Spouse and I do Option 3: Buy property and also invest in the US stock market. So far it is working well. We don't have all our financial eggs in one basket, which we like. We know we are in Thailand long-term, like to own our own space to do what we want with it, and have our own furnishings, art, appliances, electronics, etc. Life is short and we just don't want to live in someone else's space--ever. Owning works for us but for others renting could certainly be the better option. There's no one size fits all. Buying real estate--here and in the US--has been both a place to live in and also an investment, as we have sold up in both places numerous times and made a profit every time. We get the advantage of living in our own space, the advantage of saving on rent, and the advantage of our property appreciating while we are enjoying it. We buy even if it's short-term. For example, last July, after we sold the house we were living in, we bought a new 3-bedroom pool villa, in Thai name, to live in for a year while we were planning and building a larger new house on the Darkside of Pattaya. We got a good buy and negotiated the builder to make some house changes to the house, itself, plus adding a separate laundry room and a saltwater pool. We did all the furnishings, art, and decoration. The new house is done and we put the 3-bedroom on the market for sale at the beginning of July, got lucky, and it sold on the 31st, to a Thai buyer. Being such a short period, we only netted a modest profit but we did save about the same amount, 500,000 baht or so, in rent for the year, had we rented a similar 3-bedroom/3 bath pool villa in that area. And, we had the enjoyment of living in our own space--important for us.
