Thanks again for all the comments and advice. I'm reading through Elements of Investing.
Before I finish the book, I have two nagging questions...
First:
If I take, say, $300,000 now and diversely invest it indices, assuming a generous 6% return, that will be roughly $1.7m in 30 years.
Conversely, hypothetically, I could take that amount, put it as a down payment, buy a $3m flat, 2.5% interest for 30 years, w/monthly payment at $10,500 (which either I pay as "rent" or a tenant pays). In 30 years, this property will have at least doubled in value, I'm guessing, and be worth $6m (conservative guess).
Granted, the comparison isn't completely fair because I will lose roughly $10k/annually for lost rent/maintenance, but it seems a far better deal at this stage than simply investing it in indices. I understand the HK property market is in a bit of a pickle at the moment, but my intuition is that for a long-term investment, 20+ years, it is fine. **Note, I think this 3M/$10,000 is a sweet spot in the HK market where the monthly mortgage payment and generated rent should be roughly equal.**
Second:
But, the approach to put my savings into indices (and a few small "pet" investments) is long-term. How can I keep this cash still available should an unforeseen opportunity to invest in property come up in the future? I don't want to be back to 0 with saving for possible down-payment money.
That said, though, for a whole list of reasons, it seems that I cannot and should not invest in HK property in the next year. In fact, I can't foresee that I will ever have a geographical base in my future. The next place I may likely call home has a similar messed-up housing market to HK and will likely be inaccessible to me at my budget. While the US might be a good option, I am really unfamiliar with it at this point and think the overall costs and tax headaches are not worth it. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that in my life property may just not be an option I can ever have.