Where are you on the global pay scale?

[Strauss]

Yuh know why that is Dizzy? Because people want their cake and want to eat it too. Instead of looking at a reasonable car, most people forgo the the mortgage to put themselves in debt for a vehicle. So you end up having a decent car, and a $3000.00 a month loan payment, which could have gone towards a mortage. Also, a lot of people refuse to leave the security, and convenience of the town they grew up in, to find a more reasonable priced property that may have a longer commute.

So the cost of the house is not necessarily the limiting factor in all cases, it's a matter of priority.

A MIDDLE-CLASS is supposed to be able to afford 2 cars and housing, plus education at the same time.

If you don't have all three, you are making a choice based on your personal priority. It might appear that you are living it up, but your finances say differently.

What kind of cars?

2 economy class cars (e.g. Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra/Almera, Mitsubishi Lancer). When you talk a mid-sized sedan (e.g. Mazda 6, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry) it's a then a harder choice of what to give up.

[MG Man]

^^^again.........is what people like
for the price of one new 'economy' car, u can get two decent second hand cars......just means saving up for the higher downpayment.......can't ever see me buying a new car unless I so rich I can afford to pay cash......5 years @ upwards of 2,500 for a mediocre grocery-getter makes no sense to me.....heck the mortgage on my lot of land (15 year load) is 2,300 a month.......I cya pay that or more for ah car...

[cornfused]

Couver : that right there is an example why so many people cannot afford housing that BOX is reduced to $695k cash only on a plausible a lot of land , notice they did not spend money to make a driveway or a proper garage.

Well yes good luck with that

[crazybalhead]

Exactly MG Man. Instead of a B14 and a Samurai like one of the guys working with my company, people want Mazda 3 and Corolla.

[MG Man]

^^^up
my wife's first car was an AE101 that she paid 32k for, which she traded up for a 4 year old AE111, which she still owns.......her co-workers find it amusing that she is the only manager with a 'PB-something' car in the parking lot...........then they all wonder how we can afford 'dat real big house allyuh buildin'

[wagonrunner]

watches PAW B12, and knows this talk too high for me.

[Strauss]

Exactly MG Man. Instead of a B14 and a Samurai like one of the guys working with my company, people want Mazda 3 and Corolla.

Mazda 3 and Corolla are ECONOMY sedans. It's just that we overate it. Look at the BMW 3-series. Same thing. But, again, because it have beema name, the price is sky high for a new model.

The price of the Corolla is where the price point of the Camry should be. But people in T&T treat Camry's, Accords and Cifero like they are luxury cars - which they are not. Possibly because people put too much status attached to mediocrity.

[Stephon.]

I used to think that car prices in Trinidad were too high, but it's basically justified seeing that these cars are still selling. Guess everyone in Trinidad has money. I applaud people that can buy cars with cash or with at least 50% down. People who pay down 20 grand for a 200 grand car needs to be slapped.

[Sky]

http://thecaribbeanrealtor.com/realtor_property_detail.php?pid=MjE0NzUxMjczNg==&rid=&id=&uid=MzU=&type=s&img=1&t=9#pos

Couver.

Them price is cyash only!!

And hadda sell before month end. Too short to run credit check on it.
Skull man biznizz.
If I had $695k cyash I eh lookin Couva.

[r3iXmann]

was not aware 1mil house was the avg.
Is that the "standard"?

like u eh know orr? Most people nowadays too ashamed to buy cheap land and take their time and build.........nah.......run down big mortgage, or cry that they cannot afford a house
Their are affordable ways to own a house but we want the lifestyle NOW

i dont think that's the issue. i recently explored that option but i found the following recurring issues:

1. finding a 'cheap' piece of land = land that needs a LOT of prep work ($$$) or in some shady gangster area
2. acquiring town and country approval is a b!tch
3. getting a loan to do anything on said land without town and country = impossible

[Stephon.]

You can live in any hole safely.

[r3iXmann]

no thanks Stephon. i like peace of mind

[Habit7]

why buy a house when my parents already do all the hard work?

[MG Man]

was not aware 1mil house was the avg.
Is that the "standard"?

like u eh know orr? Most people nowadays too ashamed to buy cheap land and take their time and build.........nah.......run down big mortgage, or cry that they cannot afford a house
Their are affordable ways to own a house but we want the lifestyle NOW

i dont think that's the issue. i recently explored that option but i found the following recurring issues:

1. finding a 'cheap' piece of land = land that needs a LOT of prep work ($$$) or in some shady gangster area
2. acquiring town and country approval is a b!tch
3. getting a loan to do anything on said land without town and country = impossible

not sure what u mean by 'cheap' so hard to respond
Our land required no prep work.........I not sure what u mean by that tho, but basically we bought a flat piece that required no back-filling etc.....just lots of grass to clear

We got town and country approval in 3 weeks from submitting our plans...couva regional corp took another 3 weeks with their part. I even had elements of the design changed approved at couva regional with no hassle...heck I used to pop in on occasion to talk with the building inspector just to bounce ideas off him........

