Buying, Building or Renting

bluenz wrote:

ChrisFox wrote:

Like a locomotive stood on one end

I shake my head when I see these 3 or 4 floor, freestanding buildings.
I watched another floor being added, ( another 200 ton of concrete? ) to the first floor of one house here, must have had good ' foundations' ?

Really weird seeing one in the middle of the countryside, not another house for miles .. both sides windowless, because eventually, sometime before the sun leaves the Main Sequence, there will be houses on both sides, edge to edge.

We bought two adjacent lots.  We have windows on one side.  If we get what we hope for our waterfront land in PQ we're buying the lot on the other side ... not so much for cross-ventilation as to prevent having some family move in with kids doing karaoke or Happy Pop at 4 AM.

ChrisFox wrote:

not so much for cross-ventilation as to prevent having some family move in with kids doing karaoke or Happy Pop at 4 AM.

I noticed this happens in Can Tho... a lot.

ChrisFox wrote:

bluenz wrote:

ChrisFox wrote:

Like a locomotive stood on one end

I shake my head when I see these 3 or 4 floor, freestanding buildings.
I watched another floor being added, ( another 200 ton of concrete? ) to the first floor of one house here, must have had good ' foundations' ?

Really weird seeing one in the middle of the countryside, not another house for miles .. both sides windowless, because eventually, sometime before the sun leaves the Main Sequence, there will be houses on both sides, edge to edge.

We bought two adjacent lots.  We have windows on one side.  If we get what we hope for our waterfront land in PQ we're buying the lot on the other side ... not so much for cross-ventilation as to prevent having some family move in with kids doing karaoke or Happy Pop at 4 AM.

Living the dream ah?
  I have a photo somewhere, of a 3 - 4 level house, as you described , in the middle of nowhere, but I couldn't believe there was this little house beside it, in the shade, talk about how to really piss your neighbour off???  My neighbour here was crying when I went to build a 2m high wall, but it was ok for me to build a 7 m high monstrosity ???????

Ancient,
   Even that may not be long enough. I have had them run that same game on me early on in the relationship. On asked me to build her a 1/2 million dollar bungalow. When I said you've lost your marbles, she too said" you no love me". Fortunately this was when we were in just the correspondence phase so  did not have to pack any bags. You on the other hand will need to start packing real soon.

bta87 wrote:

Ancient,
   Even that may not be long enough. I have had them run that same game on me early on in the relationship. On asked me to build her a 1/2 million dollar bungalow. When I said you've lost your marbles, she too said" you no love me". Fortunately this was when we were in just the correspondence phase so  did not have to pack any bags. You on the other hand will need to start packing real soon.

I know of another bloke, ( used to be on this site ), used to advise Foreigner/VN home owners that if the Foreigner is put on the papers as the Land/Buildings manager, the land/buildings , etc, cannot be sold with dual consent.

Well we have four stories and high ceilings.  Once I was on the roof (half-open, a temple) and there was a plane going overhead ... the stewardess told me to go sit down and put my seat and tray table in full upright position.

Bluenz,
   As to foundation, surprisingly it seems as if they do. I have observed a multitude of residential construction site and they have all driven piles down to bedrock, and it can't get any better than that. Now the integrity of the concrete is another issue. I have never seen any construction job commercial or residential do a slump test or send samples of the concrete pours of for laboratory testing. This would be my primary concern.

ChrisFox wrote:

Well we have four stories and high ceilings.  Once I was on the roof (half-open, a temple) and there was a plane going overhead ... the stewardess told me to go sit down and put my seat and tray table in full upright position.

Luckily your into exercising, a few times a day up to the roof would be a good workout?

bta87 wrote:

Bluenz,
   As to foundation, surprisingly it seems as if they do. I have observed a multitude of residential construction site and they have all driven piles down to bedrock, and it can't get any better than that. Now the integrity of the concrete is another issue. I have never seen any construction job commercial or residential do a slump test or send samples of the concrete pours of for laboratory testing. This would be my primary concern.

I was told we could park two SUVs on the roof if we could get them up there.

bluenz wrote:

ChrisFox wrote:

Like a locomotive stood on one end

I shake my head when I see these 3 or 4 floor, freestanding buildings.
I watched another floor being added, ( another 200 ton of concrete? ) to the first floor of one house here, must have had good ' foundations' ?

