TonyEE, you should'nt make comments about other places you have zero knowledge of.
Your comments about the Iberian peninsular are ignorant of the facts, ditto Italy - the only seismic activity is in the south not the north otherwise the leaning tower of Pisa would have collapsed centuries ago. Ditto Oz, if you knew anything bout Oz you would not have made some really silly uninformed comments - kodabmx explained it very well.
Your assumption that a flimsy wooden constructed house in California will withstand an earthquake is completely wrong, it will collapse very fast but you may well survive unlike someone living in a traditional stone built house.
One thing that the Japanese and Turks realised is that raft foundations are the key to constructing houses to withstand earthquakes but obviously you nothing about these construction techniques or materials since they are not practised/used in the USA.
Naresh, for someone who should have good understanding of English you keep misreading my posts. Nowhere have I said I don't like living in France. I suggest you take a course in English to improve your understanding. I have a good working (not theory) knowledge of construction in European countries and beyond. A friend who lived in Thailand for many years enlightened me on some very interesting aspects of traditional Thai construction. The traditionally built bungalows of many parts of India are a classic in well thought out and implemented ideas directly related to the climate in their locations.
kodabmx - you are speaking for a lot of people in a lot of countries, whereas there are quite a few posters on this thread who are throwing around substantial figures re. property and they do not represent the majority of the people in their countries. However I must mention that the exterior temperature is not relevant to the internal temperature of a house, it's all about the thermal properties of the external walls and how you reinstate the U value with windows at night in the winter months.
The Arabs brought a lot of their ideas from their original homelands to the Iberian peninsular. These houses were nearly always round, had no windows in the external walls and often had a false aireated wall to keep direct sunlight off the inner wall, whilst at the same time lowering the temperature of this 'real' external wall. All windows opened onto the interior courtyard. They tended to be at least three floors and on the ground floor, plants and water were a standard feature. By this construction the interior was shaded which dropped the temperature and raised the humidity, only the top floor attracted heat and the roof would nearly always be flat so that in the evening they would enjoy cooling breezes. They were internally very quiet and very safe since there would only be one entrance point, they command high prices these days. Wind can quickly erode sharp corners, hence round walls.
I live in a lovely quiet area, with great neighbours, no alcohol or smack junkies roaming around, an international airport 40 minutes away by car with good train and bus services. The GR36 is 5 minutes away, France has literally thousands and thousands of K of these walking,cycling,riding Randonnees. Sadly my wife can no longer take advantage of these pathways across France but when I get the stent in my femoral artery on Wednesday I shall be able enjoy the pleasure of walking there once again with my remaining dog, can't wait.
Once the house is built, a small camping car so that we can spend 3 summer months up in the mountains. The Celtaech beginning place was the foothills of the Himalayas, always loved mountains, clean air, negative ions, probably why I could never have stayed in the Netherlands.
Your comments about the Iberian peninsular are ignorant of the facts, ditto Italy - the only seismic activity is in the south not the north otherwise the leaning tower of Pisa would have collapsed centuries ago. Ditto Oz, if you knew anything bout Oz you would not have made some really silly uninformed comments - kodabmx explained it very well.
Your assumption that a flimsy wooden constructed house in California will withstand an earthquake is completely wrong, it will collapse very fast but you may well survive unlike someone living in a traditional stone built house.
One thing that the Japanese and Turks realised is that raft foundations are the key to constructing houses to withstand earthquakes but obviously you nothing about these construction techniques or materials since they are not practised/used in the USA.
Naresh, for someone who should have good understanding of English you keep misreading my posts. Nowhere have I said I don't like living in France. I suggest you take a course in English to improve your understanding. I have a good working (not theory) knowledge of construction in European countries and beyond. A friend who lived in Thailand for many years enlightened me on some very interesting aspects of traditional Thai construction. The traditionally built bungalows of many parts of India are a classic in well thought out and implemented ideas directly related to the climate in their locations.
kodabmx - you are speaking for a lot of people in a lot of countries, whereas there are quite a few posters on this thread who are throwing around substantial figures re. property and they do not represent the majority of the people in their countries. However I must mention that the exterior temperature is not relevant to the internal temperature of a house, it's all about the thermal properties of the external walls and how you reinstate the U value with windows at night in the winter months.
