Amid the number of Korean families sending their high-school age kids on a solo mission to America to get an education, many of these “wild geese” students are flocking to Seattle, according to an article published today by the Korea Times.
Receiving a top-notch public school education is just one criteria for the parents footing the bill. Another? Rock-bottom real estate prices. The newspaper reported that Seattle offers Korean parents — many who are top corporate executives — a way to subsidize their child’s living expenses via investment properties.
“It’s a heavy burden for them to send thousands of dollars every month,” said [property advisor Paul Kim], “so what they do is purchase a condo or two in Seattle and use the monthly rent to support their kids.”
David Cho, an agent at John L. Scott, says many of his clients do the same.
“People sell their expensive Gangnam apartments, trade down and use the remaining money to invest in income-generating property here,” he said, adding that condos and commercial real estate such as shopping plazas, are typically the most popular.
