Previous title: two-phase strategy to cope with multiple inflexibilities

See also U.S.home: too many inflexibilities

Buying a family home has a huge impact on comfort, street safety, confidence/financial_security, school, commute, Chinese community, car dependency, resale liquidity, burn rate (heavier than renting) … Too many concerns. It would be great if I can put off half the concerns to a later phase.

Sugg: stay rented indefinitely so I can focus on the first concerns and not worry about commitment and cash flow pressure due to a big buying decision.

The first small purchase is really a rental property to defray my rental outlay. A 250k 1st rental property promises to provide positive NRY of 0~2k/M. 2-3K/M would enable my family to enjoy the flexibility of renting indefinitely.

With enough [1] NRY, I could solve commute, school, and car dependency problem by renting as a family in Jersey City for 2~3k/M. Commute would be by bike if working in JC, or by train to NYC. There are many good public and private schools in JC. I could lease a 4k/M house and sublet rooms in other floors to recover 2k/M.

[1] 3k is realistic as of 2019.

Compared to me as a student, my son is more influenced by classmates, so he needs a suitable school. Better stay rented and flexible to accommodate his schooling needs.

Similarly, overseas NRY of 1-2k/M also enables the family to enjoy the flexibility of renting indefinitely. A 4th property in Cambodia would increase the NRY by about $1k/M… a huge boost. However, don’t assume Cambodia investment is as safe as a Singapore investment!

Actually, I will have at least 3k/M overseas rental income. Still, I WANT (not “need”) to own a rental property in U.S. while paying U.S. rental.