The Arabs brought a lot of their ideas from their original homelands to the Iberian peninsular. These houses were nearly always round, had no windows in the external walls and often had a false aireated wall to keep direct sunlight off the inner wall, whilst at the same time lowering the temperature of this 'real' external wall. All windows opened onto the interior courtyard. They tended to be at least three floors and on the ground floor, plants and water were a standard feature. By this construction the interior was shaded which dropped the temperature and raised the humidity, only the top floor attracted heat and the roof would nearly always be flat so that in the evening they would enjoy cooling breezes. They were internally very quiet and very safe since there would only be one entrance point, they command high prices these days. Wind can quickly erode sharp corners, hence round walls.
I live in a lovely quiet area, with great neighbours, no alcohol or smack junkies roaming around, an international airport 40 minutes away by car with good train and bus services. The GR36 is 5 minutes away, France has literally thousands and thousands of K of these walking,cycling,riding Randonnees. Sadly my wife can no longer take advantage of these pathways across France but when I get the stent in my femoral artery on Wednesday I shall be able enjoy the pleasure of walking there once again with my remaining dog, can't wait.
Once the house is built, a small camping car so that we can spend 3 summer months up in the mountains. The Celtaech beginning place was the foothills of the Himalayas, always loved mountains, clean air, negative ions, probably why I could never have stayed in the Netherlands.
Ok. That's fair. But I don't recal "Arabs" having snow... Just saying.
For the record, I drink l'alcool and I smoke "pot". Both are legal here, too.
I also cycle, but I don't have a wife. I'm sorry your wife can no longer enjoy said pathways, and I wish you the best in getting a stent successfully.
Your new abode can't compare to the box in the sky I live in here in Toronto. I mean my box in the sky is crap compared to any mountain dwelling. My opinion only.
For the record, I drink l'alcool and I smoke "pot". Both are legal here, too.
I also cycle, but I don't have a wife. I'm sorry your wife can no longer enjoy said pathways, and I wish you the best in getting a stent successfully.
Your new abode can't compare to the box in the sky I live in here in Toronto. I mean my box in the sky is crap compared to any mountain dwelling. My opinion only.
Dude... you are so way off....
I was born and raised in the Old Country... got lots of family there. Travelled through Europe and Japan too ( yep... got family there too... you gaijin! ).
Lived in the West for eons... have survived many quakes, we rebuilt our house, from the ground up, and added even more seismic reinforcement ( specifically strong shear walls along the backbone(s) of the house ).
Seriously man... the first quake that hit our house, was in '87.. we had just bought it... I was naked, taking a crap in the back bathroom, reading Car And Driver when it hit, so my wife and I walked out to the yard. I was naked... Anyhow, I recall that was a shallow 5.9 in Whittier. Since, our home has survived quite a few... and I have friends, old coworkers that lived at the epicenter of the Ridgecrest and Northridge quakes. Those were big quakes. We felt them quite strongly even here, about 100 and 70 miles away!
Note: We live in a hill made from clay... so we get the shaking, not the rolling. Even so, we've had a couple of rollers... wow... the house groans through those.
Around here, NOBODY builds high mass homes. You see.. in a quake you don't want mass, you want light weight and shear strength. Mass takes up momentum and energy and it becomes hard to stop it, so things will break. Light weight strength, with some build in flexibility, can handle the shaking motion of a quake without absorbing energy kinetic energy. The trick, you see is to make sure the structure is sufficiently strong that it will not deform past some pre defined limits. A little bit of designed in deformation is OK (desirable actually) at specific, and pre planned, points of the structure.
You also want to keep the center of gravity of the home close to the ground, where it is attached to a very strong concrete slab. The ideal house in a quake zone would be built with aluminum trusses, but that is very expensive. So, instead we use wood framing, with sheer walls and bolting to a multi part foundation. No basements, no crawl spaces. Our masonry is very light, typically just a thin veneer and we use stucco because it is strong, cheap and easy to patch when it cracks. Well designed wood framing will shake but will NOT lose is shape, see? The roof materials are lightweight and, yes, fireproof.
