What is the annual maintenance cost of American houses? What are the projects?

"China Economic Weekly" reporter Li Xiaoxiao | Zhongxin. com reported

Wang Yu, a foreign student who has just arrived in the United States, was surprised to find that the housing prices in the "rich area" near new york are much cheaper than those outside the Sixth Ring Road.

On a sunny weekend, Wang Yu drove his second-hand car from Manhattan to visit Jin Jialiang, a friend from Long Island. Long Island is an out-and-out "rich area"-former US President Bill Clinton, oil tycoon Rockefeller and Hollywood director Spielberg all settled here.

In less than half an hour, Wang Yu arrived at Jin Jialiang's residence. Jinjialiangjia has three floors upstairs and downstairs, all of which are finely decorated, with 6 rooms and 5 bathrooms. There is a swimming pool with a diameter of 20 meters in the backyard, and there are children's play facilities next to it.

Jin Jialiang modestly waved his hand and said, "Nothing. My house is actually not expensive, only 500,000 US dollars. "

Wang Yu exclaimed, "Isn't that more than 3 million RMB? This can only buy a two-bedroom apartment in Beijing. "

Jin Jialiang waved his hand and said, "Yes or no, it is difficult to buy a house cheaply, but it is difficult to raise a house. In the United States, it costs more than $30,000 a year to raise such a house. "

Wang Yu tangled shrugged his shoulders. It seems that buying a house in America is really a complicated science.

Who can buy a house in America?

Like China people, the first thing to buy a house in the United States is to find an intermediary.

The reporter of China Economic Weekly contacted Mr. Wei, a Chinese real estate agent in new york, USA. He said, "We get a commission of 3%~5% from the seller and don't charge the buyer. However, buyers need to go to the bank to issue a' bank approval loan certificate' before viewing the house. After showing this certificate, the intermediary company can start to show you the house, because we need to know your loan ability. "

Can foreigners buy a house in America? The answer given by Wei is yes.

According to Wei, in most states of the United States, for foreign citizens who have worked and lived in the United States for a long time, the procedure of buying a house is the same as that of locals. They only need to provide payrolls for more than two years to prove that they have the ability to repay loans (the monthly payment must be within 28% of their monthly income), and they can borrow money from the bank to buy a house.

For foreigners who don't work in the United States, unless they have huge investment deposits in American banks or use their existing houses as collateral, they can only buy houses in full.

For people who buy a house with a loan, the most important thing is a good credit record. Unlike China's unified interest rate, in the United States, everyone finally gets a different loan interest rate, which depends entirely on your previous credit history.

A person with a good credit record will ideally get a loan interest rate equal to the benchmark interest rate when buying a house. And a person who often defaults on credit card repayment and has a poor credit record, the interest rate can rise indefinitely, and even the bank refuses to lend.

The total loan period is 30 years, and there are three loan methods: 3-year fixed (floating in the last 27 years), 5-year fixed (floating in the last 25 years) and 30-year fixed. The current interest rates are: 4.75%, 5.5% and 6.25% (subject to the interest rate at the time of loan application).

Before the subprime mortgage crisis, there was a "zero down payment" in the United States. However, with the outbreak of the crisis, the government raised the minimum down payment to 20% for the sake of controlling financial risks.

"It is precisely because too many people in the United States paid 10% down payment, or even zero down payment to buy a house, which triggered the subsequent subprime mortgage crisis. Now the bottom line of the down payment for American loans to buy a house is 20%. " Wei said to him:

Buying a house is easier than raising a house.

House prices in the United States vary greatly according to different regions and types of houses. The most expensive cities are new york, San Francisco and Seattle. A room for 20 to 30 years costs 500,000 dollars. In rural areas of central China, house prices have been astonishingly low. If you just buy a cabin for a family of three, you can buy it for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Jin Jialiang took out the "transfer order" when buying a house from the drawer. Wang Yu was stunned by the numerous charges. Nearly 20 kinds of one-time charges add up to more than 7000 dollars.

"The United States must hire a lawyer to buy a house, and the legal fees alone add up to several thousand dollars. In addition, the local government should take the opportunity to collect a sum of money. What tax service fee and loan tax add up to two or three thousand yuan. "

But these one-time expenses are not the most terrible for Jin Jialiang. What really makes Jin Jialiang breathless is the continuous cost of "raising a house".

"Uncertainty in property rights also means uncertainty in costs, and buying a house is not once and for all." Jin Jialiang said.

House/property tax

Property tax varies from state to state in the United States, and it is generally 1% ~ 3%, and it is 3% in new york. Therefore, taking Jin Jialiang's house as an example, the annual property tax is as high as $654.38 +0.5 million.

family insurance

When buying real estate in the United States, he was also forced to buy home insurance. In new york, the monthly housing insurance premium for a $500,000 house is about $65,438+000, which is $65,438+0,200 a year. In addition, states with frequent natural disasters often need additional natural disaster insurance, such as earthquake insurance in California and hurricane insurance in southern cities. "If you don't buy insurance, the bank won't dare to lend you money." Wei told China Economic Weekly.

Courtyard maintenance

The maintenance cost of single-family houses is very high. For example, hiring someone to mow the grass costs about $65,438+0,000 a month. If you leave your yard overgrown with weeds, when you get home, you will find your yard as brand-new as a snail girl, but there is a letter from the local government on the door telling you that the government has mowed the grass for you. Please pay in time.

Property management fee

If you buy a conjoined villa or apartment instead of a single-family villa, you have to bear the property management fee (or community management fee) ranging from $0/50 to $500 per month. High-end apartments with doormen in Manhattan, the property fee of an apartment may even be as high as several thousand dollars per month.