Hello all, This forum has kept me grounded for a while now (especially since we are overseas and all I have is the media to keep me updated) and now I'm ready to say hello here and begin posting. I am one half of an Aussie couple who went to Hong Kong initially looking for adventure and fun, and ended up working professional jobs for 10 years. Not the most pleasant place in the world in terms of work-life balance and "two bedroom units at 380 sq ft" but thanks to low-taxes, we were able to save some money. Combined with the exchange rate (HKD is pegged to USD), this meant we were able to have money for properties in both Hong Kong and Australia. If anyone has questions about our properties in Hong Kong, also happy to chat about this. For the entire time we were in Hong Kong, the prices were always "unsustainable, ridiculous, forever increasing". But we managed to find opportunities to make it work for us. No CGT is amazing. With our savings and capital gains in Hong Kong, one of our biggest purchases was a house in the lower North Shore in 2018 for $200k less than what the bank valuation was at the time. It is currently still below the median price as of today. I bought it because we intended to make it our PPOR but a job opportunity in the US prompted us to move here instead. We rented out the house instead but the mortgage payments still make me sweat a bit, especially whenever I open an Aussie article about the doom and gloom in Sydney and the "market still to crash 30%". We overall have less money in the US due to higher taxes and living expenses, but it was important for our careers to move. Still don't know what to do with the Sydney house. Hold and wait? Sell and use funds for USA with the risk of losing stamp duty, interest etc? Ignore the media's doom and gloom and hold onto our US jobs for dear life and hope Trump doesn't kick out any Aussies?
I would personally hold the Oz property because a) its in a blue chip suburb and selling and purchase (stamp duty) in Oz is expensive if you want to come back into the market and b) the property has most likely dropped its 30% value already - not sure of the chances of it dropping another 30% on top of the drop already. The only consideration for selling would be the possible tax implications with living in the US and having an investment property in Oz so you would need to check this out. Is the lower north shore property a unit or house?
Oz markets have been brilliant for investors who have captured the boom cycles. Moving forward well yes, of course lots of doom and gloom, no surprises here we are currently in the middle of a credit squeeze until this eases I don't see anything changing. What should you do? If you are prepared to put in the hard yards there are plenty of opportunities to capture growth and cash flow in appreciating markets in USA. I suggest you research this. Comes down to risk vs reward. For me its very simple, keep growing capital and cash flow, I am not in your shoes. Do you plan to come back to Oz soon etc etc??? All needs to be weighed up. Love the currency play HKD/USD. I have been in the US market since 2011, its been a great ride in particular my buy and hold investments which now provide passive income of around $200,000 pa and approximately 300% growth over 7 years. Many strategies can be implemented in US market, but it also means not a passive investment. All the best MTR
It's a house. House prices in lower north shore seem to have taken a bigger hit than apartments. But I guess house prices had more to lose to begin with? Or there's just not the same proportion of movement amongst a much larger volume of units?
Thanks @MTR! Probably sticking around in the US for another 3 years, earning USD to feed my Aus mortgage just works better right now due to FX. The most interesting thing about the US market in the initial research we have done is that rent prices seem quite high, whereas buying a property seems like a bargain compared to Aus/HKG.
Makes sense, when earning USD you are making around 40% along on the currency play, pump it into your Oz mortgage … happy days. What's also interesting is you can defer capital gains tax in US using 1031, and no stamp duty. Yields will surpass Oz any day of the week, but that would not be hard, as I think median yield in Oz is around 3-4%.. this is gross .. woeful