But, what do I know? I LIVE IN EARTHQUAKE COUNTRY.... and I know nothing about my ancestral homelands....
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My wife and I spend 2 to 4 weeks in France very year, sometimes more, sometimes less. Years ago we were going to buy a place in the northwest, but the logistics of grand-kids brought that to an end. Instead, we will take them with us next year.
One place we saw in the Dordogne had a permit to harvest plums and distill liqueur (aquavit) ... also had a tennis court and pool! Too rich for my blood, but I coulda stayed there for the rest of my mortal existence...
One place we saw in the Dordogne had a permit to harvest plums and distill liqueur (aquavit) ... also had a tennis court and pool! Too rich for my blood, but I coulda stayed there for the rest of my mortal existence...
You would be surprised
Morocco:
Algeria:
Saudi Arabia!!!!
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13771494/sahara-desert-snow-saudi-arabia-weather/
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That snow in Saudi was at that time a freak incident.
As for myself, my great grandfather was a Graduate Civil Engineer, 1912.
He passed away in 1981, aged 93.
He was in charge of the building of the Sukkur Barrage across the Indus river in Sindh State, that area is now in Pakistan.
My father also, same qualification, 1959.
I am a Graduate Mechanical Engineer, 1990.
I have built apartments and commercial buildings in Hyderabad, and also my house and factory in Baroda.
Occasionally, I am asked to answer questions like finding lead sheets for a Cyclotron (I took 10 seconds to answer that).
That is part of a 500,000 square foot hospital project, the architect / building contractor is an old friend.
In the course of my father's career, we lived and holidayed in different parts of the country.
His work was the design, construction and operation of cross country crude and product pipelines, he retired in 1993.
I am fairly observant, and I appreciate old and new construction techniques and materials.
For example, in airports and railway stations I will always see the roof truss design, and if the architect was stupid enough to allow pigeons to nest (happens if you have British and Japanese architects, they know little of local conditions).
And in my old Oxford atlas, water is always part of a city, and in the evolution of humans from nomadic to settled life (in villages, which grew to cities), water source location was important.
Think of ancient cities like Rome and London, how far are the rivers?
How will you eat without water?
So is access to transit routes like rivers, roads and later railways.
So if I see nonsense from a querulous old person, I can call it out.
As for myself, my great grandfather was a Graduate Civil Engineer, 1912.
He passed away in 1981, aged 93.
He was in charge of the building of the Sukkur Barrage across the Indus river in Sindh State, that area is now in Pakistan.
My father also, same qualification, 1959.
I am a Graduate Mechanical Engineer, 1990.
I have built apartments and commercial buildings in Hyderabad, and also my house and factory in Baroda.
Occasionally, I am asked to answer questions like finding lead sheets for a Cyclotron (I took 10 seconds to answer that).
That is part of a 500,000 square foot hospital project, the architect / building contractor is an old friend.
In the course of my father's career, we lived and holidayed in different parts of the country.
His work was the design, construction and operation of cross country crude and product pipelines, he retired in 1993.
I am fairly observant, and I appreciate old and new construction techniques and materials.
For example, in airports and railway stations I will always see the roof truss design, and if the architect was stupid enough to allow pigeons to nest (happens if you have British and Japanese architects, they know little of local conditions).
And in my old Oxford atlas, water is always part of a city, and in the evolution of humans from nomadic to settled life (in villages, which grew to cities), water source location was important.
Think of ancient cities like Rome and London, how far are the rivers?
How will you eat without water?
So is access to transit routes like rivers, roads and later railways.
So if I see nonsense from a querulous old person, I can call it out.
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Oh, and one more thing...for Black Stuart, and later visitors...
Most of the others seem to be informed, this is for somebody who might see this in the future...
Peninsular India mostly is part of the Deccan Plateau.
Bangalore is at like 3000 feet altitude.
