US Property Envy

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I love the old Victorian houses in Australia by the way. So pretty!!

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

i would love to live in Texas
(or NJ or NY)

anyway to make everyone feel better about what you call home here is the fish eye real estate camera picture - we think he must have stod on a ladder or used a pole to get this picture
from before we bought our house
so its actually worse than the photo
the whole room is only as long as a regular bath
the vanity is so gross
the floor probably needs replaced
oh and this is our only bathroom
the loo is in its own ring room, if we leave the door open and the hallway door open anyone standing at the front door looks into the toilet

its on the list ! q 11th

 

[chemgirl]

So Cal here and definitely not the envy of anyone. I bought my first home at 25, great area and paid 150k 1209 square feet on a 6000 sq foot lot. 3 room 2 baths. Conveniently located. It was considered a starter house. That same house is now selling for 750k. I don’t live in it anymore bc I sold it and bought what I consider my dream home 20 years ago. 2 story. 4 bed/2 baths, pool, even better area. I would not be able to afford my own house now at today’s prices.
My nephew had to move out 30 miles to save 300k plus. So he will take the train in rather than sit in 1.5 hours in traffic. But he did get a starter home like my first home. My niece didn’t sacrifice commute so for the same price as his home, she has a studio condo—800 sq feet and yeah, 100 sq feet patio.

Don’t be so sure. Toronto here so I’m thinking warm weather and a detached home for the bargain basement price of $750k looks pretty darn good!

 

[icy_jade]

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

Ok! I can move to NZ too!

 

[icy_jade]

Most of those are in the inner city Melbourne! Haha I think they would easily be 1.8M+.

It honestly doesn’t sound so bad. As @qubitasaurus mentioned, $2m gets you a 99 year lease condo in the suburbs in Singapore

 

[missy]

@Ionysis There's no way in hell I'd move to some of these US areas. I love watching HGTV and seeing the houses fixed-up in Indiana, Alabama, Texas, etc., but given the demographics, no thank you.

Years ago we had an opportunity to move to Savannah, GA. It's a lovely, quaint town- at least the historic district. My husband reminded me it had everything I can't stand: segregated "white kids go to private school," bugs, and the Bible Belt to name a few. Hard pass for me!

I also have zero desire to live in an area where everyone knows my business. That's just feeding the nasty gossips, and I have enough of that where I live in So Cal. Think of Mrs. Oleson from Little House...

My DH said almost the same exact thing when a few years ago I was romanticizing a move to the South because the homes are gorgeous and grand and old (I love old homes) and the cost of living is so much less expensive. My DH looked at me and said point blank I would not like living in the South because... all the reasons your DH listed and maybe a few more. I am a liberal jew and would not fit in well there nor would I want to if it is as racist as some say. Of course I know there are wonderful people everywhere but the culture and (political) climate there would not suit me at all.

 

[Mreader]

My DH said almost the same exact thing when a few years ago I was romanticizing a move to the South because the homes are gorgeous and grand and old (I love old homes) and the cost of living is so much less expensive. My DH looked at me and said point blank I would not like living in the South because... all the reasons your DH listed and maybe a few more. I am a liberal jew and would not fit in well there nor would I want to if it is as racist as some say. Of course I know there are wonderful people everywhere but the culture and (political) climate there would not suit me at all.

Some of this is generalizing too much; many of the Southern cities (Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta and more) are blue and have a lot to offer. Don’t discount us Southerners yet! I hope you will give us a chance

 

[missy]

Some of this is generalizing too much; many of the Southern cities (Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta and more) are blue and have a lot to offer. Don’t discount us Southerners yet! I hope you will give us a chance

Yes of course. He was generalizing. That’s why I wrote there are wonderful people everywhere. But sadly these generalizations hold true enough where I don’t know how happy I would be living in certain areas. Probably any larger urban area would work for me as I enjoy a diverse population.

 

[missy]

Some of this is generalizing too much; many of the Southern cities (Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta and more) are blue and have a lot to offer. Don’t discount us Southerners yet! I hope you will give us a chance

I will add in the 80s I was on a school trip in Nashville and I witnessed an awful racist altercation. Of course that could happen anywhere but it has stayed with me . Before that I had been relatively sheltered from that kind of thing growing up in NYC.

 

[Lookinagain]

I was born & raised in Missouri, and I hate to tell you it's not terribly better than Texas right now.

I went to grad school there in the late 70’s and the woman who was the main opponent of the ERA had come back to school as an older adult and was in my class year. So my memories of MO are pretty red.

 

[Lookinagain]

Some of this is generalizing too much; many of the Southern cities (Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta and more) are blue and have a lot to offer. Don’t discount us Southerners yet! I hope you will give us a chance

Agree. The larger southern cities are not like the states they are sitting in. But sometimes are isolated pockets so the state is red while their large cities are blue. So often the states end up red on the National scene. Of course GA turned blue for the senate.