They have no foundations just "Rat walls"

You certainly should be able to park more than two, weight wise. Provided the concrete was mixed properly and the steel laid properly. I know all of the residential bldg I've observed here the steel was placed the proper distance, I've just never been able to tell if it is kept in the middle of the ,slab, say for instance. If it is not kept up the steel can become exposed then leach moisture which breaks down the integrity of the steel via rust. he the steel becomes useless.

bta87 wrote:

Bluenz,
   As to foundation, surprisingly it seems as if they do. I have observed a multitude of residential construction site and they have all driven piles down to bedrock, and it can't get any better than that. Now the integrity of the concrete is another issue. I have never seen any construction job commercial or residential do a slump test or send samples of the concrete pours of for laboratory testing. This would be my primary concern.

For a single story house up here they dig about 50 cm, sometimes a little cement, then 2 or 3 levels of large granite blocks, ( about 30 x 15 x 10 cm ), cemented together, then they box it up, stick a 20 x 20 cage made from 10mm thick steel bar , fill it fill of cement, then built the brickwork on top, the corners and about every 3 ms have a column made of cement with the same steel cage inside, the neighbours not long ago had a 2 story house built, his foundations went down nearly 5 ft.  Most of the time the concrete is mixed by hand, the second level floor, ( and lately I've noticed many roofs ), are thick steel reinforced concrete ), these house were built by supposedly Builders/Engineers that had done a lot of work in Sai gon.  I hate to think how far down you would have to go to find bedrock in this place.  A thick concrete steel reinforced pad would be ideal, ( cost inhibitive unfortunately )m these ' float' on the sand, well proven in Aus/NZ.

Parmyd wrote:

bluenz wrote:

ChrisFox wrote:

Like a locomotive stood on one end

I shake my head when I see these 3 or 4 floor, freestanding buildings.
I watched another floor being added, ( another 200 ton of concrete? ) to the first floor of one house here, must have had good ' foundations' ?

They have no foundations just "Rat walls"

Haha Ratwalls, I'll have to remember that one, another problem is the ants, this shit cement, ( I can never get it to look, or do what Aus/NZ cement does, and this really coarse sand they use here doesn't help ), takes hours to harden sometimes, by that time those brown ' bite me', type ants have drilled through it.
I've spent hours experimenting with different batches, still turns out shit. ( maybe that's why it is so cheap? ).

bta87 wrote:

Ancient,
   Even that may not be long enough. I have had them run that same game on me early on in the relationship. On asked me to build her a 1/2 million dollar bungalow. When I said you've lost your marbles, she too said" you no love me". Fortunately this was when we were in just the correspondence phase so  did not have to pack any bags. You on the other hand will need to start packing real soon.

bta87,
Not my first nor last rodeo I am sure. The lease is in my name. I told her today to leave if she was not happy. But she did not. Now I did leave for a few hours, came back and she had a bad attitude. Toss her clothes outside, watched an epic temper tantrum, left when the tears began flowing. Came back a couple of hours to a totally different person.
This is what happens when you take a wonderful employee and start sleeping with her. I used to have a great cook and housekeeper. Now I have GF that has rights in a relationship. Good thing woman are attracted to fat old guys, they are easy to replace. Just to remain on topic, renting is how I will go....

ancientpathos wrote:

... Good thing woman are attracted to fat old guys, they are easy to replace. Just to remain on topic, renting is how I will go....

Uhm, you make me feel that all women are dumb anyway, why you have to buy when you can lease and live happily?!?

Yes and put your money into an interest bearing account, safer there.

colinoscapee wrote:

Yes and put your money into an interest bearing account, safer there.

Safer maybe but at the very least a certificate of deposit, not a savings account.  Interest rates are FAIAP zero.

Well of course.

ancientpathos wrote:

... her response: "you no love me", my response: "what does love have to do with buying or renting", her response: "you no love me". I know where this was heading so I just left for a while.