Hyderabad is at 1800 feet or so on the average.
Coimbatore, Mysore and Pune are also kind of unlikely to be affected by global warming deluges.
Please do look at the topographic maps before making statements that show how ignorant you are.
And stop using central heating, and Class A to slow down global warming if you feel strongly about it.
Air travel and freight too.
Most of the others seem to be informed, this is for somebody who might see this in the future...
Peninsular India mostly is part of the Deccan Plateau.
Bangalore is at like 3000 feet altitude.
Hyderabad is at 1800 feet or so on the average.
Coimbatore, Mysore and Pune are also kind of unlikely to be affected by global warming deluges.
Please do look at the topographic maps before making statements that show how ignorant you are.
And stop using central heating, and Class A to slow down global warming if you feel strongly about it.
Air travel and freight too.
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TonyEE - you still didn't prep up on aercrete - it's low mass, raft foundations allow a house to shimmy on it's foundations. You got it wrong with the Spanish Med coast and Italy, never mind.
Naresh I don't know what your using but neither post bare any resemblance to the topics in hand. Attempting to big yourself up with qualifications doesn't do it.
Central hearing - LOL you really didn't read my posts and I stopped using class A years ago. You do seem to be very confused about everything.
You should be making the importance of rivers to TonyEE not me, he hasn't got a clue about Oz and why most Aussies live close to the coast - do try to stay focussed. What is it with all the info on high ground, why havn't you offered commiseration to all the dead in Bangladesh and Assam and it would be good if you can offer a solution to what is going to happen when rising sea levels make life impossible in Bangladesh and Assam, combined population NOW of over 350 million.
jackinnj - Dordogne - nice like a lot of that part of western France but very humid, so not good if you have Rheumatism or ostioporosis and goes dead in winter when all the second homers return to Paris or northern countries. Also lots of big woods and forests there and this year could be when climate change hits hard in France with lots of forest fires. Portugal was a couple of years ago, it could well be France's turn this year. I remember well seeing all the burnt out forests behind Valencia in 2007. Lots of Americans live in France, if your outward going and like meeting people then France is a great place to live. Most of France is going to have water restrictions, the ground where I live is really dry, last year the blackberries were quite small, I reckon this year there will be nothing. I pick them where no nasty chemicals have ever been used. I go picking ceps with my friend Jean-Luc last year was hard, this year maybe nothing.
Cycle camped over much of France in the 80s, really hacked off that I didn't use the GRs but cycling or walking is the way to really see and get to know a country. When I lived up the road in the Aveyron met a Japanese guy, a long distance walker. He was walking from Boulogne to Barcelona, a nice walk.
Germany had tornadoes yesterday, saw lots of roofs lost their tiles or slates but the roofs stayed intact, quality construction. The terrible devastation last year in Germany should convince all governments to ban construction near rivers. All those locations had hills, that's where you build, yes it costs more to create the foundations but you don't get the houses literally washed away.
My final comment on this thread is - if you don't research really well on what makes the best construction and materials, if you don't check the sub strata on which the house is built or will be built (think sink holes, old mine shafts etc) if you don't check the flood and fire risk, you've only got yourself to blame for making a bad and possibly your most expensive investment - caveat emptor.
Naresh I don't know what your using but neither post bare any resemblance to the topics in hand. Attempting to big yourself up with qualifications doesn't do it.
Central hearing - LOL you really didn't read my posts and I stopped using class A years ago. You do seem to be very confused about everything.
You should be making the importance of rivers to TonyEE not me, he hasn't got a clue about Oz and why most Aussies live close to the coast - do try to stay focussed. What is it with all the info on high ground, why havn't you offered commiseration to all the dead in Bangladesh and Assam and it would be good if you can offer a solution to what is going to happen when rising sea levels make life impossible in Bangladesh and Assam, combined population NOW of over 350 million.
jackinnj - Dordogne - nice like a lot of that part of western France but very humid, so not good if you have Rheumatism or ostioporosis and goes dead in winter when all the second homers return to Paris or northern countries. Also lots of big woods and forests there and this year could be when climate change hits hard in France with lots of forest fires. Portugal was a couple of years ago, it could well be France's turn this year. I remember well seeing all the burnt out forests behind Valencia in 2007. Lots of Americans live in France, if your outward going and like meeting people then France is a great place to live. Most of France is going to have water restrictions, the ground where I live is really dry, last year the blackberries were quite small, I reckon this year there will be nothing. I pick them where no nasty chemicals have ever been used. I go picking ceps with my friend Jean-Luc last year was hard, this year maybe nothing.
