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I’ve been in Saigon for nearly a month, staying a friend’s place while I try to find a place, specifically a 1 bedroom apartment. (Studios don’t really exist here)

Hanoi, this is not.

In Hanoi, I had an awesome place, a converted fully furnished studio apartment for close to $300 in rent. I walked to work. I would have never moved from that place as long as I lived  in Hanoi. Coming to Saigon, though, I figured I couldn’t get the same quality of place for that price, but I figured around $350, could do ok. 1 bedroom apartment with kitchen and bathroom.

Wrong.

The going rate, in fact, is $500, and that’s not for a super nice place, that’s just for a place. That could be anywhere from 40 to 60 square meters. Whether you can get a nice place or not is up to luck and patience. Thankfully, I’m not paying $50+/night on a hotel so I’m not completely broke. But I am looking at a 75% increase in rent, with 0% increase in pay, not such a good formula.

Even newly constructed  places, there’s no guarantee that’s a nice place. You just have to see it for yourself and perhaps, accept things.

Real estate company CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) believes that the housing market for foreigners is going to be really bad starting next year- simply not enough housing. That means as high as rents may be now, it’s going even higher.

Jimmy/Hai/Ben have found a good place though. $1200 for a 3 bedroom (also a small guestroom). Good location, close to District 1 (main downtown area). Very nice place, and I could have roomed with them, but the guest room was too small for me, and I think I have to live alone.

If I’m willing to live more than 30 mins away (this is a really long time in Vietnam time, trust me. It’s not like a commute in your car listening to the radio or sports talk radio), I could definitely find a good but cheap place. But I have to work in the main business areas, so it limits a little how far I’m willing to live. One of my coworkers, amazingly, lives over an hour away; that’s just insane, but part of it she’s Vietnamese, and that’s where her family house is.

I’ve visited a few different buildings here already. I think 20 mins away is acceptable for me. I guess there are 3 types of buildings. One’s the upscale style (not USA upscale, just Vietnam upscale). An example of this is The Manor, which exists in Hanoi now as well, but really far from the main Hai Ba Trung district. This type of place is for foreigners or wealthy Vietnamese. Rent at a place there is $1200+. The second type is for foreigners, but perhaps, just not with the same kind of bankroll. There, you’re looking at $600-$1000. Sometimes, Vietnamese who have had their property purchased for development will be given an apartment in this type of building, but on a low floor (closer to that $600 rang).

Even if you’re paying $1200, that doesn’t mean you necessarily in District 1 either. In fact, you’re probably not.

Finally, what I’m looking in, the third tier, is in the $300 - $600 range, and there is a huge variance in quality in those $300. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve seen it, but it’s distinctly Vietnamese. Foreigners will live in places like these, of course, but you can expect things like aluminum instead of wooden doors, a less secure feeling of privacy (maybe people don’t know what you’re doing, but they know if you’re home). People might leave their apartment doors open while they hang out in the living room, people put their shoes outside their apartment doors.

At one place I visited this week, the color inside of the complex and the way the apartment felt small with fluorescent lights glaring, I felt like I was a child again. Parents working double jobs, going to school, trying to afford something better. It made me feel poor again, but now I’d be old enough to understand.

It’s hard to imagine that place would be “home”, a place I could just relax for hours on end. (This is also why I don’t want a “room” or to live with other people. I life to be alone in my own home type of place)

Yet, that was still $500. And taken quickly.

It is the rate, and there are people willing to pay it. And I am now becoming one of them.

The hunt for housing goes on…

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From: http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/105190/Best-Cities-to-Live,-Work-and-Play

As mentioned before, sometimes I think about the future, and think of Iowa as a reasonable place to retire to. Then, I saw the list above (content posted below) to confirm what I thought already.

One of the interesting things is that Houston is the cheapest place (among the below) to live. I don’t really like Texas (uh, hot), but it is big city (I’m not really small town) and has a Vietnamese population. I mean, if it’s cheaper than Des Moines (ranked 9th on this list), why wouldn’t I live there? Sacramento is also a possibility but that place is expensive. Not like the Bay Area expensive, but still very expensive. For some reason, I’ve just never been a fan of Sacramento, probably just South Bay bias.

