Buying Condo overseas
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Anonymous
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My 72 yr. father wants to buy an apartment on the beach overseas.
He's retired and has been living overseas for two years renting a place, but now he wants to buy there instead of renting. The cost of the Condo is around 150k. He's living off his social security and has about 30k in cash he wants to put down. His total savings is 50K. He's single, healthy and in perfect shape, however, I know he's older now and I worry about him buying property overseas. Rent right now is about $700. Is it a good idea to buy at his age? |
Anonymous
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Why can’t he just rent forever?
What is his reason for purchasing? Can he manage the maintenance/does he want to manage the maintenance/does he have reliable handymen? Even a condo will eventually need some repairs in the unit. Has he reviewed the laws/taxes/rights as an expat/or is he a citizen? |
Anonymous
| What level of language does he have? Is he fluent? Does he have enough money to buy citizenship? |
Anonymous
| He should continue renting |
Anonymous
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You posted here and in RE forum.
What are you trying to achieve? You don’t provide enough information for anyone to give you an educated advice. I assume you are trying to amass enough negative comments to show your father? Leave the man alone. |
Anonymous
| Also he should probably consider working part time. He hardly has any savings. |
Anonymous
Op here. He doesn't want to rent forever and he wants to stay there. Yes, he's a citizen. |
Anonymous
I did post in RE, I wasn't sure if the issue was Real State or Finances.... |
Anonymous
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Which country?
A friend of mine purchased a house in Colombia a few years ago and everything was going great until a left wing president was elected and hit him with a 20k/yr tax bill (wealth tax). Now he only stays in Colombia 6 months/yr to avoid being a tax resident. He would have been much better off just renting. |
Anonymous
| He is a citizen of the foreign country? Does he have plans for health care? |
Anonymous
Haha. It is Colombia. I guess he knows about the resident tax because he comes to US every 6 months. I wish he would just continue renting but he's stubborn about buying... |
Anonymous
| Using $30k of his $50k would be my #1 concern. What would his monthly costs be if he bought? Foreign ownership can be complex and possibly have hidden costs. At age 72 keeping it simple should be a priority. If it was my father I'd push him to keep renting if the rental place is nice and near the beach. |
Anonymous
| Depending on the country, he may not be able to even take out a mortgage loan as a non-citizen. |
Anonymous
| Well he is in his 70s and wont live forever. It probably does not make sense to buy and sink his remaining cash into his house. |
Anonymous
Foreigners always pay cash when buying in Colombia. Even for Colombian citizens, the terms for residential real estate financing suck big time. His plan doesn't really make much sense, especially considering that his rent is relatively low. I don't know where he is staying, but a nice apartment in the better neighborhoods in Bogotá or Medellín will be several hundred more than what he is paying. |