We often take an Uber when we go out at night. I always like to talk to drivers. The other day, my driver was a recent immigrant from China. As most drivers, he likes the flexibility that Uber offers, but it is a part-time job for him. He is looking to branch out in a different business.
What do you want to do, I asked him.
Him: “Real estate. This is what we did in China. In fact, I just bought four 2-bedroom units in Pacific Beach and I am renting them out for $2,500 a month each. We are considering trying out short-term renting via AirBnb to double our income”
Pacific Beach is not Detroit. The median price of a 2-bedroom unit is $750,000.
I know it’s not easy to transfer so much money from China into the U.S., so I asked him about it.
Him: “China doesn’t let you transfer more than $50k per year per person. We sent our money first to Hong Kong and from there an Investment Bank helped us to transfer it to the U.S. for a 10% fee. We are still happy with the deal. I want my kids to grow up in a free country. China is still a communist country, where freedom of speech is not really allowed. The government controls everything.”