Our house plans were drawn up by hand, by an experienced house plan guy.......not one single query from T&C........regarding our septic system, he even drew three designs, and T&C simply stamped the one they approved.........getting the building inspector to pay us site visits were no hassle either

[AllTrac]

is every day i does ask stephon fadda to adopt me so later on when he dedz i could fight stephon for land and air condition. Hit him 2 slap in he mc seeing he is the justin bieber of the forums and everything is mines. This method is free and does not tie me down to a mortgage, dolla dolla billz y'all

[Stephon.]

is every day i does ask stephon fadda to adopt me so later on when he dedz i could fight stephon for land and air condition. Hit him 2 slap in he mc seeing he is the justin bieber of the forums and everything is mines. This method is free and does not tie me down to a mortgage, dolla dolla billz y'all

The dolla dolla billz y'all catch me off guard yes

I drive a Mazda 3 though, grocery getter car

[r3iXmann]

was not aware 1mil house was the avg.
Is that the "standard"?

like u eh know orr? Most people nowadays too ashamed to buy cheap land and take their time and build.........nah.......run down big mortgage, or cry that they cannot afford a house
Their are affordable ways to own a house but we want the lifestyle NOW

i dont think that's the issue. i recently explored that option but i found the following recurring issues:

1. finding a 'cheap' piece of land = land that needs a LOT of prep work ($$$) or in some shady gangster area
2. acquiring town and country approval is a b!tch
3. getting a loan to do anything on said land without town and country = impossible

not sure what u mean by 'cheap' so hard to respond
Our land required no prep work.........I not sure what u mean by that tho, but basically we bought a flat piece that required no back-filling etc.....just lots of grass to clear

We got town and country approval in 3 weeks from submitting our plans...couva regional corp took another 3 weeks with their part. I even had elements of the design changed approved at couva regional with no hassle...heck I used to pop in on occasion to talk with the building inspector just to bounce ideas off him........

Our house plans were drawn up by hand, by an experienced house plan guy.......not one single query from T&C........regarding our septic system, he even drew three designs, and T&C simply stamped the one they approved.........getting the building inspector to pay us site visits were no hassle either

well you're lucky

i checked several pieces of land and they all required a lot of prep work..drainage, clearing, soil prep etc

you're also lucky with t&c. everyone i know has given me some horror story or the other;you're actually the first person that i know who had a positive experience

cheap = 100-400k, depending on size etc

[AllTrac]

r3iXmann,

walk in sealots, stand on empty spot, say "MINES!!"
pass by me and take up some old galvanize. Live for free.

[Sky]

was not aware 1mil house was the avg.
Is that the "standard"?

like u eh know orr? Most people nowadays too ashamed to buy cheap land and take their time and build.........nah.......run down big mortgage, or cry that they cannot afford a house
Their are affordable ways to own a house but we want the lifestyle NOW

i dont think that's the issue. i recently explored that option but i found the following recurring issues:

1. finding a 'cheap' piece of land = land that needs a LOT of prep work ($$$) or in some shady gangster area
2. acquiring town and country approval is a b!tch
3. getting a loan to do anything on said land without town and country = impossible

not sure what u mean by 'cheap' so hard to respond
Our land required no prep work.........I not sure what u mean by that tho, but basically we bought a flat piece that required no back-filling etc.....just lots of grass to clear

We got town and country approval in 3 weeks from submitting our plans...couva regional corp took another 3 weeks with their part. I even had elements of the design changed approved at couva regional with no hassle...heck I used to pop in on occasion to talk with the building inspector just to bounce ideas off him........

Our house plans were drawn up by hand, by an experienced house plan guy.......not one single query from T&C........regarding our septic system, he even drew three designs, and T&C simply stamped the one they approved.........getting the building inspector to pay us site visits were no hassle either

well you're lucky

i checked several pieces of land and they all required a lot of prep work..drainage, clearing, soil prep etc

you're also lucky with t&c. everyone i know has given me some horror story or the other;you're actually the first person that i know who had a positive experience

cheap = 100-400k, depending on size etc

Santa Monica by Mausica dey. Cost to prep? Bottle of gramaxone for the nut grass.

