Comparing Where We Live, Texas and ?

Thanks much. Guess I never knew it had that name "earnest money". I recall just coming up with a "deposit" when we decided we wanted the house we are in. And the deposit was a certain percentage of the cost, forgot that percentage.

 

I'll answer this from another viewpoint. Back when we bought this house, we wanted various things. A good sized garden, a good sized workshop, and it had to be brick built. The latter is not very common here. Of course, it also had to be within budget. When we found it, a lot of our friends made one of two comments. "Why do you need 19 rooms?" or "Why have you bought a place that is only just about habitable?"

They all missed the important parts. That the house was not only cheap, it was structurally sound. It was cheap enough to have been paid for within 12 months of moving in! After that, getting it the way we wanted was no problem economically. Having the workshop also meant that I was able to have a place to do all of the work myself, which of course saved a lot of money.

@redstar you mentioned high end taps (British English! ). Although they are not gold plated or anything like that, the ones I installed are considered so here. Why did I need to install them? Easy. Cheaper ones here tend to be throwaways. These, I can buy parts for and rebuild. So, there is a case for high end things in the home!

There is another thing as well. As the house was paid for long ago, it has given me the chance to invest more money in it. A good example is what most people would term a high end heating system. That in itself is an energy saving (and therefore money saving) thing that adds value to the house.

In a few years, I will sell this house. When I do, I know that a buyer will be easy to find, "everybody wants a big house" plus all of the money from the sale can go in my bank account and allow me to live exactly how I please....

 

@Sandy Ground , what is bought is what we call a "Fixer Upper". What I am describing is not a "Fixer Upper". Some "want" it all done.

Yes, with creativity, with a "Fixer Upper" you can go and get and a huge less cost the high end items to jazz up a home if your a DYI person. Lots of folks are not, or do not think out of the box to find things like that. Our home, needed some Jazzing up also. We are a DYI people, so if you use your own time etc. you can find the extra stuff to Jazz up the home in a variety of places.

"Everyone wants a big house". LOL. We bought just the opposite, did not want to clean all the time, or to heat it.

 

But that scots system still has that flaming house report
the house is worth x but have ground,outbuildings bigger than the house
folk can only get mortgage on house report which is half the value of the property

 

Houses on my street sell around the £500k mark and we are only on 40w x 110 foot lots.

for such a large country, real estate is pricey. I feel badly for young families trying to bget in the market.

 

One thing we all seem to share, high real estate prices and some confusing if not downright silly real estate laws!

 

I see @Baymule , your from Texas. You may not know this, but each state can change things in the area of real estate prices. Originally, I lived in Ohio, when my mom turned 65 years ago, they reduced her real estate taxes by half, something about senior citizen. Not sure what other states do. I have to check if PA (where I live now) does anything like that.

There was also a list that AARP mag put out years ago, of which states your money will go further in. Most of that was in regards to taxes. So, especially for retired seniors to consider.

 

For USA members, I just googled Real estate tax reduction for seniors in _____________ (then I put the state in the blank) came up with some stuff for at least two states. did not do every state. so its worth the look around.

 

Googled somewhere to live where your cash goes a bit further,or something like that.
well ended up in the 'caribbean' thought that was good enough,at least no heating bills

 

Our taxes are reduced because we homesteaded our property, claimed senior citizen and agriculture. Because of the senior citizen claim, taxes are frozen and will never go up as long as we own the property.