Love = money.  I'm ssssslllloooowly am starting to accept this hard fact.  I once had a date with a Vietnamese girl for 7 o'clock at night.  During the afternoon, she text-ed me questions relating to housing.  Asked if I had a house - I told her I rent because the government doesn't allow foreigners to own a house.  She replied, how are girls going to marry me if I don't have a house?  We can live in a rented house.  Guess that was the wrong answer.  For some mysterious reason, her brother suddenly borrowed her motorbike for the evening and she had no way to meet me at 7 PM.

bta87 wrote:

Bluenz,
   As to foundation, surprisingly it seems as if they do. I have observed a multitude of residential construction site and they have all driven piles down to bedrock, and it can't get any better than that. Now the integrity of the concrete is another issue. I have never seen any construction job commercial or residential do a slump test or send samples of the concrete pours of for laboratory testing. This would be my primary concern.

There are concrete testing laboratories in Việt Nam?  Good idea though...maybe I'll go back to the USA and invest in some testing equipment, import it here and set up shop.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

ancientpathos wrote:

... her response: "you no love me", my response: "what does love have to do with buying or renting", her response: "you no love me". I know where this was heading so I just left for a while.

Love = money.  I'm ssssslllloooowly am starting to accept this hard fact.  I once had a date with a Vietnamese girl for 7 o'clock at night.  During the afternoon, she text-ed me questions relating to housing.  Asked if I had a house - I told her I rent because the government doesn't allow foreigners to own a house.  She replied, how are girls going to marry me if I don't have a house?  We can live in a rented house.  Guess that was the wrong answer.  For some mysterious reason, her brother suddenly borrowed her motorbike for the evening and she had no way to meet me at 7 PM.

I've been married since I was 18 yrs old. Now, I'm 45 yrs old. He didn't have any money when we meet. We worked together for everything we have and now we are living the dream we had from the start. Too many gold diggers out there. One just needs to know how to weed them out. Never rush into a relationship, if it was meant to be then it will happen. Otherwise, pop smoke. 

MIA2013 wrote:

... He didn't have any money when we meet. We worked together for everything we have and now we are living the dream we had from the start. Too many gold diggers out there. One just needs to know how to weed them out. Never rush into a relationship, if it was meant to be then it will happen. Otherwise, pop smoke. 

You remind me of a song by Alan Jackson.

This song is for you MIA2013!
You can click to watch the YouTube video or right-click, open new tab to play it in the background and continue reading the post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDXLmYyFu4I. 
Lyrics are as follows.

Two young people without a thing
Say some vows and spread their wings
Settle down with just what they need
Livin' on love

She don't care 'bout what's in style
She just likes the way he smiles
It takes more than marble and tile
Livin' on love

Livin' on love, buyin' on time
Without somebody nothing ain't worth a dime
Just like an old fashion story book rhyme
Livin' on love
It sounds simple, that's what you're thinkin'
But love can walk through fire without blinkin'
It doesn't take much when you get enough
Livin' on love

Two old people without a thing
Children gone but still they sing
Side by side in that front porch swing
Livin' on love

He can't see anymore
She can barely sweep the floor
Hand in hand they'll walk through that door
Just livin' on love

Livin' on love, buyin' on time
Without somebody nothing ain't worth a dime
Just like an old fashion story book rhyme
Livin' on love
It sounds simple that's what you're thinkin'
But love can walk through fire without blinkin'
It doesn't take much when you get enough
Livin' on love

No it doesn't take much when you get enough
Livin' on love

This song doesn't seem to be applicable to ancientpathos' scenario however.

  His song is the one from Kanye West."She's a gold digger."

MIA2013 wrote:

. Never rush into a relationship, if it was meant to be then it will happen. Otherwise, pop smoke. 

Vietnamese sentences in this case should be "cái gì đến nó đến, cái gì của mình trước sau cũng là của mình" (literual translation: "if it comes, it will; if it's mine, sooner or later, it will be mine"

Lovely story Mia2013

But yes, technically in US a minor can only own property if they emancipated.

Bunny, remember that in the U.S., property law is a state matter except as governing federal lands. And trusts can be established for real property (in the U.S.). These trusts can be revocable or irrevocable, meaning the grantor retains some control in the revocable trust.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

bta87 wrote:

Bluenz,
   As to foundation, surprisingly it seems as if they do. I have observed a multitude of residential construction site and they have all driven piles down to bedrock, and it can't get any better than that. Now the integrity of the concrete is another issue. I have never seen any construction job commercial or residential do a slump test or send samples of the concrete pours of for laboratory testing. This would be my primary concern.

