First Home Buyers Grant

[billy the kid]

My 25 year old son bought a house last year for about $90k. It's just a small older house in Wichita KS, but it has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, a full basement and a 2 car detached garage. Veterans can get loans for 0% down. I think he is paying about 4.5% interest.

In 2003, I bought my house for $155k. It's a 4BR/2 BA/2 car garage with an additional 2 car carport on 1 acre. The lot is about 60M x 70M. I refinanced for a 15 year loan at 2.75% interest. It appraises at $279k now and will be paid off in about 4-5 years. We all have similar lots and there is only one entrance into the neighborhood. Nobody parks on the street and we don't have to pay city taxes. We all look after each other.

Several years ago, one of our neighbors won a catered block party with a live band from a local radio station. We started an annual tradition to have a party on Independence Day. Local police and fire lead a lawn tractor parade around the neighborhood. We throw candy to all of the kids as we drive by and end up at a neighbor's house. We bring food and drink, swim in the pool, and shoot fireworks after dark if the weather is not too dry. It's a good chance to get to know new neighbors.

Unfortunately, Australia is the land of the rip off....
It may be called the lucky country by many people...
I think we are insulated from the rest of the world in many ways, but I have spoken to Americans who have
visited Australia and they are staggered by the prices for everything from gas to houses, furniture, groceries and
everything in between...I remember in the 70s my rent was fourteen bucks a week and our groceries cost fourteen bucks
a week also.....not any more....if you want to go broke...come to Australia...but be prepared to be ripped off.....

[Texan]

My 25 year old son bought a house last year for about $90k. It's just a small older house in Wichita KS, but it has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, a full basement and a 2 car detached garage. Veterans can get loans for 0% down. I think he is paying about 4.5% interest.

In 2003, I bought my house for $155k. It's a 4BR/2 BA/2 car garage with an additional 2 car carport on 1 acre. The lot is about 60M x 70M. I refinanced for a 15 year loan at 2.75% interest. It appraises at $279k now and will be paid off in about 4-5 years. We all have similar lots and there is only one entrance into the neighborhood. Nobody parks on the street and we don't have to pay city taxes. We all look after each other.

Several years ago, one of our neighbors won a catered block party with a live band from a local radio station. We started an annual tradition to have a party on Independence Day. Local police and fire lead a lawn tractor parade around the neighborhood. We throw candy to all of the kids as we drive by and end up at a neighbor's house. We bring food and drink, swim in the pool, and shoot fireworks after dark if the weather is not too dry. It's a good chance to get to know new neighbors.

Unfortunately, Australia is the land of the rip off....
It may be called the lucky country by many people...
I think we are insulated from the rest of the world in many ways, but I have spoken to Americans who have
visited Australia and they are staggered by the prices for everything from gas to houses, furniture, groceries and
everything in between...I remember in the 70s my rent was fourteen bucks a week and our groceries cost fourteen bucks
a week also.....not any more....if you want to go broke...come to Australia...but be prepared to be ripped off.....

It seems like the liberals are moving in from California. The inrush to TX is driving up home prices and local governments us the influx as an excuse to raise taxes to improve infrastructure. It's OK if you already own your home and the value rises, but it makes it hard for most young people. Most young home buyers are DINKs. Double Income No Kids.

You have all of that land. Is much of it uninhabitable? Why is it so expensive? We have more people than Australia in Texas alone and our land is much smaller than Australia.

[Black Orchid]

My 25 year old son bought a house last year for about $90k. It's just a small older house in Wichita KS, but it has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, a full basement and a 2 car detached garage. Veterans can get loans for 0% down. I think he is paying about 4.5% interest.

In 2003, I bought my house for $155k. It's a 4BR/2 BA/2 car garage with an additional 2 car carport on 1 acre. The lot is about 60M x 70M. I refinanced for a 15 year loan at 2.75% interest. It appraises at $279k now and will be paid off in about 4-5 years. We all have similar lots and there is only one entrance into the neighborhood. Nobody parks on the street and we don't have to pay city taxes. We all look after each other. I live 30 minutes from downtown Dallas in a neighboring county.

Several years ago, one of our neighbors won a catered block party with a live band from a local radio station. We started an annual tradition to have a party on Independence Day. Local police and fire lead a lawn tractor parade around the neighborhood. We throw candy to all of the kids as we drive by and end up at a neighbor's house. We bring food and drink, swim in the pool, and shoot fireworks after dark if the weather is not too dry. It's a good chance to get to know new neighbors.

Sydney house prices have gone out of control since 2012 and our country areas are not as well serviced as yours are and our infrastructure is pretty poor. Work is not easy to find in rural areas.

I watch Home Town and Masters of Flip and am constantly amazed at the great houses you can get in the US for a really decent price and usually everything you need is only 15 minutes away.

For first home buyers and investors locked out of the property market the grass may be looking much greener in the United States.

Prices in Australian cities are as high as they’ve ever been with Sydney’s median house price hitting $1,123,991, according to Domain Group data.

