Housing

[Whomp]

That got me thinking: is housing expensive where you live?

Living in Chicago is reasonably expensive, I suppose. The average price is ~$500,000 for a condo/townhouse in my neighborhood. My place has appreciated quite a bit over the last few years. The neighborhood is in transition with Cabrini Green housing project coming down (scattered housing) and $8 mill brownstones going up.

What type of housing do most people in your neck of the woods live in (houses, townhouses, condos, apartments)?

Combination of all but a lot of mid rise condos.

Can you afford to live close to work?

I have a pretty good gig. I walk six blocks to work.

We live in a house with a big yard and pool we don't use. Relative to many other US cities Albuquerque is pretty inexpensive.

I heard Albuquerque is the hottest city in the U.S. California $.

 

[William GBTW]

Once I remember payments of 550$ for 2000+ sq. ft. .25 acre house; now you can't get a shack for 600$. Rent on average is 650$ for a dang shack in what the locals call '******' town (plz don't take offense; that's what its called). The average mortgage payment for a mobile home is 900$ to 1100$ per month! The Burgeoise are taking homes from poor & enslaving us here; the Yankee Mortgage companies don't recongize Texas Courts so Yankee occuption continues.

 

[aaglo]

I bought an apartment in the end of 2002, it was about 87,000 € at that time (so it was quite cheap). 52 squaremeters (roughly 520 squarefeet), first floor, a small yard, view to a forest. My trip to work takes 45 minutes by bus or bicycle.

 

[William GBTW]

GOOD GOD! THATS LIKE......................160,000$ for a cracker box! aaglo...how can you afford that?!?!?!?!?!!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?! That could buy you a large home here in Texas.

 

[aaglo]

I took a loan from a bank

It's quite cheap over here. Mind you, at that time 1 € was roughly 0,9 $ (IIRC).

 

[William GBTW]

Still man....that's expensive; although I guess Europe is richer than USA.

 

[aaglo]

I wouldn't say europe is richer than USA. I'd just say that things are cheaper in USA... wait, that's not the same, right

Well, I certainly don't feel rich (with all that mortgage on my back )

 

[Steph]

I've just built an house in the South of France. It's in a small village with a nice view on the Black Mountain, one hour drive east of Toulouse.
I have a garden of 1269m², the cost was about 40,000 €.
The house itself has two stories, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, + large office, a garage for two cars, a cellar and a room for the washing machine / ironing. Habitable surface: 169 m².
Cost of the house : 150,000 €.

Does it answer your question?

 

[Steph]

I've just built an house in the South of France. It's in a small village with a nice view on the Black Mountain, one hour drive east of Toulouse.
I have a garden of 1269m², the cost was about 40,000 €.
The house itself has two stories, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, + large office, a garage for two cars, a cellar and a room for the washing machine / ironing. Habitable surface: 169 m².
Cost of the house : 150,000 €.

Does it answer your question?

 

[aaglo]

Mostly I think How far from your work did you build it? Oh, do you work in Tolouse?

 

[Steph]

Mostly I think How far from your work did you build it? Oh, do you work in Tolouse?

It's 15 minutes away from my work, and 10 minutes from wife's (the house is almost at the middle between our two work places).
I go to Toulouse regularly for the job, about twice a month.

 

[William GBTW]

Well that is cheaper than here. Sounds like aaglo's place is more expensive in France.

 

[Steph]

Well that is cheaper than here. Sounds like aaglo's place is more expensive in France.

That's because I'm in a remote village. In Paris, or Toulouse, it's much more expensive.

 

[Grisu]

Housing here is very expensive, IIRC, about 90% live in rent.

a one-family house easily costs CHEF 800000.-- (about $650000.--) and that isn't a luxury house...

Personally, my gf and I rent a appartment, about 100 sq.m. for CHF 1600.-- ($1280.--) monthly and that isn't an expensive appartment either...

I'm hoping to be able to build my own home in a few years, though.

 

[Steph]

Personally, my gf and I rent a appartment, about 100 sq.m. for CHF 1600.-- ($1280.--) monthly and that isn't an expensive appartment either...

Before we built the house, I was renting a 160 m² appartment in Mazamet for 500 € / month.

 

[IglooDame]

I understand the value of owning a home, but keep in mind that you may pay 1% of the value of that property to the government every year.

On the flip side, though, mortgage interest is tax-deductible. I pay about $5K/yr local property taxes, but have about $20K of tax-deductible mortgage interest the first year (yes, it does go down steadily over the years) which makes it at least break-even, tax-wise (and this is in an area and state known for high property taxes vs relatively low real estate values).

JerichoHill, you being an economist, I'd appreciate hearing your views about ownership vs renting, given you're not taking what most informed people would consider the fiscally smarter path.

@Syterion: No lie. I found (when looking to buy a house here in southern NH) that the farther from Boston, the lower the real estate values (and the higher the local property taxes), up to Manchester NH.

 

[Grisu]

Before we built the house, I was renting a 160 m² appartment in Mazamet for 500 € / month.

life's just not fair

 

[Steph]

life's just not fair

And I may be smarter and more handsome to

 

[Whomp]

JerichoHill, you being an economist, I'd appreciate hearing your views about ownership vs renting, given you're not taking what most informed people would consider the fiscally smarter path.

I'd be interested to hear this as well. Interest rates are still low from a historical perspective so I don't see the rent at 75% of mortgage payments correlation. I wonder if he's subtracting it from the tax rate?
Tax rates are
25% for married couples earning $61,300 to 123,700
25% for Single filers earning $30,650 to $74,200
and
28% for married from $123,700 to $188,450.
28% for single $74,200 to $154,800

However, this completely discounts the multiplier effect of the price appreciation from the leverage.

 

[Keshik]

I understand the value of owning a home, but keep in mind that you may pay 1% of the value of that property to the government every year.

(

You pay it as a renter, too. The landlord passes the taxes on to the tennant.