Cycle camped over much of France in the 80s, really hacked off that I didn't use the GRs but cycling or walking is the way to really see and get to know a country. When I lived up the road in the Aveyron met a Japanese guy, a long distance walker. He was walking from Boulogne to Barcelona, a nice walk.
Germany had tornadoes yesterday, saw lots of roofs lost their tiles or slates but the roofs stayed intact, quality construction. The terrible devastation last year in Germany should convince all governments to ban construction near rivers. All those locations had hills, that's where you build, yes it costs more to create the foundations but you don't get the houses literally washed away.
My final comment on this thread is - if you don't research really well on what makes the best construction and materials, if you don't check the sub strata on which the house is built or will be built (think sink holes, old mine shafts etc) if you don't check the flood and fire risk, you've only got yourself to blame for making a bad and possibly your most expensive investment - caveat emptor.
Show me a residential building of at least 100,000 sq. feet, or a commercial one of 1,000,000 square feet in a Seismic Zone 5 location, using non aggregate aercrete or foamcrete foundation...then I will look at it.
Until then, I am very skeptical.
Bangladesh is a different country, any comments about them may take a political hue.
Assam is 80 to 174 meters above sea level, so a little above the deluges predicted due to global warming.
https://www.thoughtco.com/seismic-hazard-maps-of-the-world-1441205
"Northern Europe is largely free of major earthquake zones, except for a region around western Iceland known also for its volcanic activity. The risk of seismic activity increases as you move southeast toward Turkey and along portions of the Mediterranean coast.
In both instances, the quakes are caused by the African continental plate pushing upward into the Eurasian plate beneath the Adriatic Sea. The Portuguese capital of Lisbon was practically leveled in 1755 by a magnitude 8.7 quake, one of the strongest ever recorded. Central Italy and western Turkey are also epicenters of quake activity."
Silence is Golden...
I have many engineers in my family, and for us it is our heritage.
But you did not mention your work beyond stating experience.
Design and build a complete 1200 km crude oil system from sea tanker unloading, across desert, clay, loam, black cotton soil, to delivery at two refineries.
River and canal crossings, under the stream or attached to bridges.
Tank farms, pump stations, cathodic protection and communications, SCADA, microwave, HF, VHF communications.
Housing, and schools.
And so on...
Commissioned 1980, the Salaya Mathura Pipeline now feeds three oil refineries.
That was just part of my father's work as part of the team at Indian Oil Corporation.
Until then, I am very skeptical.
Bangladesh is a different country, any comments about them may take a political hue.
Assam is 80 to 174 meters above sea level, so a little above the deluges predicted due to global warming.
https://www.thoughtco.com/seismic-hazard-maps-of-the-world-1441205
"Northern Europe is largely free of major earthquake zones, except for a region around western Iceland known also for its volcanic activity. The risk of seismic activity increases as you move southeast toward Turkey and along portions of the Mediterranean coast.
In both instances, the quakes are caused by the African continental plate pushing upward into the Eurasian plate beneath the Adriatic Sea. The Portuguese capital of Lisbon was practically leveled in 1755 by a magnitude 8.7 quake, one of the strongest ever recorded. Central Italy and western Turkey are also epicenters of quake activity."
Silence is Golden...
I have many engineers in my family, and for us it is our heritage.
But you did not mention your work beyond stating experience.
Design and build a complete 1200 km crude oil system from sea tanker unloading, across desert, clay, loam, black cotton soil, to delivery at two refineries.
River and canal crossings, under the stream or attached to bridges.
Tank farms, pump stations, cathodic protection and communications, SCADA, microwave, HF, VHF communications.
