What is the cost of living in USA if someone wants to do the lowest
the easiest, cheapest way so let's say it's a single person that needs
a studio apartment, nothing big.
To rent only and a basic car.
Buying basic food.
How much do they need to live?
How much you need to survive in USA. It really depends on the location. Depends on where you want to live.
EVA NOWAKOWSKA - REAL ESTATE AGENT
It's all over the place because in Trenton you can rent an apartment,
a studio for $700.
In this neighborhood here we're looking at one bedroom
costing you probably around $1200.
But those are two different neigborhoods.
It also depends on whether you need a better school district.
If not then you can rent in Lawrenceville,
something really nice.
One or two bedroom for perhaps $1100.
So this is for rent.
If you're planning to buy it's a different story.
We are talking about renting.
As far as for example car insurance goes
It's really important to just
really do your research well.
I do my own comparisons every single year.
Different options and from what I can see
the best option I have right now for car insurance
is New Jersey Manufacturers
they have really great rates.
Right now in New Jersey having car insurance
is about $1200.
What I really
got with New Jersey Manufacturers
Per year?
Yes, this is the cost per year.
I think it's important to always compare, do your research.
You have to look because why overpay?
And there are many many different options out there.
When it comes to cell phones now you have Google.
You can get a phone free of charge now.
Verizon maybe indeed has slightly better service.
But they also charge a lot of money for their service.
I think it's possible, if you put your head to it
you can save quite a bit here and there.
But I wouldn't cut expenses when it comes to food.
I believe good organic food is much better.
It's very important.
Car insurance $1200.
Uhm.
Gas?
I don't even remember.
When I buy gas...
it costs me around $36 but how many gallons go in my car? It's about $36-$37 per tank.
So let's say good organic food, single person per month...
how much would they spend? $300? More?
A single person per month...
a bit more perhaps.
$400 if it's organic food?
Let's say $400 - $500 you can live well and without
trips to the doctor.
We can't guarantee that but you can always
help yourself a little bit, right?
I believe that.
After our film about earnings, about work in USA
many of you said that it's pointless to talk about what people make
without giving details about the cost of living in USA.
So I have sad news for you, there will be no film about the cost of living in USA.
In one location.
Because this subject is a difficult one, not sure if you agree with me.
And I think one has to approach it
in such a way to talk only about the cost of living
in USA in one, specific area.
Because... I have two of my expert guests today: Eva and Agnieszka.
Eva you are a real estate agent, right?
Correct.
A realtor'ka as we would say in Ponglish.
And Agnieszka you are Eva's client.
I am Eva's client.
And a friend!
Therefore we have a great team to talk a little bit about the cost of living in USA.
Because there is no better place to start the discussion about cost of living than
discussion about the cost of accommodations, meaning houses
apartments as they call them here, which are simply living units.
And the costs related to maintaining a house, an apartment, taxes and so on
Is that correct?
That is correct.
Come in, please make your way in.
This is 5 bedrooms, 3,5 bathrooms.
It starts with a sort of formal sitting area.
With a fireplace.
The floors are freshly renovated that's why you have to take your shoes off.
They are really nicely finished.
Here we have a sun room, this carpet maybe isn't the prettiest but...
You can work with this area very well.
You can put some plants in here, you Agnieszka have green fingers.
Will you agree with me also
When I say that America is so huge
that it's very difficult to talk about the cost of living in entire USA
when in just one state of New Jersey these costs can be very different.
For example in the area where we are today, it's Pennington correct?
Yes.
And the neighborhood like Princeton and so on.
Would you say these are areas that are... so to speak
Better-ish?
These are better areas mainly because
of many aspects.
Schools are very good here most of all.
The location, we have Princeton University.
Getting to many places.
That is why taxes here are also a little bit higher.
House pries are not cheap.
But on the other hand, you can definitely
buy more in Pennington, Hopewell Township.
Better house for a little less money when you compare
it all to let's say Princeton or even Princeton Junction.
So this is definitely a good option.
Please come around here!
Right now we are in Pennington then and
if we were to give an extremely
different
area that would be extremely different than here
Let's say somewhere in Bergen County,
West Paterson, Paterson or even Garfield.
The situation would be very different, correct?
Very different, that's correct. Every State to their own.
There are different taxes, very different expenses
when it comes to real estate and buying houses.
Every State...
in every State it's different but even in every county.
so I like your approach to tackle this subject
as States but also different areas in each State
because those are all very different things.
It's a good idea to address those places separately.
Excellent.
Tell me now really quick where we are
What is this house and how old is it?
How much does it cost?
And why did we pick this one for today?
We are in Pennington, Hopewell Township.
The house we'll be showing to Agnieszka today
Because we already sold Agnieszka's house
She's about to be homeless so we are trying to find a new house for her.
We are in Pennington as I said, Hopewell Township.
This house is 212 years old.
It's very adorable.
A bit older of a house but despite it being 212 years old
there were many
renovations done inside. There's a new kitchen.
I will show you new floors.
