Cash-flow and savings — are the drives of this plan.

• Phase A [completed]: rent a place myself, saving up for Phnom Penh, then saving up towards 60k balance [I saved more than 100k].
• After family comes over, we try out different locations
• Milestone B1: Buy a 200-350k[1] rental property with net non-negative cash flow (Don’t care how much!) to cover repairs… See 250k 1st buy#YH”hotel”
• Phase C: saving up towards 200k, while paying $2k rent as family…. Tough. May take forever. May need to tap into four overseas rental income[TheBridge, BGC, #2-1173]. [Now I have six sources.]
  • As grandpa and Jack He suggested, we could rent long term, trying different schools until we are satisfied with commute, street cleanliness …
  • I prefer to minimize the renting phase, but beware of risks [1]
• Milestone D2: “upgrade” my first rental property to a bigger rental property or buy a second small rental property. Goal: total net cash-flow of 2k-3k.  With this cash flow I can enjoy the flexibility of renting for ever. (7.5k NGRY@43R, but NRY is unknown)
• Milestone D3: when and if we are confident about a location, buy a 2FH  for 400k-800k (can sell the rental property at par or at profit). Bank balance before the sell could be 50k to 150k. I don’t really care how much cash inflow from the sell, but I should have more than 30% of the price tag. At least one floor to be rented out for 1.5k-2k. 2FH is not always available in my choice locations, but Bayonne has many.
• Phase E: when boy reaches high school age, or if necessary, rent in a better school district.

[1] Be risk averse. Limit your exposure. See u.s.home buy: don’t rush

————- That’s the savings plan, but … —————-

• What if … the rental property depreciates? delay D2.
• What if … no rental property could generate positive cash flow? I would save more and delay B1, or execute B1 but pay down the mortgage aggressively.