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| Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels |
Welcome back to July's UBC. This month I'm going to be talking about cultural differences between Switzerland and the USA.
Today we're talking about Housing.
Several significant differences emerge in terms of ownership ratios, mobility, population density, and housing policies.
The home ownership rate in the US is 65%, compared to Switzerland, where we are around 40%. Apparently we have one of the lowest in Europe. I think this is due to the fact that A there is little buildable land, and B the quality of the rental apartments is high.
On average, an American moves about 11-12 times in their lifetime. Possible factors are job changes, lifestyle preferences, and housing affordability.
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| Photo by Nick Adams:on Pexels |
I used to play on online game where you had to try and get out of your trailer home. I made my way up to apartment, town house, condo, single-family home, luxury home, mansion and estate. I think I stopped playing while living in a penthouse, The last achievement, the historical / landmark home, was to hard to reach and didn't even feel worth the pain ;-)
I feel like this could be a true journey for some lucky Americans. The Swiss don't even know that many levels in real life ;-)
Starting with the fact that the only people who live in mobile homes are transients from Romania. We have apartment blocks with different levels of quality standards, We typically have townhouses, semi-detached houses and detached houses of different sizes, ages (think several 100 years old) and locations. And then there are some really great villas with lake views and the like.
Swiss residents move considerably less frequently compared to Americans. The main factor is a really, really attractive job offer. The average Swiss does like to stay where they grew up. It's what they know, and it's where their family and friends are. Even if as a young person you move away to study or work, you may very well find yourself moving back to your home town when a baby is on the way. Childcare is super expensive, and school schedules pretty ridiculous, so if you have parents or in-laws volunteering to babysit, you want to live in the vicinity.
Personally I moved six times, which I believe makes me an above average mover in Switzerland ;-)
Whatever the Swiss building you live in - chances are there's no A/C. I know! I complain to hubby about it every sticky sweaty summer, especially considering the servers at our office get to sit in an air-conditioned room because otherwise they'll just shut down and stop working. What about me, I shut down, too!?
Swiss leases are often indefinite, providing more stability compared to the more common fixed-term (one-year) or month-to-month leases in the US. Both countries have regulated procedures when it comes to rent and eviction protection, but Switzerland has stricter controls and tenant protections.
In Switzerland, there are actually only two reasons to terminate a tenant's contract: You have to empty the house in order to carry out extensive renovations. These naturally increase the rent, which typically makes it impossible for the existing tenants to continue living there. Or you can claim personal use. It is rare for unruly tenants to be thrown out on the street. In my opinion, they are given disproportionate protection, even though they make life difficult for other tenants with their noise, smell and general chaos.
A friend once rented an apartment to a family that offered the whole nine yards when it comes to be the tenant nobody wants to house. It took ages to get rid of them. When they finally, finally left, he found out the full extent of what the family had done. Walls defaced, household appliances vandalized, drains blocked, rotting garbage strewn everywhere, and the stench of smoke was unbearable. Because the tenant was a social case with no liquid assets, personal liability insurance or buildings insurance, my friend was stuck with all the renovation costs and the lost rent installments.
Speaking of appliances, in apartment buildings that are older than let's say 30 - 40 years, it is common to have a shared laundry room in the basement. This is often the cause of disputes between neighbors. On the one hand because the washing schedule is not adhered to, on the other hand, the parties have different views on cleanliness. Often there will be passive-aggressive notes to let you know what you did wrong. The stories I could tell you... ;-)
Despite all the differences between the two countries, we seem to have one thing in common when buying a house: a 20% deposit is required. The question is just: 20% of how much?
Do you own or rent? How many times have you moved homes in your life?
The terms of lease definitely seem much better in Switzerland. When it comes to a shared laundry room, I've had a neighbor throw my laundry basket across the room and opened and closed the dryer door so while the time ran out (I used my phone's timer so I know when my things are done and I'm not rude by leaving my stuff in the machines for far longer than necessary), my clothes were completely wet. I pulled everything out and went to a public laundromat. My crime as to why he did that? I put his dry clothes on the table because when my wash was done, I wanted to dry my clothes. He left his stuff in the dryer for far too long. On The Table. Pffft
ReplyDeleteI moved many times when I was younger, mainly due to transferring for jobs and schooling. My husband and I built our house in 2001-and couldn't move in. Our closing was the day after 911, and everything stopped. So we were living out of our trunk of our cars, with everything else in storage for 3 weeks. Now we own multiple rental houses. But we vet our tennants, do background checks, and check work history, before signing a lease with them. My husband also mows the lawns, and this way he can keep track of problems before they get too big. But we have had excellent tennants for almost 20 years now. We kept buying, but never sold any until now. We put the first one on the market July 1. Affordable housing here in the USA is getting harder and harder to find. I am so thankful we are on the landlord side!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed the cultural differences from Swiss to US Tamara. Gosh if Americans are to move 11 - 12 times, I better get moving, so far I've only moved 3 times! I grew up in Charlton, a small farming town in upstate New York, got married and we bought a 2 family home a few cities over. Within 3 years we bought the original house I grew up in from my parents when they were getting ready to retire. We loved the area, the house and everything about it and never thought about or planned to move. But Alzheimer's hit mom so we packed up and moved to South Carolina to help my dad care for her. So I guess I have to move 8 or 9 more times? I'm thinking one might be my limit. LOL
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