A quick look at my hometown of San Jose:

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
Population: 1,784,826
Cost of Living Index: 154 (100 is national average)
Median Household Income: 80,638

Also, San Jose/San Francisco are ranked #2 and #3 most expensive locations in the United States.

Houston is 44% less in cost of living versus San Jose. Scary, huh?

——-

These ten great places will only get better.

Our approach this year to picking the ten best cities in which to live and work was simple: Look for places with strong economies and abundant jobs, then demand reasonable living costs and plenty of fun things to do. When we ran the numbers, some of the names that popped up made us do a double take at first. So we hit the road to meet movers, shakers and regular folks, experience the ambience and take in the sights.

More from Kiplinger.com:
• Top Ten Best Cities at a Glance
• Which City Is Best for You?
• Take Virtual Tours of Our Top Ten Best Cities

We discovered that our numbers guru, Kevin Stolarick, hadn’t steered us wrong. Stolarick, research director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity, says: “Our formula highlights cities not just with strong past performance, but also with all the ingredients for future success.” One key to a bright future is a healthy shot of people in the creative class. People in creative fields — scientists, engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists and entertainers — are catalysts of vitality and livability in a city.

The cities that made our list also represent larger surrounding areas. And because we understand that city living isn’t for everyone, we’ve highlighted some great suburbs, too.

Pack a bag and join us on a tour of the Best Cities for 2008 and prepare for some surprises.

1. Houston

Population: 5,542,048

Population Growth Since 2000: 14.9%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 31.3%

Cost-of-Living Index: 88.1 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $50,250

Income Growth Since 2000: 13.1%

2. Raleigh

Population: 995,662

Population Growth Since 2000: 19.9%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 36.1%

Cost-of-Living Index: 99 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $56,150

Income Growth Since 2000: 10.3%

3. Omaha

Population: 821,356

Population Growth Since 2000: 6.6%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 30%

Cost-of-Living Index: 89.4 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $51,627

Income Growth Since 2000: 15.1%

4. Boise

Population: 568,086

Population Growth Since 2000: 18.2%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 33.2%

Cost-of-Living Index: 95.5 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $49,833

Income Growth Since 2000: 16.6%

5. Colorado Springs

Population: 600,444

Population Growth Since 2000: 10.5%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 34.1%

Cost-of-Living Index: 95.3 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income Since 2000: 53,486

Income Growth Since 2000: 16.1%

6. Austin

Population: 1,506,425

Population Growth Since 2000: 17%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 36.5%

Cost-of-Living Index: 92.8 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $52,882

Income Growth Since 2000: 12.2%

7. Fayetteville

Population: 419,455

Population Growth Since 2000: 17.3%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 31.4%

Cost-of-Living Index: 90.4 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $42,267

Income Growth Since 2000: 17.6%

8. Sacramento

Population: 2,067,117

Population Growth Since 2000: 13.1%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 34%

Cost-of-Living Index: 121.7 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $56,953

Income Growth Since 2000: 19.1%

9. Des Moines

Population: 532,425

Population Growth Since 2000: 9.6%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 32.1%

Cost-of-Living Index: 90.6 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $53,384

Income Growth Since 2000: 16.3%

10. Provo

Population: 474,351

Population Growth Since 2000: 20.6%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 32%

Cost-of-Living Index: 97.7 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $50,583

Income Growth Since 2000: 12.2%

For more places, tools and walking tours, visit Kiplinger.com’s Best Cities Center.

Copyrighted, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.

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“Vietnam’s stock market, the world’s worst performer so far this year, fell to fresh 2-year lows on Wednesday as investors grappled with double-digit inflation and a liquidity crunch.”

“Stocks in Vietnam hit fresh two-year lows on Wednesday, as investors fretted about runaway inflation and Moody’s Investors Services cut its outlook on the country’s key ratings from positive to negative.”

