(Part 2) Dealing with a HK$8k Rent Increase 😱

I never imagined my previous LinkedIn article about my landlord would go viral

Over 70k views and 100+ comments in just 2 days, from all over the world 🌍

Thank you for every comment. I've even received DMs from strangers sharing their own landlord/feng shui stories and POVs 🙏

Apologies if I'm going slightly off topic this week.

I usually write about the HK job market (back to that next week, I promise), but this rent increase is so unbelievable that I need to write it down...

To show everyone what real inflation looks like 📈

So here's what happened next.

Full disclosure: I have an ego problem 😅 I didn't want to obey my landlord.

So I started hunting with property agents for different units, different floors, different towers.

And after all that searching, I had to come to terms with market reality:

Rents in my area really did jump by HK$8k 💸

Then came my dilemma.

Remember my previous post?

The one where I said I'd need to invest HK$1.6 million just to offset this increase?

Here's what keeps me up at night: even if I manage to save that HK$1.6 million in 2 years, the same cycle repeats.

Landlords in HK raise rents every 2 years.

Which means I'd be moving. Again. 📦

So yes, despite my ego problem, I accepted reality.

(I got slapped by reality would be a more direct way of addressing my ego problem)

But because I'm also stubborn 😤, I rented a different unit rather than pay my current landlord a single extra dollar. (He'll find a new tenant soon enough.)

But here's what frustrates me even more than the rent:

Both my parents want me to buy the place. I highly object 🙅‍♀️

I genuinely don't know how any of you handle or mute 🔇 parental nagging.

I am very scared of my parents' nagging.

(I am sure many of my followers are parents)

Because:

1️⃣ I already own a one-bedroom in Soho. I don't want to buy an area I'm not even interested in.

2️⃣ In simple terms: I can't afford it. I don't have that kind of money, and I don't want a bigger mortgage hanging over me when I'm not even sure I can keep working until 40.

3️⃣ Honestly? I'd rather rent than own something bigger.

So tell me 👇

Would your parents (or partner) nag you to buy property?

Are you team rent 🏠 or team own 🔑 and do you feel the pressure either way?