GHOSTRIDER1 wrote:
Ronnie Biggs wrote:
GHOSTRIDER1 wrote:
Ronnie Biggs wrote: Hey Cannon. Sorry MOMs for being quiet, but I'm busy trying to buy a house this week. So much paper, so much effort and so many dollars! A conveyancing solicitor just handed me a $1,400 invoice for what I estimate to be around 90 minutes work. A bit late in life I'm asking myself 'why the hell didn't I pay more attention at school?' ....
Oh well, at least I have more medals than him, and pride in serving my country......and buggered knees.....and a bad back.....and a metal elbow.....and a cheap car....
Oh wait, did I miss something?
That sucks.......I'm curious to know, by solicitor do you mean lawyer or realtor? Was the 1400 the only closing cost? In the states the closing costs can total 5k or more, not to mention the realtors commission, but you can usually get the seller to cover all those costs.
As the buyer, I pay my own lawyer (conveyancer) to manage the transaction. In Australia that could be between $1100 and $1500 for a simple residential sale. I also pay the sales tax, or stamp duty, which depends on the State you're in, but could be up to 5% of the total value. The seller pays realtor costs and also conveyancing fees if they choose to use a lawyer. The seller will also pay capital gains tax if they sell for more than they bought. It's an expensive business for all!
Wow!!!!! Sales tax????? Ouch that's awful!!!!! We also have 2 years to re-invest the capital gains before any tax is assessed. We do pay property tax annually, but that's usually 1 percent or less of what the county values your property at. Commercial or income property is a different story though.
I would hate to see what the real estate prices themselves are like. In most of the US big cities aside, A start out home 3bdr 2ba, Will run you about 100,000. In that respect, I am fortunate enough to live in such a small community that that same house will only cost me 30 to 50.
I guess a start out home here would be a lot more expensive. We're buying a semi detached 3br 2ba double garage town house on tiny block about 10 miles from Brisbane CBD for AU $450K, equivalent to US $325K.......plus sales tax! But it will earn us around AU $2,000 per month in rent. Australia is expensive and taxes are high, but so are wages and investment opportunities (ask CC Rider, who now lives it up in Bali). Real estate prices in the US slumped with the GFC, but Australia didn't really have a problem. The Australian banks, after being branded as pirates and brought into line in the 90s, were solvent and well regulated in the 00s, meaning there was no false economy or toxic debt. Australia also benefits from an old style commodity driven economy whereby we just dig ore and coal out of the ground and sell it to the Chinese as fast as we can. Yes, Chinese % growth is slowing, but from and ever increasing baseline. The volume of demand is still very healthy. We're sitting fat dumb and happy, pouring more coal into dirty Chinese power stations as Vanuatu and the Marshal Islands disappear under the waves....but that's another story.
I guess if your in full time employment and financially secure, it doesn't matter which economy you're in. It balances out, like the universal cheeseburger index: a standard Mc cheeseburger will have a different dollar price the world over, but to each customer it has the same relative value.
I'm rambling now. Obviously not busy enough.