“Vietnam’s five-year government bonds slumped, pushing yields up by the most in more than a year, after the central bank said it had no plans to raise interest rates to curb inflation at more than 25%.”

Those are quotes from the last few days of Vietnam RSS News Feed by Intellasia.net, a site that aggregates Vietnamese and English-language news of Vietnam. Incidentally, Intellasia is banned by some ISPs here, which, like in China, are all somewhat controlled by the government.

So, uh oh.

Here’s the current Dollar to VND conversion rate according to http://www.xe.com/

In Vietnamese, I’d say “con lau!”, which literally means “a long time” depending on the situation, but really means more like “yeah, right” or “you f*cking wish”.

Last weekend, I had to pull over $1,000 USD from my personal account for some work-related expenses. Banking rules here are kinda lousy in that even though my account is in USD, I can only pull from an ATM in VND. The only way to pull USD is from a teller, which also requires a fee.

That’s right, essentially a fee to pull money in the currency the account is in. (Keep in mind that I use a big-time bank in HSBC as well, not a local bank)

I needed USD on this occasion, however, so I had to pull money out in VND, roughly at the rate above. Unfortunately for me, this rate in Vietnam right now is a dirty lie. I had to go buy USD (at a reputable converter in Hanoi) at 17.3.

That means even if my company paid me back the amount I spent ($1000 USD), I would still have lost about 1,000,000 VND purely on the difference between what the bank gave for for my USD and its actual real value. 1M VND = $60 USD.

I had a friend ask me recently if I got paid in Euros. Hah. I wish.

Vietnam, the economic darling of APEC less than two years ago, already in some real trouble economically. Not so easy becoming a 2nd world nation is it?

On another note, there is a huge housing bubble here. Apartments that cost $40,000 to buy new 3 years ago are now worth over $100,000. People tell me if I want to get something, I better pony up $150,000 or more. That’s not even for a real regular house (called villas here because people just don’t live like that in the cities) with a yard. That’s just for a mid-level condo, nothing special. Nothing, not in a premium building, location is way far from downtown (and I do mean FAR). Build quality is nowhere near (for the money I mean, $150K in the US will get you better build quality than $150k in VN, and to me, that is not right when I think the VN should be getting higher value for your money) what it is in the US, so while $150,000 may sound cheap if you’re from California like I am, I don’t think it’s a good value, no matter what everyone else is paying. To all that, I call BS, I am not paying.

If I am going to spend that kind of money on something that doesn’t really reflect its value, I’d rather go to Iowa.

Edit: Just saw this from the Wall Street Journal:

There’s trouble brewing in Vietnam, judging by what’s happening to its currency.

The Vietnamese dong is effectively pegged to the dollar and only fluctuates within a very narrow band. However, investors can make bets on its impending direction using forwards, or contracts which allow buyers to purchase a currency at a set price at some future date.

On Tuesday the dollar-dong exchange rate implied by those contracts spiked by 11%, according to a note from Morgan Stanley — in other words, twelve months from now, investors expect the U.S. dollar to buy many more dong than it does today (over a third more, in fact). In effect, the contracts are pricing in a breaking of the peg and a drastic weakening of the dong.

That’s a major reversal from just months ago, when Vietnamese were racing to stockpile the local currency on the belief that it would strengthen. Since then, however, there has been a spate of bad news on inflation and trade.

On Monday, the government said that inflation jumped to 25.2% in May over a year earlier, raising fears that prices could spiral out of control. The trade deficit is also projected to expand to $14.4 billion in the first five months of the year as imports surge. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s stock market has plunged by more than 50% this year, making it the worst performer in Asia.

All this “was too much for the market to ignore, leading to a complete reassessment of macro balance and inflation risks at hand,” wrote Stewart Newnham, a currency strategist at Morgan Stanley. “When prices shift this much in emerging markets, it is rare that they recover,” he noted.

The bottom line: Mr. Newnham believes a currency crisis could be looming in which Vietnam is forced to defend the dong by selling dollars from its currency reserves.