Even the median price in New York City is much cheaper than Sydney’s at $US626,600 which in Australian dollars is $829,179.

More generally, the national median home price is $US193,800 ($252,133).

Now we have the data on where most Australians are searching in the US from US listings site Zillow, revealing the home of Hollywood, Los Angeles, as the most popular city among Aussies.

For those considering applying for a green card, here’s what the Sydney median (equal to $US849,385) gets you in Los Angeles and nine other major US cities too.

More here https://www.domain.com.au/news/what-syd ... 31-gu28hx/

Makes me jealous!

[billy the kid]

My 25 year old son bought a house last year for about $90k. It's just a small older house in Wichita KS, but it has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, a full basement and a 2 car detached garage. Veterans can get loans for 0% down. I think he is paying about 4.5% interest.

In 2003, I bought my house for $155k. It's a 4BR/2 BA/2 car garage with an additional 2 car carport on 1 acre. The lot is about 60M x 70M. I refinanced for a 15 year loan at 2.75% interest. It appraises at $279k now and will be paid off in about 4-5 years. We all have similar lots and there is only one entrance into the neighborhood. Nobody parks on the street and we don't have to pay city taxes. We all look after each other.

Several years ago, one of our neighbors won a catered block party with a live band from a local radio station. We started an annual tradition to have a party on Independence Day. Local police and fire lead a lawn tractor parade around the neighborhood. We throw candy to all of the kids as we drive by and end up at a neighbor's house. We bring food and drink, swim in the pool, and shoot fireworks after dark if the weather is not too dry. It's a good chance to get to know new neighbors.

Unfortunately, Australia is the land of the rip off....
It may be called the lucky country by many people...
I think we are insulated from the rest of the world in many ways, but I have spoken to Americans who have
visited Australia and they are staggered by the prices for everything from gas to houses, furniture, groceries and
everything in between...I remember in the 70s my rent was fourteen bucks a week and our groceries cost fourteen bucks
a week also.....not any more....if you want to go broke...come to Australia...but be prepared to be ripped off.....

It seems like the liberals are moving in from California. The inrush to TX is driving up home prices and local governments us the influx as an excuse to raise taxes to improve infrastructure. It's OK if you already own your home and the value rises, but it makes it hard for most young people. Most young home buyers are DINKs. Double Income No Kids.

You have all of that land. Is much of it uninhabitable? Why is it so expensive? We have more people than Australia in Texas alone and our land is much smaller than Australia.

Most of Australias population live close to the coastal areas. Small country towns often become ghost towns as the young
move to the city and the coast for employment. Country NSW and Victoria have numerous larger country towns..these are the most populated states..South Australia is dying..Western Australia is vast and a lot of the population live in and around Perth.
The Queensland coast is well populated and attracts retirees...NT too hot... Tasmania..too cold..
A lot of Australia is uninhabitable. The land on the coast is expensive due to greedy developers and real estate agents who keep
increasing prices. My son bought a block of land on the Gold Coast from memory for about $90K in 2000...built then sold...
In 2007 in the adjoining suburb, admittedly for a larger block, he paid $260K..and built a mansion...then sold...
Both blocks were in subdivisions which are now built out completely.
The "systems" under which we live are rife with greed, corruption and incompetence...
Hence the exorbitant prices we pay for everything...
I dont really want to turn this into one big whinge...so Ill leave it there....

[Black Orchid]

Although our land mass is almost equal to the continental USA only about 10% of Australia is habitable and most of us live on the coast ... and what Billy said.

The USA has a land area of almost 10 million square kilometres. Australia's land area almost 7.7 million. The 48 contiguous states if the US, which excludes Alaska and Hawaii is just slightly over 8 million square km. So the US and Australia are very similar in area.

[Texan]

Within 15 minutes of my house.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/204- ... 4113_zpid/

[cods]

and Amerika has lots more people.....it costs and arm and a leg to go from one side of this country to the other....

yet in Amerika flying from coast to coast.is like catching a bus.....

we are also a long way from the West everything imported costs more....and the way we have killed off business we import more and more.

[Black Orchid]

Within 15 minutes of my house.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/204- ... 4113_zpid/

Maybe you can adopt me? Although I would like some snow in winter.

[Texan]

and Amerika has lots more people.....it costs and arm and a leg to go from one side of this country to the other....

yet in Amerika flying from coast to coast.is like catching a bus.....

we are also a long way from the West everything imported costs more....and the way we have killed off business we import more and more.

I noticed that in Alaska. Everything is imported from the lower 48 and costs more. The climate is less forgiving and self sufficiency is much more important. Women are hard to find there as well.

[Texan]

Within 15 minutes of my house.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/204- ... 4113_zpid/

Maybe you can adopt me? Although I would like some snow in winter.

We get a few centimeters of snow every other year. It melts the next day. We did have a record snow of about 35 cm about 8 years ago. It was gone 2 days later.