 

[Lookinagain]

You also need to consider that salaries often reflect the housing prices in an area, or vice versa. NY or Boston salaries would generally be higher than in other places for the same job and housing costs and taxes are higher too. That’s generalizing too but somewhat accurate.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Well, your example is in Missouri. You can't even get a 1 bedroom coop without laundry and with 1,000 a month in maintenance where I am for that.

 

[Bojambles]

All the time. For the price of a dinky government built flat that has 99 years lease in Singapore, I can buy a mansion in the US. Mansion!!!

Not to mention that we can't buy one unmarried until 35 years old

 

[nala]

Don’t be so sure. Toronto here so I’m thinking warm weather and a detached home for the bargain basement price of $750k looks pretty darn good!

Don’t you guys have free healthcare? Free University or are your college grads saddled with college debt too? Wonder how else the cost of living compares? Bc tho these prices might seem like a deal to you—would love to know how salaries and cost of living compares.

 

[MrsBlue]

Many New Yorkers (myself included) are totally accustomed to similar bathrooms.

I had a friend in the 80s who was the first in our group to have her own place. She had tub in her kitchen and a WC in her bedroom--the kind with a high tank and a pull chain. i was so jealous!

 

[Ionysis]

Not to mention that we can't buy one unmarried until 35 years old

Whut?!!

 

[chemgirl]

Don’t you guys have free healthcare? Free University or are your college grads saddled with college debt too? Wonder how else the cost of living compares? Bc tho these prices might seem like a deal to you—would love to know how salaries and cost of living compares.

We have universal healthcare, but we have to pay for University (also healthcare doesn’t include prescription medication or dental coverage). I believe University costs are more reasonable here if you attend within your home province. My tuition for a 4 year engineering program 10 years ago was $7k per year. Starting salaries for my program were in the 50’s to 60’s. Now that I’m fully licensed positions range from 120-160k ish.

Groceries, clothing, cars, and gas all cost more here. Daycare is also a huge expense for young families at 2-3k per child, but we are guaranteed a 1 year maternity/paternity leave (the catch being employers don’t have to subsidize maternity leave so you might have to get by with only the government benefit).

I remember reading a few years ago that a young family needs to make over $300,000 to maintain a middle class lifestyle in this city. Prices have jumped since covid so it’s higher now.

Adding: I have a few friends who are single in their mid 30’s and have to live with roommates. Professions like nursing and teaching pay 70-90k which seems like a lot until you consider renting a 1 bedroom is minimum $1600 for something like 400 square feet in a bad neighborhood.

 

[musicloveranthony]

A lot of those old, rural houses are from the 1800s. Unfortunately, so are the local politics (as are the beliefs on diversity and equity)... do with that what you will

 

[nala]

We have universal healthcare, but we have to pay for University (also healthcare doesn’t include prescription medication or dental coverage). I believe University costs are more reasonable here if you attend within your home province. My tuition for a 4 year engineering program 10 years ago was $7k per year. Starting salaries for my program were in the 50’s to 60’s. Now that I’m fully licensed positions range from 120-160k ish.

Groceries, clothing, cars, and gas all cost more here. Daycare is also a huge expense for young families at 2-3k per child, but we are guaranteed a 1 year maternity/paternity leave (the catch being employers don’t have to subsidize maternity leave so you might have to get by with only the government benefit).

I remember reading a few years ago that a young family needs to make over $300,000 to maintain a middle class lifestyle in this city. Prices have jumped since covid so it’s higher now.

Adding: I have a few friends who are single in their mid 30’s and have to live with roommates. Professions like nursing and teaching pay 70-90k which seems like a lot until you consider renting a 1 bedroom is minimum $1600 for something like 400 square feet in a bad neighborhood.

Interesting! I can definitely feel envy over maternity leave for a year! Sounds like the govt picks up the tab—wow. I only got 6 weeks of maternity leave back in the day—I think it’s up to 3 months now. But day care runs about the same here. I will say that dental care is not free for those with universal healthcare. Most middle class earners don’t qualify for universal healthcare here to begin with and it depends on the employer how much they are willing to cover toward health benefits. I am blessed but I do know some professionals who pay close to 600 dollars per person for their monthly contributions to HMO. Some will opt for PPO and pay a lot more. If you have a family, add about 300 per dependent so it quickly adds up. I know many parents who can’t be stay at home parents bc one of them will work exclusively to pay for health insurance. Again. Middle class—which are usually the ones looking to buy their first home.
Are home prices expensive everywhere or just in certain cities?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Many New Yorkers (myself included) are totally accustomed to similar bathrooms.

I had a friend in the 80s who was the first in our group to have her own place. She had tub in her kitchen and a WC in her bedroom--the kind with a high tank and a pull chain. i was so jealous!

In her bedroom?
was it screened off in some way ?

long before ensuits nice houses of a certain era had a hand basin and vaninty in the bedrooms

my grandma had a pull chain
they built their house in the 30s. while it had an indoor bathroom the loo was in the laundry outside the back door off the porch
in my mind sometimes i still hear "dont forget to pull the chain" which we would never forget because it was a highlight of our visits!

