The following is the author "Motor", which mainly tells his experience of buying a house near North Carolina State University in Charlotte, a second-tier city in the United States. It really shows us what it's like to have a suite when studying in America.
The following is an excerpt from the article:
I used to live in Charlotte, North Carolina, where there is the campus of North Carolina State University. I am a graduate student at North Carolina State University.
I chose to study here for graduate school because I don't like the noise of big cities, and I like quiet and comfortable small cities. Charlotte has a good environment and climate. The climate is mild all year round, almost 9 to 10 months. You can spend it with short sleeves. It's a little cold only for a month or two, but it's not very cold. It snows once or twice a year. The population of downtown Charlotte is about 700,000, and the population of surrounding suburbs is about 1.5 million. There are many parks and trees, which are all green at first sight.
At that time, the house price here was very low, but the rent and water and electricity were relatively expensive. Renting a low-end three-bedroom apartment in Charlotte, which was built in the 1990s, costs more than $65,438+0,000 a month. I used to live in a mid-range apartment built in 2003. It has two bedrooms and a separate bathroom, which I share with others. 500 dollars per person per month. It accounts for almost half of the graduate salary, so I decided to buy a house. If you buy a house, you don't have to pay rent, but you can also collect rent, killing two birds with one stone.
As soon as I discussed buying a house with my family, they immediately agreed. So, I started looking at the house. At that time, Angela, a broker who was familiar with the local real estate situation, was hired ... After she understood it clearly, she recommended several second-hand houses and new houses to me.
In the process of looking at the house, I learned that Charlotte has many new houses and a good geographical location. There are several new and existing houses with good huxing for sale.
There are two kinds of new houses in the United States, one is an existing house, and you can live when you move in. Another is that developers provide huxing drawings, but some places can be modified, and you can also add your favorite decoration and facilities. After the selection, the house will be built and delivered in three months.
Finally, I decided to buy an existing house with three bedrooms, preferably with a study or a smaller room, with at least two bathrooms (one with a bathtub and the other without a bathtub), with an indoor area of about 200 square meters to 250 square meters.
Angela told me that the house prices in different parts of Charlotte are very different. A house of the same size costs $250,000-$300,000 in the south and $200,000 in the north. In the area near Northeastern University, there are more blacks, less supporting facilities, and the geographical location is not very good, as long as13-150,000 US dollars.
We have seen several new houses in these areas, which are either too expensive or the apartments are not good. We picked around and finally took a fancy to a house 8 kilometers away from the school. Strictly speaking, the location of that house no longer belongs to Charlotte's jurisdiction, but to another city. However, because it is close to our university, and the surrounding schools are also very good, the public security and environment are also very good, and there are basically no blacks living here, so there is great potential for appreciation in the future, so I decided to buy this house.
My favorite house, with an indoor area of 2 10 square meter, is a single-family villa. List price155,000 USD, real estate system valuation149,000 USD. There is a big garden behind the house and a big garage. The garage area is not within the indoor area. The lawn is neatly mowed, and the developer said that he could help recommend a company specializing in lawn mowing, and there would be a half-price discount.
I think I may work in financial engineering after graduation. According to the local salary standard, the starting salary after tax plus bonus is almost $7,654,380,000. This salary may not be much in new york, but it is relatively high there. If you are frugal, you can buy a house with two years' salary.
The important thing is that the land under this house is permanent property, which belongs to itself, that is, it has to pay some taxes every year. Property taxes are different in different parts of the United States. This is 1.3%. According to the house appraisal of 1.49 million, I have to pay the property tax of 1.937 USD every year. Because this is an existing house, the interior of the house has been decorated, and you can live with furniture. We didn't have a loan, so we bought it in full.
Since I bought this house, several international students I know from China also want to buy a house. Everyone says that houses in the United States are cheaper than those in China, and they have permanent property rights and are more cost-effective. What's important is that judging from the current trend of the real estate market in the United States, after graduation, no matter whether you stay in the United States or return to China, you will not suffer from selling houses.
I have lived in my own house for more than two months now. With the help of Angela and some friends, I found several tenants. I live alone in one room, and all the other bedrooms are rented out. According to the rent of more than 500 dollars per person per month, the utilities are shared equally. I calculated that the monthly income is about several thousand dollars. Even if a small amount of repair and management fees are generated in the future, there will be almost tens of thousands of net income every year.
Before, only graduate students were paid, and rent was paid as living expenses. It's almost dawn, so I have to reach out and ask for living expenses at home. Now that I have rent income, my life is much more comfortable every month. Not only can we not be so short, but we can also have some money left. Now you can save a little money every month without spending money at home.
Looking at the future market prospects, Angela said that my house would go up by another $50,000 to $60,000. In this way, I bought this house well!
This kind of behavior in the case is a new trend of studying abroad in recent years-"exchanging rooms for teaching".
I want to say that having a suite near the school can enjoy multiple returns, because the school has always been an important institution for students to study, and the house itself has great appreciation potential. There is also the advantage of studying abroad. If you continue to work in the local area after graduation, you can save a lot of rent without renting for a long time.
In addition, as mentioned in the case, after buying the whole house, the extra rooms can be sublet except for the self-occupation of international students, and the rent can subsidize the living expenses or deduct the monthly payment of the house. After school, you can sell the property. The value-added part of the sale can almost offset the cost of studying abroad for several years.