ??

Been living and working in Thailand since 2005.

[Celsius]

17 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Do you live there? I did for 62 years, and all of my family still does. If you can pay the rent, they will rent. A mortgage is also possible for retirees.

Who is eligible for mortgage in USA?

 

 

Conventional loans (the most common type) require a 620 FICO score; FHA loans require a 580 minimum; VA loans usually require 580-620; USDA loans require a 640 score. Credit history: Your recent credit history also determines whether you qualify for a home loan.

 

Really. Just a credit score and no income? 

 

I would love to speak to that bank.

[fredwiggy]

2 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Really. Just a credit score and no income? 

 

I would love to speak to that bank.

Retirement is income,as is a pension.

[Airalee]

 

[Celsius]

Just now, fredwiggy said:

Retirement is income,as is a pension.

 

Retirement savings like 401k or social security?

 

Cuz from reading this forum most don't even have enough for 800k money in the bank

[fredwiggy]

1 minute ago, Celsius said:

 

Retirement savings like 401k or social security?

 

Cuz from reading this forum most don't even have enough for 800k money in the bank

Social security.

[Hummin]

5 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

And please guys don't say oh that's ok you have a brother or a son or whatever back in farangland and they will put you up etc etc 

 

They will only put up with you until they get sick of you !!!

 

I have family and 3/4 of my resources back in homeland, and still freelancing for work occasionally. 

 

Never going to burn my bridges!

[Celsius]

2 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Social security.

 

Yea.... maybe for a 5,000 dollar house.

 

What nonsense.

[fredwiggy]

2 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Yea.... maybe for a 5,000 dollar house.

 

What nonsense.

Not nonsense, fact. I paid for 32 years around 1000 a month for a house that I sold for 167K. I have found at least 12 houses back home that cost right around 1000 a month. I will be working part time to have extra money for what else. Your statement means I would pay 1000 a month for 5 months to pay off a 5000 dollar house. Mortgages are 15-30 years.

[connda]

5 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

You sold it ,so if you get very sick ,if something happens like visa issues or legal matters or whatever you have nothing to go back to , your in the <deleted>e !

Why is anyone in the "<deleted>e !" whatever that means.

You assume that if anyone leaves Thailand they will HAVE to return to their home-county.  That's a rather daft assumption.  Perhaps that is correct for you, but for many of us, if circumstances dictated that we had to leave Thailand, we would chose to land in another country other than where we were born.  Other than family, there really is nothing in what has become an economic and social disaster of a "home-county" to return to. 

 

5 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

How many of you regret it ,admit it ,yes some if you wished you kept your house 

I wish I had bought a bunch of crackerboxes for under $10K apiece in Seattle in the 1970s.  I'd be a multi-millionaire ten times over.  But if you put wishes in one hand and ???? in the other guess which fill up first?

Grow up.  There are no givens carved in stone regarding anyone's future.  This temporal existence is the essence of change.  You throw the dice and you take your chances.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you walk away with what was in your pocket when you arrived.  Life is fickle.  Accept that and stop worrying about the future, live for the day, one day at a time, and enjoy life. 
If you worry so much about 'what might happen in the future' <Egad!> ???? you'll create your own Hell right here and now.

Fyi.  Culture your family connections.  You can sell everything, cut ties to all physical assets (other than financial assets), but - stay close to your family.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, connda said:

I wish I had bought a bunch of crackerboxes for under $10K apiece in Seattle in the 1970s.  I'd be a multi-millionaire ten times over.  But if you put wishes in one hand and ???? in the other guess which fill up first?

Wouldn't have been worthwhile for me, I would have lost them in the divorce.

For guys that cohabit with women it's best not to purchase property in the west.

 

What saved my butt was pensions, and the government even gave me 40% tax relief on buying them.

Edited September 22, 2023 by BritManToo

[connda]

Just now, connda said:

Why is anyone in the "<deleted>e !" whatever that means.

You assume that if anyone leaves Thailand they will HAVE to return to their home-county.  That's a rather daft assumption.  Perhaps that is correct for you, but for many of us, if circumstances dictated that we had to leave Thailand, we would chose to land in another country other than where we were born.  Other than family, there really is nothing in what has become an economic and social disaster of a "home-county" to return to. 

 

I wish I had bought a bunch of crackerboxes for under $10K apiece in Seattle in the 1970s.  I'd be a multi-millionaire ten times over.  But if you put wishes in one hand and ???? in the other guess which fill up first?

Grow up.  There are no givens carved in stone regarding anyone's future.  This temporal existence is the essence of change.  You throw the dice and you take your chances.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you walk away with what was in your pocket when you arrived.  Life is fickle.  Accept that and stop worrying about the future, live for the day, one day at a time, and enjoy life. 
If you worry so much about 'what might happen in the future' <Egad!> ???? you'll create your own Hell right here and now.

Fyi.  Culture your family connections.  You can sell everything, cut ties to all physical assets (other than financial assets), but - stay close to your family.

And if you believe that your perceived "wealth" somehow makes you better than your peers here at Asean Now.  Go soak your head.  You don't know what other member's financial state is.  You simply guess by appearance.  Appearances are deceiving mate.  And yet there are those members who spend their days trying to show the rest of us what superior a******s they are. 

Trust me.  We already know.

[connda]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Wouldn't have been worthwhile for me, I would have lost them in the divorce.

