How do ethnic buyers have such a large downpayment?

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bkshopr_IHB

bkshopr_IHB

New member
We all know ethnic buyers often buy homes with a large sum of money. I know of several methods and have commented in many previous posts.

What are your thoughts on how this group being able to saved all that money?
 
work hard

don't buy i-phone

don't buy american car

don't go to Cheesecake factory three times a week

pool resources

use coupons everywhere even if they are fake

cheat

share with relatives
 
tonytony said:
tax evasion. Just check how frequently those chinese restaurants in San Gabriel change their name
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In Irvine too. China Garden in the Arbor Center rather than changing name the restaurants change owners. There are 5 waiters there and they are all partners. They transfer ownership like musical chair every few years.
 
From everything I have read and witnessed, I would say the #1 reason is simply multi-generational living. As a kid growing up in north OC at a time when there was a large influx of Asian buyers there, just about all of my friends were Asian and the ones living in the nicer homes all had extended family living there too, pooling funds and consolidating household expenses. I wouldn't expect anything different here and from the drives I take around town, it is not uncommon to see several cars in the driveway, grandma pushing the stroller, etc. So, this is my best guess.
 
SoCal78 said:
From everything I have read and witnessed, I would say the #1 reason is simply multi-generational living. As a kid growing up in north OC at a time when there was a large influx of Asian buyers there, just about all of my friends were Asian and the ones living in the nicer homes all had extended family living there too, pooling funds and consolidating household expenses. I wouldn't expect anything different here and from the drives I take around town, it is not uncommon to see several cars in the driveway, grandma pushing the stroller, etc. So, this is my best guess.
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Tremont in FV was so sucessful because of the floor plans catering to this type of living arrangement. This is probably one of the top answers. There is a huge saving for buying Costco bulks, one land line, shared utilities, boil 20 eggs at a time thus allowing the younger generations to save money and spent money on Rice burners. Grand parents love the communal living because family gathering is the root of the culture. Kids hated the lack of privacy, stackable clinic chairs as dining room chairs, bad furnishing layouts, cramp bedrooms and etc. No wonder when the younger Asians see Ivy coming from a horrible interior environment they think the floor plan is great when all I see is flaws.
 
It's a combination of things really. Ethnic buyers will do what many americans will not, work hard and work long. Many have worked their way up to become business owners, and are willing to work 6-7 days a week at 10-14 hours a day.

They are relentless savers. They don't splurge on unneccessary purchases (cars, electronics, toys, dining, vacations) and shop smartly (coupons, double coupons, wait until sales).

Plus, many business owners accept cash only, and you can probably guess why.

All this adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, ready to pay 30-50% down on a home.
 
I have a relative who does not believe in the stock market. He sees it as just more gambling. He saw some spectacular booms and busts years past back in Asia and has refused to put anything more than a bit of play money into the stock market. If you've seen how the Shanghai index has moved the last few years, you can see where he's coming from.

I thought being so conversative was foolish given the yearly returns you can get from the market, but he's near retirement age and lost none of his retirement funds to the crash. Money is kept in bank accounts under his and other relatives names here and overseas and he pulls some out when he needs it(car purchases always all cash, all cash for some investment properties, only a nominal mortgage to build credit rating).

Pretty much the opposite of the average American consumer.
 
SoCal78 said:
PANDA said:
SoCal,

I hear your concerns. I can give you an example of FCBs that i know directly. I know that Koreans make up the second largest Asian population, next to the Chinese in Irvine. My good friend's aunt sold a small apartment in "Ap gu jong dong" a prime location in Seoul for around $2 million and bought a home in Northwood Pointe with 100% cash down. They both live off of the real estate income from their other real estate holdings in Korea, and both do not work in the U.S. My cousin's husband is one of the top plastic surgeon in Seoul who also owns several apartments and medical buildings in Kangnam, one of the most expensive real estate in Seoul. For example, The per square footage in Kangnam is more expensive than the prime real estate in Manhattan. She told me that two of her affluent friends have bought a house in Irvine (100% cash) to send their kids to University High. Recently, I read in the Korean newspaper that they are now marketing one week House Hunting Tours in Los Angeles and Orange County where affluent Korean buyers are bargain hunting. I have also read that getting a traveler's visa has become much looser than before, which should open up floodgates for more immigration into the U.S.

I don't really know much about the Foreign Chinese Cash Buyers in Irvine so i can't really make any comments about them.
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Panda, that is amazing that back in Korea they know about and aspire to buy near University High.