In all that the house has a lot of charm.
It's really very cool.
As you can see everything in this house has its age.
It's 220... 212 years old.
The windows
They were probably improved somewhere along the way.
But they have their age too.
The heating system here, take a look.
As I said before the floors have all been replaced.
Just recently they put a new coating on it.
I think this is very untypical.
Now finding a house that has a radiator of this type.
We mostly have AC everywhere.
You now, ovens that...
Hot air, exactly.
Central heating, systems like that.
I have the hot air system and the warm air comes from the floor.
Most houses, a lot of houses have those here.
But I think radiators like these are better.
The air gets less dust in it.
And it doesn't dry it out so much.
This is a nice option to have, we remember these from Poland, right?
Pokój rodzinny, gościnny with a huge
fireplace.
You can burn real wood here.
Not propane, although propane is more... well, convenient.
Of course.
There are a lot of details here.
That give this house real character. Exactly.
And I really like there is this brick here.
Exposed.
Storage of some sort.
Oh, this is a wine bar, look! I forgot about it!
This is very interesting and very... and it's locked.
Somewhat of a wet bar like in the old days, right?
Are we closing it or not?
We have 1.75 acres on this property
Very nice location because you can just jump on 95 to Philadelphia.
295 and then 95.
It's not far from Princeton.
Very good schools in the area.
And in general Hopewell Township, I've lived here for 10 years.
I would not move out of here exactly because of the lifestyle.
Tell me why Polish people like this area and why
they would choose this place to settle, to live here.
I think because this is a great location.
The schools are fantastic, we have very good schools here.
And it's peaceful here.
Hopewell itself has a population of about 2000.
Hopewell Township a little more of course but...
there's a sort of
really great lifestyle here.
You might say a bit further from civilization, we don't really have....
we don't have such big, enormous traffic problems
It doesn't take you a lot of time to move between places.
It all depends on where you're going of course.
There's a lot of really awesome parks.
Places where you can really stroll and walk for miles.
We should also make it clear that when we are filming all of this
it's mid April and
and the Fall... eeeh! Spring is late!
The Fall was long time ago, the Winter has been here for too long
and Spring is late which is why
I think you'd say in the summer all of this here looks about 100 times better.
A lot better, it's pretty here in full Spring, Summer and also in the Fall when the trees are changing.
There's a lot of really cool places to
walk around, take a good hike.
Maybe those aren't mountains - I lived in Colorado earlier as I mentioned before but...
we have really great areas here to be around nature.
To bike around all you want.
And it's not far from Princeton if you feel like going to a museum for a change.
It's not far from Philadelphia and also New York.
Now we have to quickly touch two subjects.
The first one is: people often comment on our channel that
houses in USA are all built
weak and flimsy because it's all a little bit of wood
the ever present siding
they don't last long but this house here is... 2...two...
Two hundred and twelve years old.
And in your opinion did it stand the test of time?
It did stand the test of time. It definitely took the test of time well.
Some renovation was done, let's admit that.
Some improvements but it made it over all these years.
Please come see the kitchen that was also
redone maybe 10 years ago, maybe a little less than that.
But it has these giant windows.
Five...
we have a big...
Oven. Oven, that's right.
Cooking oven, yes.
With five burners so you can throw parties in here.
Very nice granite countertops.
This house keeps it's original character.
But it is also modernized in a few places.
Nice pantry here.
There's a well here. In Hopewell Township you will see those a lot.
All these houses have their own wells.
We have our own well, too and personally I love the water.
It is free of chemicals.
Nobody adds fluoride, nobody adds bleach.
You have to test the water, let's say that. I test mine once a year.
But then it is really wonderful.
I am very used to my well water.
I love it, it has completely different taste.
It's healthier.
What is the additional expense that you have to consider to maintain a house like this one.
Here... you know, taxes. It all depends on whether you want to
It all depends on if you want to do things yourself, this is 1.75 acres.
Grass mowing.
Depends on whether you'll hire someone for that or do it yourself.
You know... it all if you are a homeowner you have to consider
some sort of a yearly budget for any kind of repairs.
Roofing.
It was replaced fairly recently on this house but the cost of a roof...
you have to ask... Baltyk Construction, right?
That's right.
So... you know.
Some repairs inside.
You have to consider it all. It all depends on when
some installations were replaced.
But you think this is an expense of several hundred per year, several thousand?
Taking into consideration all the land around the house.
Let's say some renovation here and there.
What do you have to assume on average?
Definitely not a few hundred. It's a few thousand dollars.
It all depends
on what kind of repairs/innovations you would do but I think
we're talking here about several thousand, probably upwards of $5000
Talking about houses being built cheap and flimsy here
I can tell you when my mom visited from Poland and at some point we were visiting an area
and she was looking at some houses with me she said they look like campground cabins in Poland
because you can certainly find flimsy construction here in USA.
Which you won't find in large numbers in Poland but
you know what, again there is so much differentiation in USA.
Correct.
There are very solid houses that will last, for sure.
This one is ONLY 212 years old.
