Here in Brazil you can, but we have ways to curb real estate speculation, the government can force owners to rent or sell properties that are idle, this helps keep the prices under control. On top of that, mortgages for ones first home is strictly regulated, especially in terms of how much interest can be charged.
Yup. Thanks to those controls and a federal program called “My home, My life” that I managed to buy a condo on a nice neighborhood for around $50k. By coincidence, it’s across the street from the labour union founded by our current president, Lula. Sometimes he visits the place to make speeches, so I get to see him :-)
Depends of which currency you’re talking about. Brazilian Reais ? Sure. Minimum wage here is R$ 18k/yr, so that would be about 4x that. US Dollars ? Pretty hard, unless you’re on executive levels.
But… Cost of living here is much lower than in US. Take food for example. A Discord friend from Colorado showed me a picture of a carton of eggs… US$ 7.50 for a dozen. Here in Brazil for that price you could buy around 50 or 60 eggs. Buying or renting a home is way cheaper too, fuel costs are lower, because our cars can run on Ethanol, which is 40% cheaper that Gasoline, we don’t have to spend money on heating or heavy winter clothes (except for the 3 southern states, but it still cheaper than northern US. The coldest those states get around 25F).
Sure, electronics and cars are a bit more expensive, same for some luxury goods. But even with those things costing more, with wages close to the equivalent of US$ 30k, you can have a standard of living that in the US would require closer to US$ 100k.
I was wondering the same thing, as well as living off of the interest of 900K? Assuming an interest rate of about 4% (and that’s if the Fed doesn’t start cutting rates again), that’d be 36K a year? I mean, I guess it could be done, but I’m not sure it’d be what someone might call rich…of course, there is the cushion if you don’t cut into it…
I recently looked at a 2BR house where I live (Philly suburb with an excellent school system) that was listed for $69K. It was in great shape except for the very minor problem of termites having eaten through literally all of the floor joists. Walking in the house was like walking on a trampoline, very weird experience. It had been occupied up until a week prior, somehow.
So I’m a carpenter and own my own contracting business. Having to replace every floor joist in your house is INCREDIBLY expensive. Like depending on the size of your house you’re looking at anywhere from 20 grand to 100 grand, just to make your house legal to live in.
Well yeah, that was the point of my comment. You can find houses for $70K but they’re going to need a shitload of expensive work. For this particular house, it would have been on the $20K end, though. It was a very small house (2BR on one floor, about 650 sq. ft.) and I had priced the lumber for the joists and new decking at around $6K or $7K. The labor costs with a proper crew would have taken it well north of $10K for sure; I could have done all the work myself but probably not without permanently damaging my body. Fortunately it sold almost immediately - for $90K.
My landlord offered to sell me the house I rent for $67k. It extremely small and needs probably 40k in repairs to even make it safe to live in. This is in one of the lowest cost of living areas of the country. You can’t make good money here unless you travel for work or have advanced degrees or certifications AND/OR know the right people
Where are you buying a house for 70 grand?
It’s one of those Gen Z living vans we see in the memes because they can’t afford a house.
Here in Brazil you can, but we have ways to curb real estate speculation, the government can force owners to rent or sell properties that are idle, this helps keep the prices under control. On top of that, mortgages for ones first home is strictly regulated, especially in terms of how much interest can be charged.
Oh crazy. That’s a good idea. Do you find it works well for your country?
Yup. Thanks to those controls and a federal program called “My home, My life” that I managed to buy a condo on a nice neighborhood for around $50k. By coincidence, it’s across the street from the labour union founded by our current president, Lula. Sometimes he visits the place to make speeches, so I get to see him :-)
Oh that’s dope. What are wages like in Brazil? Like is it easy to find a job making around 60k a year?
Depends of which currency you’re talking about. Brazilian Reais ? Sure. Minimum wage here is R$ 18k/yr, so that would be about 4x that. US Dollars ? Pretty hard, unless you’re on executive levels.
But… Cost of living here is much lower than in US. Take food for example. A Discord friend from Colorado showed me a picture of a carton of eggs… US$ 7.50 for a dozen. Here in Brazil for that price you could buy around 50 or 60 eggs. Buying or renting a home is way cheaper too, fuel costs are lower, because our cars can run on Ethanol, which is 40% cheaper that Gasoline, we don’t have to spend money on heating or heavy winter clothes (except for the 3 southern states, but it still cheaper than northern US. The coldest those states get around 25F).
Sure, electronics and cars are a bit more expensive, same for some luxury goods. But even with those things costing more, with wages close to the equivalent of US$ 30k, you can have a standard of living that in the US would require closer to US$ 100k.
Wow interesting. Thanks for sharing man.
Brazil in general seems like it really wants a middle class, y’all’s consumer protection laws are seriously good for the consumers too.
And they were so close to tipping into fascism under Bolsonaro. The opposition ran a leftist candidate and it worked! Imagine that.
Brazil is not the USA obviously but there might still be lessons to learn.
I was wondering the same thing, as well as living off of the interest of 900K? Assuming an interest rate of about 4% (and that’s if the Fed doesn’t start cutting rates again), that’d be 36K a year? I mean, I guess it could be done, but I’m not sure it’d be what someone might call rich…of course, there is the cushion if you don’t cut into it…
Down in Mexico you can buy a nice 3-bedroom villa for $20k to $30k. I’ve been wondering if I have enough savings to retire in Mexico already
I recently looked at a 2BR house where I live (Philly suburb with an excellent school system) that was listed for $69K. It was in great shape except for the very minor problem of termites having eaten through literally all of the floor joists. Walking in the house was like walking on a trampoline, very weird experience. It had been occupied up until a week prior, somehow.
So I’m a carpenter and own my own contracting business. Having to replace every floor joist in your house is INCREDIBLY expensive. Like depending on the size of your house you’re looking at anywhere from 20 grand to 100 grand, just to make your house legal to live in.
Well yeah, that was the point of my comment. You can find houses for $70K but they’re going to need a shitload of expensive work. For this particular house, it would have been on the $20K end, though. It was a very small house (2BR on one floor, about 650 sq. ft.) and I had priced the lumber for the joists and new decking at around $6K or $7K. The labor costs with a proper crew would have taken it well north of $10K for sure; I could have done all the work myself but probably not without permanently damaging my body. Fortunately it sold almost immediately - for $90K.
Ah I see. Yeah 70 grand for a house and living off the rest is not feasible.
My landlord offered to sell me the house I rent for $67k. It extremely small and needs probably 40k in repairs to even make it safe to live in. This is in one of the lowest cost of living areas of the country. You can’t make good money here unless you travel for work or have advanced degrees or certifications AND/OR know the right people