Freehold vs 99-year leasehold...

NO matter what, it will still be an asset as long as we sell it before the 99yr lease is up.. hehe ^_^ PLus, how many of us are able to live that long?? Even if one is married, and one day when children grow up, get married, they tned to move out, and thus, the house is considered half sold already.. haha =D There are only very few cases of ple staying till the end of 99 yr lease, for what happens after what, the government will take them all back and re-developed.. haha =D PLus, for ple buying such houses, they should alwyas do a check as well ^_^ As such, i will still opt for 99yr lease, and it's much cheaper, and can sell for higher profit as well.. haha =D

Hmmm, that's a tough one, ahgong. I'd say yes, it is an asset, as long as it has been "paid off" but you still have many years to go before your "lease" is up, as you will not have to pay for housing until that lease is up thereby reducing your monthly financial output. As far as I know, we do not have anything like that here in the U.S. You can "lease" an automobile which is very much like you described the 99-year housing lease. You put some money down, pay lower monthly payments for a specific amount of time (usually 3 or 5 years) than you would pay if you were buying the car outright but, at the end of the lease's term, you have to either turn over the car or pay the price for a "used" car. In the U.S., you either buy a house (I believe we can now get a housing loan for up to 40 years to repay it), rent a house or "rent-to-own". Rent-to-own means that you are renting, but the majority of the money you pay as "rent" actually goes towards the purchase price of the house. If you cannot afford to pay the full price, or must move before buying it outright, you lose the money you've paid in up to that point. It sounds like buying a house outright is the best choice no matter where in the world you live. Of course, that means that you must come up with a large amount of money right from the start. Here, that usually means at least 10% of the purchase price up front. (Say the house costs $100,000.00, you must put at least $10,000.00 down, then take out a loan for the balance.) The more you put down, the lower your monthly payments will be to the mortgage company or bank. But, back to your question, yes, I'd say it would be an asset in that you would not have monthly housing payments once it is "paid off" and you still have many years before that 99-year lease is up. As far as your net worth goes, though, I don't think it would be seen as an asset except that maybe you would be able to save more money each month. Did that make sense? (It's early here. LOL)

I wouldn't ever want to buy a leasehold property again. I bought a tiny cottage and it had a 999 year leasehold. It was part of a Victorian Workhouse in the past. A couple of the other leaseholds bought their freehold. It meant the maintenance charge went up. It began at £30 a month and went up to £50. I owned it for 14 years and then sold it. I now live in a freehold house. I don't have a maintenance charge or ground rent to pay. I like the idea of passing it to my children when I die and it passing through the future generations. I wouldn't want to live in a rented property. A freehold house is the best option.

I don't really understand this 99 year lease thing... does it mean that the family can own the home only for 99 years... and when the 99 years is finished... who will own the property?... is it going back to the developer or who ever it is who owned it in the first place?... I think that cannot be applied here in my country... since kids then to stay with the parents even if they already have their own family... so after the 99 years... and the parents are gone... time for them to move and find a new home... leaving all those 99 years of beautiful and sentimental memories behind...

I do not believe a leasehold asset is worthless. Everything has some salvageable worth. An old junk car can be sold as metal. some cannibalized the car for parts. Yes, a freehold property is worth more because of the land and also the house. A leasehold hand is expensive because even leasehold land is expensive these days. Also, costs of building a house cost more these days than in the past.When your leasehold land expires,the house is still yours to do as you like. In rural areas, they break down the house and move it to another leasehold site. I do not think they do that in urban areas.Anyway,such thing hardly happens these days. Normally the government of the day will not take away the land from you. It will be re-lease the land to you if you apply for extension which they would normally approve. However, they will definitely increase the quit rent for the title.

I think it would depend on the difference in price and the comparison to the rental market - would you pay about the same if you were renting? If you are an adult when you buy, you are unlikely to outlive your lease so why worry? You can't take it with you! If you want your children to inherit, then you could put the difference between what you would pay into a savings plan and give it to them when they buy their own homes or go to college, etc. An asset is only an asset if you can realise the value of it (realise as in use, not recognise!). Having your wealth tied up in a property is not necessarily a good thing, you can't sell part of your house if you need some cash for something, you have to sell the whole thing and move elsewhere.