Housing, and schools.
And so on...
Commissioned 1980, the Salaya Mathura Pipeline now feeds three oil refineries.
That was just part of my father's work as part of the team at Indian Oil Corporation.
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Thanks, I could say much more about the family, but it is not relevant here.
What made me do the detailed posting was the rant from somebody who has little if any design experience.
In any case, I am a firm believer in buying and using local as far as possible, and the ancient building techniques used in earthquake zones must be observed and preserved for posterity.
Unfortunately, in North America, the local native population and their culture was not properly studied, and I do not know if they built any permanent buildings in seismic activity prone zones.
But in Mexico, down to Peru and Chile, some of the techniques might have been studied.
In New Zealand, and other places, also the techniques may be available in some sort of record.
As also in other seismically active areas in the world.
Oh, well...
What made me do the detailed posting was the rant from somebody who has little if any design experience.
In any case, I am a firm believer in buying and using local as far as possible, and the ancient building techniques used in earthquake zones must be observed and preserved for posterity.
Unfortunately, in North America, the local native population and their culture was not properly studied, and I do not know if they built any permanent buildings in seismic activity prone zones.
But in Mexico, down to Peru and Chile, some of the techniques might have been studied.
In New Zealand, and other places, also the techniques may be available in some sort of record.
As also in other seismically active areas in the world.
Oh, well...
We had an old member of the family, and in his dotage would insist on suggesting Norfloxacin for stomach upset, even though the later Ofloxacin was much more suitable and safer.
Simply because it had worked for him.
We avoided him, and he would try to attract our attention by saying things he should not have.
Happens in old age, stay active, stay alert and prepared.
Simply because it had worked for him.
We avoided him, and he would try to attract our attention by saying things he should not have.
Happens in old age, stay active, stay alert and prepared.
Back to reality, we are seeing some recovery in prices, but more or less double in 5-10 years, unless the investor was canny and knew a major development would make the location very attractive.
But 15% per month is hard to believe, only thing that comes to mind is bank scam. Or something bordering on fraud.
If possible, please give the lending rates for home loans, 10 and 15 year periods, in your country, and down payment required.
Here it is about 7% reducing (not flat), lender mortgages property, 10 to 30% down payment required, for 10 to 15 year tenure.
The scam occurs when the property is over valued, and the owner diverts the extra money to speculative places like the stock market.
The interest rate on overdraft bank facility can be up to 18% here, so there is a 10% or so difference in cost of money to the speculator.
Some get away with it, some lose their houses...
But 15% per month is hard to believe, only thing that comes to mind is bank scam. Or something bordering on fraud.
If possible, please give the lending rates for home loans, 10 and 15 year periods, in your country, and down payment required.
Here it is about 7% reducing (not flat), lender mortgages property, 10 to 30% down payment required, for 10 to 15 year tenure.
The scam occurs when the property is over valued, and the owner diverts the extra money to speculative places like the stock market.
The interest rate on overdraft bank facility can be up to 18% here, so there is a 10% or so difference in cost of money to the speculator.
Some get away with it, some lose their houses...
Dear Naresh, I suggest:
1) do not beat a dead horse (construction techniques, seismic activity, etc.), nothing new is being added, just repeating old posts over and over.
2) in the old days, Mortgages were useful for common people to become owners: market and jobs were stable, interest rates very reasonable, housing prices too, so a regular salaried guy who makes up the bulk of Society could buy a property in 30 years, monthly payment was comparable to renting with the advantage that after those 30 years he kept the house as owner.
Even renting was "affordable", both cases taking a part of his salary but leaving a surplus for normal life.
I had family and Friends who rented forever, no big deal, others had money for the initial payment an then payed monthly to a Bank, "Bank rate" meant a very affordable loan, etc.
Not sure how, won´t get into Politics, but all that disappeared.
Literally the rug was pulled from under our feet.
All I can say is that "playing the stock market", in my view, is Vegas/horse_racing/Poker betting, a dangerous game but hey, nobody forces you to play, it´s a personal choice.
