@Joannie et al
Eons ago we/I moved from a European city where owning your flat, (very rarely a house in a metropolis) was a rare thing.
Many schemes evolved to get people to save and buy 'their own' - much of it based on socialist ideas. So communal savings and buying strategies, sometimes even building from scratch got people into buying a large block of land on which were built up to 50 single homes, usually generous homes with 3 bedrooms (upstairs) and a small and private back garden. They were mostly built to a great standard, architect-designed homes for which you then - for life - still paid 'rent' which was used to pay off the communal mortgage, plus periodic repair, plus you paid the usual gas, water electricity - your family 'owned' that house. When you died and you had a living son or daughter, they could take over your contract, if not, it became available again on the free market. I don't know what that price would be at that stage.
I have a friend over in Europe who still lives in such a home, which also had a generous communal swimming pool; - both their children have built their own houses.
I am not sure how modern schemes work, but this private buying into a communal project seems to be still going on. The cheaper older rental flats usually carry an unofficial 'spotters' price, which can be quite high - and is paid to the renter who is 'selling' the right to rent this particular home. Rents are under some government control - on the older apartments are usually fixed.
A lot of the newcomers (migrants from Turkey, Syria etc) live in the 1920s-built (by a socialist government) Gemeindehäuser = Community Apartment houses which are dotted throughout all the districts of Vienna - similar schemes exist in many European cities. That kind of housing is fairly basic but good - families spend lifetimes in them,. The older ones had big back yards for the children, the newer ones have enclosed playgrounds nearby.
When we came to Australia in the 1960s, Sydney was an expensive rental market, but not impossible like it is now.
We rented the lower level of a 2-story family home - there was another family living above us - in Glebe. All it was was a large living room with a kitchen, but toilet and laundry (with a copper) in the backyard, no bathroom. This was in an inner Sydney suburb - Glebe, which is now much in demand and those houses have been smartened up, blocks even more subdivided.
Due to various ill-conceived 'business ventures' of hubby we were always short of money and always rented, by the late 1960s house prices were already close or over 1 mill in Sydney. We eventually moved to a country town in Western Australia. We were a family of 5 then.
In WA we bought a condemned house (for $7000! and the owner was also the lender, he was happy to get some money for a home which was 'condemned' so an illegal deal). The home leaked almost everywhere, at one stage even from the roof, when hubby accidentally stepped on the living room ceiling whilst doing some repair - so we spent one winter with a tarpaulin draped over the roof. . . .
it had an an outdoor laundry an indoor toilet but access was via a dangerously slanted corridor because the foundations were faulty - and it was a fiber cottage with interior wattle-and-daub walls. So no asbestos, but similar material on the outside. My two younger children shared a small bedroom, big girl had to sleep in a small space, just big enough for a bed, between kitchen and back area - eventually hubby built her a room onto the renovated back area.
Hubby literally re-built this house and it still has a very happy family living there. We sold it for $30 000 - he also did up another home on which we made a good profit - and he had a day-job as well - and we also managed to have friends and fun.
Eventually we had $50 000 cash when we had to move to Perth - and hubby was at it again - he bought a disused salvation army citadel on large grounds - about 1800m2 - he renovated the Citadel and we lived there whilst building was going on for 4 years - and subdivided the block - and were debt-free all the time.
I did sell the Citadel 12 years after hubby died from a heart attack and moved into my 'now' home, which will also give me a handsome profit, because it is on a large block and it is sub-divisible.
I have posted this story with some hesitation, but maybe some inspiration can be gained from it.
In our case: it was a hard slog by everyone concerned - I would do things slightly differently now, would use things like mortgages, loans in a judicious way, but I - then - was totally allergic to being in debt and doubt whether we would have qualified for the size of loan necessary now to get a home.
Debt, judiciously applied, is the engine of capitalism and can be your saviour too.
I, now, have to be mindful of how much I spend etc. - have wasted money on various ventures which may or may not come off - but do have a strategy now - it is amazing how good planning and economizing can change your life!!
Go well
Think before you buy and get some work-men's skills!
Taurisk