For guys that cohabit with women it's best not to purchase property in the west.

Well, yeah.  That's how my last home was disposed of as well as all my assets.

"I Want Half."   <cheating b****>

[FolkGuitar]

I didn't have much to sell. Lost it all in divorces. My most valuable asset was a Martin guitar, which I sold and bought a one-way ticket to Japan.  I arrived there with about $500 to my name, a box of books, and a suitcase of clothes.  That was about 35 years ago.

 

Go 'home' ?  Wherever I live, THAT is my home.  Should I find that I need/want to leave Thailand, I'll find another 'home' and be quite happy about it!  Right now, and for the past 20+ years, this is HOME.

[digbeth]

I wish I had kept renting mailbox and UK bank account, 

[fredwiggy]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Wouldn't have been worthwhile for me, I would have lost them in the divorce.

For guys that cohabit with women it's best not to purchase property in the west.

 

What saved my butt was pensions, and the government even gave me 40% tax relief on buying them.

Or buy the house before you get married, as I did. My ex tried to get it but I bought it in my own name 2 weeks before we got married.

[Eff1n2ret]

2 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Not sold mine yet but will be next year given the way the UK is going for people who are only landlords because we rent out the house we used to live in.

Ditto, before the imminent mad regulations do away with assured shorthold tenancies and prevent you and me from being able easily to reclaim possession of our properties when we need to. Also, improved interest rates mean that the proceeds of sale will earn nearly as much as I was getting after agents and their rapacious maintenance contractors have taken their cut, without any of the hassle. It will save my son and daughter the bother of selling the place when I'm gone, and I've no intention of going back to live in that miserable country in my 80s.

[giddyup]

Sold my house and contents, also car and moved here at 68 thirteen years ago. Absolutely no regrets.

[PB172111]

7 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

And please guys don't say oh that's ok you have a brother or a son or whatever back in farangland and they will put you up etc etc 

 

They will only put up with you until they get sick of you !!!

 

You need to see a shrink

[Expat68]

I still have a house. Remember always keep a bolt hole

[Seeall]

7 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

True enough, no argument here. The ultimate test of financial health for the expat is the ability to repatriate, and inflation, especially with housing costs, can really throw a monkey wrench into even the best laid plans.

 

On the other hand...the risks of property ownership are soaring. Sea level rise, sargassum and plankton blooms, hurricanes, flooding, drought, ground water depletion, forest fires, unavailability of insurance, rising property taxes, and potential degradation of neighborhoods due to homelessness and influxes of climate refugees (both internal and cross-border) seem to be making home ownership less attractive. The value of maintaining your mobility options seems to be growing.

 

With global debt levels hitting new all-time highs and the era of free money coming to an end, there is also a growing risk that real estate valuations will correct in the future as well.

 

So it's not as cut and dried as it might appear at first glance.

No I feel theres nothing worth living for....

[1FinickyOne]

7 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

And please guys don't say oh that's ok you have a brother or a son or whatever back in farangland and they will put you up etc etc 

I would never impose on anyone - -  but some of us here invested the money when they sold the house and those investments have increased by a factor of 10x... I don't quite understand the 'burning bridges' cliche. I can move back anytime I want - I still have friends back there, but I did not give up the ability to return... 

 

of course, the truth is that if you have money, no matter where you live, you have more choices. 

[1FinickyOne]

6 minutes ago, Seeall said:

No I feel theres nothing worth living for....

of course, now the challenge is to go out and have a nice day, again.

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

What was smart about, it seems, giving a "friend" the storage key so he could sell, give away, and trash your things?  When you move, if it seems to be at least a semi permanent thing, you bring them with you. That's what I did, and still have them here, and will bring them back to the states when we move back. Some things can be replaced, mine really couldn't.

I took a few things with me when I moved. But for lots of thigs the packing and shipping would have been more expensive then I would have been willing to pay.

And then there were clothes for winter, furniture, etc.

 

I live now since decades in Bangkok, and I collected lots of things which I wouldn't want to throw away. But if my apartment would burn down and you would ask me what I really miss, that wouldn't be too many things, and most of them could be purchased again.

[fredwiggy]

2 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I took a few things with me when I moved. But for lots of thigs the packing and shipping would have been more expensive then I would have been willing to pay.

And then there were clothes for winter, furniture, etc.

 

I live now since decades in Bangkok, and I collected lots of things which I wouldn't want to throw away. But if my apartment would burn down and you would ask me what I really miss, that wouldn't be too many things, and most of them could be purchased again.

I sent all of my things in a container, for $1650, on an 18 wheeler to the port in Texas, then on a boat for a month, to another 18 wheeler here, to a house  1/2 kilo from my house being built. Then grandpa here used his pickup many times to help deliver my things down a dirt road to my house, 250 meters from the road. I have thousands of things I wouldn't want to try and buy again, as many aren't possible to find, or easy to find, like fishing tackle, thousands of cd's and dvd's. I left my hunting gear back home with my daughter, to use when I return. It will again be a total pain in the arse to pack it all up and send it back, but this isn't home to me, so one more time...............

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Or buy the house before you get married, as I did. My ex tried to get it but I bought it in my own name 2 weeks before we got married.

UK law doesn't consider inheritance or time of purchase.

ALL assets are vulnerable from your birth until 19 years after divorce.

She can go back to court at any time (until the kids are 19) and ask for more.