 

[qubitasaurus]

Whut?!!

I think you'll find this referrs to the fact that housing around here is no longer affordable on local salaries. To counteract this there is a governmental scheme to provide houses for citizens at affordable prices. Unfortunately eligibility for this scheme is assessed on criteria, most of these are hard criteria

* married or otherwisd ineligible to a certain age (late 30s)
* houshold income below cutoff
* citizen

If you fail on any one of these criterion then you are not eligible and are forced into the private market. I'm an expat like you, so ill never be eligable -- which may be fair enough.

But many others fail for reasons which are ridiculous -- income too high (actually the cutoff is super low. When you have children here there is no way you'd be able to afford the childcare costs, pay rent and save for down-payment on the ridiculously priced apartments.).

Unmarried is another unfortunate one. The houses are officially supposed to be there to support families forming but these days marriage age here is drifting upwards, people struggle with long hours (many jobs finish after 8 pm every day) and a long commute back to their parents houses which may not be located anywhere near their work. Cars cost ~150-200 k so this comute will be via public transport and could be over an hour each way. Otherwise they have to cope with local rental which is like paying the mortgage of one of those 2 million dollar apartments to someone else every month -- we've paid this for years (more or less you need to pay this plus save 2× this amount per month for the down-payment on your own first home if you want to ever get out of this situation -- otherwise housing prices rise faster than you can save.).

To be honest I know a lot of people who seem to be caught out by this situation, one or more of these criteria means they pay permanent rent or are still living with parents. I guess culture here which is more open to 3 generations of the family living together is sort of nice, but apartments are small (almost like shoe boxes) so this has got its own problems.

 

[canuk-gal]

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

Villa?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Villa?

when i googled it wasnt the example i was looking for
its certainly missing a 'few' features that the ones in my neighbourhod here proudly show off but it is off the era i guess
here's another one
judging from the roof it looks more villa

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

i found a worse example
this one is what id call a Californian bungalow (i grew up in one - saddly not in California) so not a villa - still look at the price

https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/the-most-bidders-ive-seen-auckland-villa-sells-for-1741-million-480000-above-cv-38238

 

[MrsBlue]

In her bedroom?
was it screened off in some way ?

long before ensuits nice houses of a certain era had a hand basin and vaninty in the bedrooms

my grandma had a pull chain
they built their house in the 30s. while it had an indoor bathroom the loo was in the laundry outside the back door off the porch
in my mind sometimes i still hear "dont forget to pull the chain" which we would never forget because it was a highlight of our visits!

It was in a separate little room. Like, crack-your-knees-against-the-door-when-you-sat-down little. Can't imagine how much it rents for today.

 

[missy]

You also need to consider that salaries often reflect the housing prices in an area, or vice versa. NY or Boston salaries would generally be higher than in other places for the same job and housing costs and taxes are higher too. That’s generalizing too but somewhat accurate.

Actually not high enough percentage wise to make up for the increased cost of living.

In my experience (in my field and many others with which I am familiar) it is more expensive to live here (as one example of a big city) but salaries don’t compensate for that expense.


Housing expense as a percentage of one’s annual salary is (generally) higher in big cities.

 

[rocks]

Some of this is generalizing too much; many of the Southern cities (Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta and more) are blue and have a lot to offer. Don’t discount us Southerners yet! I hope you will give us a chance

I loved living in Atlanta….I’m sorry I left.

 

[Cerulean]

I understand @Ionysis but I implore you to resist covetousness. granted houses can be had for less than 2M in some metros, but not all (Chicago, Portland, San Diego, Phoenix are possible, but not NYC, San Fran, LA, Boston),...but many low cost homes you see are rural communities

rural america = abysmal infrastructure, little or no access to healthcare, no public transit, no jobs, little or no education, rampant drug abuse (and I am not talking about marijuana but drugs like meth), alcoholism...sometimes hundreds of miles from large hospitals, or any cultural events..it's not all bad, some of my family love it...beautiful countryside...but...

rural America from what I am told is nothing like what it used to be. it is in decay. maybe covid will help. but half of America is essentially abandoned small towns...empty storefronts, nothing but fast-food chains and Walmart, if that

i just came from a small town in Wisconsin where my mother lives. you can buy a beautiful Victorian for 100k.

the biggest, nicest building around is a megachurch, there is one grocery store that barely even sells fresh produce, and the elementary school is frankly an embarrassment...the local values are a reflection of the poor education. people are nice and friendly so long as you are white and heterosexual

i don't mean to come off as judgmental, some of my family comes from southern Indiana which is a perfect archetype of this lifestyle

 

[Ionysis]

That’s all so very sad cerulean. Not quite the American dream we were brought up on.

 

[PinkAndBlueBling]

We recently drove through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Beautiful states!!! The areas I liked the most (coastal/lakeside) were extremely expensive which surprised me. My idea of property values in these states was very naive.

All I could think about though was how far away is the market and where is the hospital? I'm always running to the store, so that's important, plus we're not getting any younger and I want the best and closest healthcare.