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HOME WORK - 4th Wednesday - 2nd assignment

"Good morning class, it's Wednesday again. Lets see what you've been up to the last week. Your previous assignment was to find a job, which you did and gathered information on that. Thank you Peik for choosing a new occupation. Peik has decided to be a furniture designer and carpenter. The assignment for this week will be finding some place to live. You need to figure out if you want a house or condo, rent or buy, living costs and so on and so fort. I've brought some papers with real estate listings and you can also surf the net. Now, what are the most important things to consider while looking for housing?"

The class was nearly silent.

"Really? Nobody? What is the most important thing in house hunting?"

"Location" someone whispers.

"Location is good, but not quite the right answer. Seriously? What do you need to buy or rent anything?"

"Money." said Patric.

"Give the future banker an prize, MONEY. The amount of money you can comfortably spend on housing on a monthly basis. Now, if you have, and I trust you have, calculated the amount of your salary after taxes, you should know how much you can spend on it. So start looking, I'll give you fifteen minutes and then we'll discuss, ok."

For a while there's nothing more than the sound of fingers clicking the keyboards. Some whispers of 'I don't want to live there' or 'why do we need four bedrooms' or 'that's too far away'. I check my cheat list where I have calculated the estimated amount of salary combined for each pair. It's going to be a struggle for some couples if they think they can keep living the same life style they are now.

"Ok, your fifteen is up. Thoughts? Julie!"

"You can't spend your whole salary on living."

"And why is that?"

"You wont have any money for food or gas or movies and such."

"Ok, how much should you spend on living?"

"I think about half of your salary, then you can buy food with the rest."

"Anyone else?"

"Maybe two thirds so you get a bigger house."

"I think it's smarter to rent first. You can move easier and quicker, like right away, and you don't have to be afraid that no-one will buy your house."

"A valid point. Yes, Steve."

"Also if you rent and something brakes, the landlord has to replace it. Like a new fridge or cracked window."

"That's a good point. More?"

"You don't have to do maintenance."

"You don't have to make mortgage payments."

"But is't that the same as paying rent?"

"But the bank won't put your house in foreclosure if you can't make the payments."

"Do you think that your landlord is going to accept that you can't pay rent?"

"No, but if you have a mortgage you still have to keep paying the bank your debt."

"You're both right and wrong. Look those things up for your final report."

"Any negative points in renting? Rachel."

"If the owner wants to sell the house you live in and the new owner wants to move in them selves."

"Good, good. Michael."

"If you live in for example workplace provided housing and you quit your job, you have to move."

"Anything else?"

"You're no't allowed to do any renovations without permission."

"That's a good one Stacy."

"If you live in a mixed owner - renter condo building the owners have more clout in contracts made. Like for lawn service or garbage disposal."

"You can't operate a business from a rented apartment if the contract forbids it."

"Yes. More? No? Ok, so we have established that you can spend half of your wages on housing. What about other essential living costs? Water, gas, electricity, heating, cable, internet? How much is that?"

"We have water and gas meters that calculates the amount that we use. I suppose that varies every month."

"Ok Geena, why do you think they vary?"

"In the summer we cook a lot on the grill outside and don't use the gas, so the bill is less than in the winter."

"Any other examples in variable utility costs? Yes, Mary?"

"The water bill. You need a lot of water in the warmer months to do gardening and if you have a pool and you need to change the water frequently."

"Ok, next up house vs apartment building? The pros and cons."

"Well, if you live in a house you get more space and peace, but you also have to pay property taxes and road maintenance and garbage disposal."

"Ok Dave, do you think of those as pros or cons?"

"Yes." The eloquent Pulitzer writer.

"Oh, I see. Yes Julie."

"If you live in a house you have to hire your own security company. But if you live in an apartment the whole building usually uses the same company." Only you would think of security.

"Is there any other mandatory payments for housing? Peik."

"I would say insurance."

"That's right, insurance is very important, it doesn't matter if you rent or own. The amount you pay is up to you, but it also decides the amount you can claim if needed. Include those in the report as well. With these 'must pay' bills I want to add your selection of appliances. Some houses and apartments have those and some don't. For this project you need to gather your own. Please pay attention to the environmental rating."

"Can we take hand-me-downs?"

"Of course you can Peter. It's both eco-friendly and economically desirable, good point."

"Does anybody have any questions? No. Ok, you have your assignment, see you next week."