There are concrete testing laboratories in Việt Nam?  Good idea though...maybe I'll go back to the USA and invest in some testing equipment, import it here and set up shop.

Good luck on that one, you should see the reaction you will get if you walk onto a building site here with even just a builders level.

colinoscapee wrote:

Yes and put your money into an interest bearing account, safer there.

14% WAS soooo much better than the current 6 -7%, but the wife still managed to tie one of our Banks down to 10.5%  a couple of months ago, ( but it's much better to take advantage of people who can't get Bank loans, we might be the owners of 2 more houses very soon ).

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Love = money.  I'm ssssslllloooowly am starting to accept this hard fact.  I once had a date with a Vietnamese girl for 7 o'clock at night.  During the afternoon, she text-ed me questions relating to housing.  Asked if I had a house - I told her I rent because the government doesn't allow foreigners to own a house.  She replied, how are girls going to marry me if I don't have a house?  We can live in a rented house.  Guess that was the wrong answer.  For some mysterious reason, her brother suddenly borrowed her motorbike for the evening and she had no way to meet me at 7 PM.

You got off easy. At least she didn't show up and tell you she needs 4 million vnd because she has a sick relative.

Parmyd wrote:

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Love = money.  I'm ssssslllloooowly am starting to accept this hard fact.  I once had a date with a Vietnamese girl for 7 o'clock at night.  During the afternoon, she text-ed me questions relating to housing.  Asked if I had a house - I told her I rent because the government doesn't allow foreigners to own a house.  She replied, how are girls going to marry me if I don't have a house?  We can live in a rented house.  Guess that was the wrong answer.  For some mysterious reason, her brother suddenly borrowed her motorbike for the evening and she had no way to meet me at 7 PM.

You got off easy. At least she didn't show up and tell you she needs 4 million vnd because she has a sick relative.

Cost me 20mil in 2008, however she did get the money from an Aunt in France to pay me back,, but I called it severance pay and never saw her again. ( I'm sure 20 mil would mend a broken heart in VN?? ). Staying on subject, she could put it towards buying some land?

Parmyd wrote:

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Love = money.  I'm ssssslllloooowly am starting to accept this hard fact.  I once had a date with a Vietnamese girl for 7 o'clock at night.  During the afternoon, she text-ed me questions relating to housing.  Asked if I had a house - I told her I rent because the government doesn't allow foreigners to own a house.  She replied, how are girls going to marry me if I don't have a house?  We can live in a rented house.  Guess that was the wrong answer.  For some mysterious reason, her brother suddenly borrowed her motorbike for the evening and she had no way to meet me at 7 PM.

You got off easy. At least she didn't show up and tell you she needs 4 million vnd because she has a sick relative.

No, I got another one that asked to "borrow" 20 million to buy a motorbike.  Since she didn't have a job, I asked how she was going to pay me and the answer was...whenever.  Yah like ok...I'll loan you the money...whenever.  I actually took the hammer approach and accused her of outright scamming me.  Which any moron would know, you don't lend anyone $1,000 for the hell of it without any inquiries as to how the borrower will pay it back. 

This is probably a good topic....I should make a new thread and get others to vent their stories.  I'll make one.

colinoscapee wrote:

If your girl is saying this to you its like a warning sign flashing in front of your face, I wouod be very careful if I was you.

AP knows exactly what kind of girl he has, is not ashamed to let us know about her, and I respect him for that.

saigonmonkey wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

If your girl is saying this to you its like a warning sign flashing in front of your face, I wouod be very careful if I was you.

AP knows exactly what kind of girl he has, is not ashamed to let us know about her, and I respect him for that.

Doesnt seem that way, he didnt expect a temper tantrum, then he told us he had a good cook and cleaner before.So its seems he had second thoughts about what he has done. Still stick by the warning sign quote, if money is their only priority,you have got the wrong girl.

colinoscapee wrote:

Doesnt seem that way, he didnt expect a temper tantrum, then he told us he had a good cook and cleaner before.So its seems he had second thoughts about what he has done. Still stick by the warning sign quote, if money is their only priority,you have got the wrong girl.