[Stephon.]

Who looking to move into Santa Monica now?

[MG Man]

^^^well we paid 300k for our land, and that was after a few years searching.....so don't expect it to happen overnight........we scanned the classifieds every day and went to look at land every day.....the hardest part was that it felt like land prices were rising faster than we were able to save...

Re T&C, I've met too many people who complain, only to find out their plans violated rules and requirements etc, or had ridiculously elaborate designs that required deep scrutiny
everything we did was done to code and spec, and our house is basically a box on pillars.....no fancy anything...........very VERY simple design that generated no queries

[Habit7]

So tuners do like MG Man: buy 12+ old cars move to Couva and live in box with windows on the side and a front and back door. Now only if Americans had done something like this we would not have gone into recession 4 years ago.

[MG Man]

^^^chase village
been under construction 4 years now...hopefully should be liveable by august........by liveable, I mean one working bathroom / toilet, a kitchen sink and ceiling........everything else can be done while I living there

[Devourment]

do you count kick backs as part of your monthly salary?

If so, i'm paid more than the average Norwegian.

[sensiman]

WDMC! 325% World average

[acesinghit]

kia cerato - $180k
some random middle class small house - $1M

monthly installments to facilitate house and new car = $10k approx.
groceries for married couple with no kids = $3k
utilities = 1k
gas = 1k
insurance/pensions = 2k
car insurance/maintenance = 1k
nis and hs, group medical/pension = 1k
PAYE = varies (monthly combined figure on avg for people making 5k and over) = 3k minimum

Recommended total joint income = $22k
do you pay 10% tithes then the recommended figure is now $24k minimum.

Let us now figure out how much of us actually make 24k a month. (joint income). I still feel more than 50% of T&T makes less than 20k a month. Having said all that combined with a lot of general sense you guys made in your contributions thus far, it seems its either you buy a new car and live with mom/dad/in-laws or buy a run down match box house for a disgusting $1M dollars and drive a B13.

You can stay in the 'north' (typically north west) and dream to find a good house for $1M. or you can head to rio claro, cedros, fyzabad, biche, carlsen field etc...to buy said house and enjoy your 4hr total commute to and from pos on a daily basis with said b13.

Or you can simply build your 'home' next to a river, or on a hill so that it could get wash away and you can come on the news to beg for a free HDC house because the govt cause the rain to fall and house to slip. You may also consider, having kids with your gf, come on national television to say yuh need ah place to live and get a free HDC house in oropune because yuh dunno what d govt doing for poor ppl.

[nemesis]

The world average probably got pulled down a bit by some of the poorer countries. Also have to consider that the survey basically left out all the rich people (because most are self employed), but kept all the minimum wage workers. Makes little sense to check especially since I live in only one country that isn't even on the list.
Curious to see what Trinidad would have been though. And unlike some of you I do think the average two income home will be making that 22k specified above.

About the housing in Trinidad. It is hard, it takes a long time to find what you're looking for and even it feels even worse if while this is happening you have a long commute. Patience works though.
Can use the MGMan approach or you can have the better car to go to work and take a year longer to find the right place.. all up to individual preference.

[Stephon.]

"Who want to drive a car with no rare disk brakes though, and we could get a loan for a car with more features?"

Edit: I do think that a home with a married couple without kids make less than 22 grand at average in Trinidad though.

[nemesis]

When you start looking at housing prices and realize that so many are still getting sold it will make you question your views on how much people make on average. Besides, banks and the real estate market would not be able to stay in business and keep prices high if people weren't affording it. And we know that people aren't giving up housing for cars because both are being sold with continuously increasing prices locally.
There must be some other reason for trinidad not being on that list because we have to be over the $227USD/mth at the bottom of that list. Hence the reason I'm really curious to know what it actually is here.

[Dizzy28]

When you start looking at housing prices and realize that so many are still getting sold it will make you question your views on how much people make on average. Besides, banks and the real estate market would not be able to stay in business and keep prices high if people weren't affording it. And we know that people aren't giving up housing for cars because both are being sold with continuously increasing prices locally.
There must be some other reason for trinidad not being on that list because we have to be over the $227USD/mth at the bottom of that list. Hence the reason I'm really curious to know what it actually is here.

How do you know many houses are being sold? Cars we know for sure because of number plates. Are you into conveyancing to know plenty houses being sold?
The commissions on houses means agents don't need to sell that much (maybe one or two a month or so) to make a living.
At the height of the boom I was a Mortgage Officer at one of the local banks and even back then the number of homeowner mortgages was not that great.