I go to the parks in the newer areas a lot... Woodbury Commons especially. Every week I am striking up conversation with the people there (99% foreign-born Asian) and they all say the same thing -- the cost really isn't an issue to them... they just love the community and the schools, the schools, the schools! Just last week I had the pleasure of meeting up with kayochan. We met a lady and told her we're on IHB. This woman seemingly couldn't have cared less about her home's value or what they just recently paid. She was gushing over Woodbury and the lifestyle there. Multiply her exponentially and us non-FCB's have a problem.
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Oxtail, I agree with your relative. I've noticed that they don't play with stocks, own multiple businesses, and amibitious real estate investors.
 
SoCal78 said:
From everything I have read and witnessed, I would say the #1 reason is simply multi-generational living. As a kid growing up in north OC at a time when there was a large influx of Asian buyers there, just about all of my friends were Asian and the ones living in the nicer homes all had extended family living there too, pooling funds and consolidating household expenses. I wouldn't expect anything different here and from the drives I take around town, it is not uncommon to see several cars in the driveway, grandma pushing the stroller, etc. So, this is my best guess.
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If I had my parents or in-laws living with me... I certainly would have saved so much money on gardener, housekeeper, babysitter, cook and handyman that I could have bought during peak with 50% down.

Hmm... no wonder my neighbor who has at least 2 generations there can afford 4 MBZs.
 
i find wealthy people (truely wealthy, not debt-funded rich) pretty much share the same characteristics regardless of ethnicity or nationality. hard work, carefully spending, and healthy saving habits.

keep in mind sample bias when thinking about the original question. for every one foreign family that is able to put 50% cash on a mcmansion in america, there's one hundred thousand other families back in their native country whose homes are in peril whenever it rains too much.

other countries only see wealthy americans, just as we only see wealthy chinese, korean, indians, and middle-easterners. same works both ways.

who owns all the beachfront property up and down the coast of baja? rich americans (and some drug lords). i was in france and italy in march when the global economy was at its most dire state. from michelin-star restaurants in paris to small trattorias in the trastevere area of rome, dining rooms were half empty, and the other half were americans. ABCs who visit asia are like rock stars with groupies. people in asia assume all their brethren that live in america are filthy rich because only the cousins that can afford $1500 plane tickets per person for the whole family come back to visit. the cousins that wait tables at sam woo don't return home with gifts of designer goods and vitamins.
 
irvine_home_owner said:
SoCal78 said:
From everything I have read and witnessed, I would say the #1 reason is simply multi-generational living. As a kid growing up in north OC at a time when there was a large influx of Asian buyers there, just about all of my friends were Asian and the ones living in the nicer homes all had extended family living there too, pooling funds and consolidating household expenses. I wouldn't expect anything different here and from the drives I take around town, it is not uncommon to see several cars in the driveway, grandma pushing the stroller, etc. So, this is my best guess.
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If I had my parents or in-laws living with me... I certainly would have saved so much money on gardener, housekeeper, babysitter, cook and handyman that I could have bought during peak with 50% down.

Hmm... no wonder my neighbor who has at least 2 generations there can afford 4 MBZs.
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Yes, and doing so would allow such a person to work the long work week and late nights at the job as Shooby mentioned earlier... except I think his point was that they have a stronger work ethic than Americans and I don't know if that's necessarily true (but I don't rule out that it isn't.) Perhaps Americans could put it more hours if they had extended family at home picking up the pieces. People without such help are over-extended as it is (financially, logistically, etc) and can only juggle so much at once.
 
Leaving your own country to better your life is a conscious decision. It is easier to stay put in your country and do nothing, but we still decide to come and leave the sheeple behind. I would say that many immigrants are among the top people in their country of origin (whether you use intellectual, economic, spiritual … values to do the ranking). In general they do not forget how difficult it is to get anything, they understand the value of hard earned money, and therefore they have a tendency to be thriftier. In general, if you do not have cash to buy something you don’t buy it. Of course there are many Americans that are like this, but a much higher fraction of immigrants are like this.
 
bkshopr said:
What are your thoughts on how this group being able to saved all that money?
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FutIrv said:
I would say that many immigrants are among the top people in their country of origin (whether you use intellectual, economic, spiritual … values to do the ranking)
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The big exception to this general observation is Mexico. The educated, affluent, blond haired, caucasian Mexicans tend to stay in Mexico; the poor, dark skinned, indigenous Mexicans tend to desire to live in the USA. I was shocked when I visited Mexico City. I thought all of Mexico looked like Tijuana.
 
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