(Edit, June 11: A coworker told me the rate is now at 1 USD = 18K VND. Holy crap! Also, read a headline that said housing (purchasing) in Hanoi has dropped a ton too. There also are worries government is not doing enough to curb inflation here.

Edit, June 23: Now there’s fear the currency may flat out die this yea. Rate is around 18.6 now, are some thoughts it may hit 20+)

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When I was in the US (just got back Monday), I got to thinking about retirement. I am the super old age of (just turned) 27, but I’m chasing the startup riches dream, and I’ve never really thought of wanting/expecting/hoping I’d get millions of dollars, but I always thought if I could hit a 1M USD windfall, I could buy a house in CA (Average housing in San Jose is $800,000+) and well, work at Walmart the rest of my life and still be financially okay, have time to build a family, and work simple 9-5 hours.

Even if you make $25K a year, if you own a house, you can own a $50,000 car pretty easily.

But lately, I’ve been thinking about how only CA is so ridiculous when it comes to housing expenses. What if I lived in a much cheaper area, such as Iowa? A great house might only cost $250,000 there, and maybe that would be enough so I would never have to work again. Or maybe either I or my partner would work part time, and the rest of the time could just be in semi-retirement enjoying life (couldn’t go crazy with the shopping or traveling though).

It used to be, no way to living in some far off, non-metropolitan area, but now, when I think about, why not live in a place like Des Moines.

My fantasy dream says I can have my 1 Million USD in 2010. (at the end of that year, I turn 30)

So here’s what I think I could do with that million in terms of retirement in Iowa.

Here are some of the potential issues:

• Shopping: I still hear stories of people who drive an hr just to get to Best Buy (in San Jose, takes me 10 minutes) or a Walmart (5 mins). For me, though, I love shopping online, and do so a lot, even when I’m in Vietnam (which is of course where I live now- I ship to my US address). Right now, the current state of e-commerce is that you can probably find more things online, and rarely can you not find something cheaper overall online unless there’s a specific super sale at the local brick and mortar store.
• Racial Diversity: I don’t know much about Iowa, but I think I’d be able to find a community that although may not be super diverse, would be tolerant. Good people come in every color, and I don’t have any particular need to be surrounded by Asian people.
• Entertainment: People used to have to depend on movie theaters and Blockbusters for fun if you weren’t in a big city. For me, I don’t really care about clubbing or bar hopping- occasional is fun, but nothing regular. Now, there’s Netflix (online movie rentals), Gamefly (online video game rentals), and in 2010, I expect Internet downloads for rental and digital purchases to be incredibly improved. XBox Live and PC online gaming work for anywhere as well. There’s also things like TV and Satellite tv- pay $100/month, you can basically get any channel anywhere, so that means I can still follow my favorite teams.
• Jobs: I’d work part-time (I don’t mind being a stay-at-home-dad, could work on a lot of cool skills like cooking) at home maybe or do something casual/simple (maybe something like an accounting job for government). Just enough of bills, consistently easier hours- just like at the SJ to Iowa comparison. 50K in San Jose might be like 30K in Iowa. I should just mention that my first job out of college was making 23K. 23K! Lucky I had parents who let me continue working at home.
• Family: Hard to think of me having any sort of raising family, but my assumption is that a place like Iowa is more quiet, laid back. It could also be more conservative in the negative sense, but when you’re a parent, I hear you tend to become conservative by nature automatically. In terms of visiting family, flights aren’t that expensive, and in semi-retirement, maybe Iowa isn’t that far away for the 2-3 times a year cross-country roadtrip. Also, there’s the idea that with the million, they can move to Iowa with me.
• Food: not so sure about this one, would not expect to see a lot of good Mexican food around, but I do fine in terms of Mexican (not great, but not too bad all considering) in Hanoi, Vietnam, so maybe I’d make do. Also, frozen food is just fantastic, so as long as I live near a good Costco, would be ok. Also, maybe online food shopping will be quite impressive by that time.
• Fitness: Part of my $250,000 house comes with a basic indoor hardwood basketball half-court. That’s all I need for basketball fun, can invite friends over for games too.

(Click the image to see your own comparison)

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