I was referring also to comments he's made in other threads about his relationship, but from here forward, I'll let AP speak for himself. Agree in general with your warning for others here who may need to heed.

Ok, it was just that you posted it on this thread so I thought it was referring to his last few posts.

He is a big boy and seems to know what he is doing, unlike some guys in Asia who get taken hook,line and sinker.

aibiet150204 wrote:

ancientpathos wrote:

... Good thing woman are attracted to fat old guys, they are easy to replace. Just to remain on topic, renting is how I will go....

Uhm, you make me feel that all women are dumb anyway, why you have to buy when you can lease and live happily?!?

There are plenty of smart women, I am just a bad catch for them. My ex-wife taught me well about love. I am no longer capable of it but I am a good companion and travel partner. Just not into love anymore. I would prefer to rent and live happy.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

ancientpathos wrote:

... her response: "you no love me", my response: "what does love have to do with buying or renting", her response: "you no love me". I know where this was heading so I just left for a while.

Love = money.  I'm ssssslllloooowly am starting to accept this hard fact.  I once had a date with a Vietnamese girl for 7 o'clock at night.  During the afternoon, she text-ed me questions relating to housing.  Asked if I had a house - I told her I rent because the government doesn't allow foreigners to own a house.  She replied, how are girls going to marry me if I don't have a house?  We can live in a rented house.  Guess that was the wrong answer.  For some mysterious reason, her brother suddenly borrowed her motorbike for the evening and she had no way to meet me at 7 PM.

THD,
The women here are very practical. Before wasting time on dating, determing physical attraction and building a relationship they want to know if you can take care of the family she wants to have and live a better life than her parents. There is nothing wrong with this. If I had a daughter, I would wish she would be this practical.
Now for a right answer. Tell her you are waiting to buy a house until you find the right woman to marry. You want your future wife to be happy with the house so it will be her decision about the house.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Parmyd wrote:

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Love = money.  I'm ssssslllloooowly am starting to accept this hard fact.  I once had a date with a Vietnamese girl for 7 o'clock at night.  During the afternoon, she text-ed me questions relating to housing.  Asked if I had a house - I told her I rent because the government doesn't allow foreigners to own a house.  She replied, how are girls going to marry me if I don't have a house?  We can live in a rented house.  Guess that was the wrong answer.  For some mysterious reason, her brother suddenly borrowed her motorbike for the evening and she had no way to meet me at 7 PM.

You got off easy. At least she didn't show up and tell you she needs 4 million vnd because she has a sick relative.

No, I got another one that asked to "borrow" 20 million to buy a motorbike.  Since she didn't have a job, I asked how she was going to pay me and the answer was...whenever.  Yah like ok...I'll loan you the money...whenever.  I actually took the hammer approach and accused her of outright scamming me.  Which any moron would know, you don't lend anyone $1,000 for the hell of it without any inquiries as to how the borrower will pay it back. 

This is probably a good topic....I should make a new thread and get others to vent their stories.  I'll make one.

I agree, would make a great topic.

ancientpathos wrote:

There are plenty of smart women, I am just a bad catch for them. My ex-wife taught me well about love. I am no longer capable of it but I am a good companion and travel partner. Just not into love anymore. I would prefer to rent and live happy.

Blame yourself then? Not only you but any guy who just had "a very practical" girl around (assuming that you prefer a non-practical girl ) - Vietnamese has a sentence "tiên trách kỷ, hậu trách nhân" (first blame yourself before blaming other for any thing happened).

Anyway, it is very expensive to get a house in Vietnam, so owning a house does not mean that Vietnamese people feel safe in their financial capacity also it can help for show-off.  If a girl can get a house named her, it's way of being more proud of. So whatever the girl can do in order to get a house, it's good even trapping a guy (foreigner) by any way haha

Seeing around, in Vietnam, leasing an appartment/a house and you can change location every 5 years when you get better deal/ better place sounds more exciting

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Love = money...

I wish it could be that simple then you can LOVE someone just because of MONEY!!!