For us Europeans this maybe isn't a huge
achievement but
it's been holding up well.
You think then it's misleading to say all houses in USA
are cheap and flimsy
because there are brick houses, there are very well built houses.
There are beautiful ones, it all depends on where and how.
Yes, of course I agree.
Agnieszka, tell me your opinion. What are houses in USA like?
Houses in USA are - as Eva said - very different.
The construction is very different so I think it's difficult to compare Europe to USA in this regard.
This part of New Jersey specifically
and New York the houses are mainly built with wood.
But if we were to go South from here
the construction would be a lot more stable because
of even weather conditions and hurricanes.
I think this particular house
is very interesting because
the houses that have years of history
have their own specific mood and charm.
and their construction must be more durable and lasting than current houses.
Did you ever have a house fall apart on you in USA?
No, never.
The roof ever fall on your head?
Not yet, no.
A wall in the kitchen fell and there was...
No, never.
a big hole left?
No, no, no but...
The floor broke in half?
No, but I heard stories and this is something
and this is one of our main concerns
to really pay attention to termites.
in USA, for example.
So far I hasn't been paying attention to that but it is a problem.
They are everywhere you have wooden houses.
Now you gave them new ammunition for comments!
On YouTube. New subject now!
They'll be hooked on this. Termites. Didn't know about them, now they'll know.
It's a tragedy.
Having lived here for 12 years I also wasn't taking this into consideration.
Somehow I did not connect the dots, wood and termites.
Until one of the girls I work with started telling me about it.
And then she said in USA people are also well prepared to fight the termites.
So it isn't really common that house walls fall over.
Although it is something to consider while buying a house.
Again as someone working with Eva.
I think finding yourself a great real estate agent
a trusted real estate agent is really the key.
This is really the key.
Because you're building a relationship here.
A good agent becomes a therapist at some point.
Eva learned the hard way.
During the sale, during the fits "wow" and then
"I don't really know if I WANT TO sell this house".
At some point you're getting a panic attack.
You have to basically reorganize your life.
And it involves pretty big money.
So it's a big deal to confine in your real estate agent.
Apart from all other things like the place where we want to live.
And why we want to live there. Everyone will have their preference for that.
Now you said the magic word "money". We are reaching the very point here.
How much is this house?
$799,000
Eight hundred thousand dollars?
Seven hundred and ninety nine thousand.
So it's not eight hundred.
This is how much it's listed for. You think it is what it will sell for?
I think there is a little room for negotiations.
But how much we can't say right now.
It all depends of course, the house is only
It has been listed for only, how long... let me check
16 days so this is fairly
new listing we have.
It depends on how long it's on the market.
But it seems like a astronomical price!
It's not an astronomical price, not in this area.
How much do you need to make per year
to comfortably maintain this house without a fear
that we'll let things go and we'll have bigger problems down the road.
I think, again this is a questions that doesn't have an easy answer.
Because...
It depends a lot on the lifestyle you want to have.
If you want to buy a house and all the money you have, your savings
gets invested in the house
and set aside all your other pleasures.
You'll probably need to make a lot less money
But if you assume, especially having kids
we are still interested in going for a vacation
if you want to maintain some standard of living that you've had this far
then this is surely the type of house that will take more money to maintain than other options out there.
This surely isn't the most expensive house because as Eva said Princeton or even
Norhtern part of New Jersey, you'll find houses there
that are even more expensive but in this area here it isn't the cheapest house.
so how much do you have to make?
I don't know how to answer this question but I think that
But for a family that... I don't know, I don't know - you'd have to be making
a $150,000 or maybe $200,000 per year
I think this is a house...
Let's say that you cannot make this happen for $45,000 a year
No, you can't. No way.
Can you make it for $80,000?
No, at least $150,000.
Upwards of $150,000.
Maybe, yes.
This is solid income.
For any part of USA this is pretty serious income.
Right.
For more infomation >> 4/14/18 8:10 AM (1761-1781 Franklin Canyon Rd, Martinez, CA 94553, USA) - Duration: 0:45. 
For more infomation >> 4/14/18 6:40 AM (1410 Franklin Canyon Rd, Martinez, CA 94553, USA) - Duration: 2:13. 
For more infomation >> 4/13/18 8:18 PM (1761-1781 Franklin Canyon Rd, Martinez, CA 94553, USA) - Duration: 0:12. 
For more infomation >> 4/14/18 8:19 AM (801-835 Grayson Rd, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, USA) - Duration: 2:11. 
For more infomation >> 4/14/18 8:11 AM (1761-1781 Franklin Canyon Rd, Martinez, CA 94553, USA) - Duration: 8:09. 
For more infomation >> 4/13/18 8:10 PM (102-108 Virginia Hills Dr, Martinez, CA 94553, USA) - Duration: 7:36. 
For more infomation >> 4/14/18 8:03 AM (1735-1741 Franklin Canyon Rd, Martinez, CA 94553, USA) - Duration: 0:18. 
No comments:
Post a Comment