What a 3-bedroom house looks like in South Africa vs the UK, Netherlands and Australia

[BusinessTech]

What a 3-bedroom house looks like in South Africa vs the UK, Netherlands and Australia

With emigration top of mind for some, here's what a small family property could look like across South Africa.

 

[saturnz]

The average South African earning roughly R21,000 net income a month, can reasonably afford a home loan of R745,598. If two people were to live together and both earn the same salary, the household could afford a home of roughly R1,491,196.

that wont get you anything decent in CT

 

[WollieVerstege]

Yet another completely pointless article. It started off well by looking at what you can afford on the average wage in SA, and then it just went way off the road into a deep ditch of nothingness.

 

[Moto Guzzi]

And we want to follow them-??

 

[The Voice]

UK =/= London or Manchester. There are loads of decent-sized properties outside of the green belts, and you don’t need to worry about the additional South African property “tax” of burglar bars, electric fencing, armed response, etc.

Also, the first thing everyone needs to do when moving here is to stop converting everything to Rands. You’ll be earning Pounds.

 

[Polymathic]

The KZN property looks like it's a refurbished farm shed.

 

[Acinixys]

Comparing anything in SA to London is a joke

I have family living an hour outside London and they paid almost R4 mil for a tiny 3 bedroom flat

For 4 mil you can get a 4+ bedroom house with pool and huge yard anywhere in SA. Maybe not in Constantia, but easily at least 1 hour from any main city center

This is why ill never emigrate. My house is about the size of that R11.5 million one in the UK and I paid R720K. Plus it has a bigger garden and a garage.

 

[s0lar]

Comparing anything in SA to London is a joke

I have family living an hour outside London and they paid almost R4 mil for a tiny 3 bedroom flat

For 4 mil you can get a 4+ bedroom house with pool and huge yard anywhere in SA. Maybe not in Constantia, but easily at least 1 hour from any main city center

Let’s be honest your investment overseas has a lot more security than here in SA..

 

[WaxLyrical]

Comparing anything in SA to London is a joke

I have family living an hour outside London and they paid almost R4 mil for a tiny 3 bedroom flat

For 4 mil you can get a 4+ bedroom house with pool and huge yard anywhere in SA. Maybe not in Constantia, but easily at least 1 hour from any main city center

This is why ill never emigrate. My house is about the size of that R11.5 million one in the UK and I paid R720K. Plus it has a bigger garden and a garage.

4m rondt is nothing in pounds.

 

[cguy]

Crazy. It’s almost like people overseas must get paid more or something.

 

[cguy]

This is why ill never emigrate. My house is about the size of that R11.5 million one in the UK and I paid R720K. Plus it has a bigger garden and a garage.

But it isn’t in London. That’s what the cost is for, not the house per se.

I fully get the sentiment, but something to consider is that the earlier one makes the move in one’s career, the more likely things are to equalize.

I left my 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with 800sqm of land in Cape Town for a dated 2bed/2bath flat in the SF Bay Area, which eventually became a modern 2bed/2bath with a view, and then a massive flat in a trendy neighborhood, and then a 2nd house in the countryside. With all the advantages of the 1st world.

The relative costs only really make sense when you’re talking about a fixed amount of cash - when you earn $/£/€, things tend to normalize, except that you have the advantage of location.

 

[Azg]

I understand that they have better security than SA, but those overseas houses in the article look dated and depressing.

 

[cguy]

I understand that they have better security than SA, but those overseas houses in the article look dated and depressing.

The benefits are a lot more than just security: Career opportunities, life style, culture, education, travel (2 hours to Paris or 4 hours to Amsterdam by train if you're in London), etc. The entire world becomes more affordable to you there.

As for the houses they show, well a lot of that is because the authors are ignoring all the realities of overseas living. Such as, the increased salary, and much lower interest rates. One also doesn't buy a house in say, London as a first home, since in any dense city, even the crappiest houses are expensive - you buy a flat, and it if you're making an ok living, it will be very nicely appointed. Also, culturally most urbanites spend a lot more time out and about, rather than in their homes, so they have different spending priorities. Alternatively, one can look outside of London/Amsterdam/etc., and get a lot more for one's pounds.

Another observation is that they are showing professional SA photographs (filtered, minimal, staged, etc.), while for the overseas ones they're choosing cluttered pictures, taken by amateurs - especially for the cheaper ones.

The universal constant, is that in a free market you get the value that you buy/sell for. Individuals have subjective valuations, but the mean valuation is exactly what it's traded at.