Now everybody needs a roof over his head, so housing market should be FULLY separated from anything else and blocked/forbidden away from speculation.
1) do not beat a dead horse (construction techniques, seismic activity, etc.), nothing new is being added, just repeating old posts over and over.
2) in the old days, Mortgages were useful for common people to become owners: market and jobs were stable, interest rates very reasonable, housing prices too, so a regular salaried guy who makes up the bulk of Society could buy a property in 30 years, monthly payment was comparable to renting with the advantage that after those 30 years he kept the house as owner.
Even renting was "affordable", both cases taking a part of his salary but leaving a surplus for normal life.
I had family and Friends who rented forever, no big deal, others had money for the initial payment an then payed monthly to a Bank, "Bank rate" meant a very affordable loan, etc.
Not sure how, won´t get into Politics, but all that disappeared.
Literally the rug was pulled from under our feet.
All I can say is that "playing the stock market", in my view, is Vegas/horse_racing/Poker betting, a dangerous game but hey, nobody forces you to play, it´s a personal choice.
Now everybody needs a roof over his head, so housing market should be FULLY separated from anything else and blocked/forbidden away from speculation.
Yes, thanks for the suggestions.
I will bear them in mind.
In Argentina, you have had sudden periods of hyper inflation, but leaving that aside, I really wanted to compare the borrowing cost for a home loan in different countries.
Here 30 year loans are not very common, and some people get their cash flow adjusted so that they end up with more than one property at retirement, which are then used as they desire.
But my main response was one of skepticism, why are prices going up all across the country, who is involved in this?
And why so much, why the decision to buy at short notice? At whatever price asked, no negotiation?
Here it is normal to bargain, and the builders have been known to give fantastic discounts, particularly if their cash flows are bad.
Think 6.8 down to 5.9 million Rupees, in about 15 minutes!
Part of the reason may be backlog, also as data links and speeds improved, people got used to working from home.
Now they don't want to come back, and so less housing is needed near their place of work.
Here in Hyderabad, many employees of the software companies went back to their home towns, vacating their rented places, now the companies are being asked for shifting expenses, and some are being told to provide housing.
And some are deciding to change jobs, countries, buy their place, whatever.
But that is happening in a small part of the country, not everywhere.
The number of house occupants is not so large to upset the market, which is what seems to be happening.
So I feel a bubble is growing, I may be wrong.
I live 900 km away from Hyderabad, but I have cousins there, and I know the city quite well. So I stay up to date with the events there.
I will bear them in mind.
In Argentina, you have had sudden periods of hyper inflation, but leaving that aside, I really wanted to compare the borrowing cost for a home loan in different countries.
Here 30 year loans are not very common, and some people get their cash flow adjusted so that they end up with more than one property at retirement, which are then used as they desire.
But my main response was one of skepticism, why are prices going up all across the country, who is involved in this?
And why so much, why the decision to buy at short notice? At whatever price asked, no negotiation?
Here it is normal to bargain, and the builders have been known to give fantastic discounts, particularly if their cash flows are bad.
Think 6.8 down to 5.9 million Rupees, in about 15 minutes!
Part of the reason may be backlog, also as data links and speeds improved, people got used to working from home.
Now they don't want to come back, and so less housing is needed near their place of work.
Here in Hyderabad, many employees of the software companies went back to their home towns, vacating their rented places, now the companies are being asked for shifting expenses, and some are being told to provide housing.
And some are deciding to change jobs, countries, buy their place, whatever.
But that is happening in a small part of the country, not everywhere.
The number of house occupants is not so large to upset the market, which is what seems to be happening.
So I feel a bubble is growing, I may be wrong.
I live 900 km away from Hyderabad, but I have cousins there, and I know the city quite well. So I stay up to date with the events there.
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Hard to do in SoCal unless you want to live under a hut made out of thatched reeds we don't really follow ancient building techniques... literally... It's warm and dry enough that the original inhabitants didn't bother built very strong and insulated structures. The Chumash designs are indicative of SoCal.
The inland tribes used to beat the weather by moving higher in the summer and lower in the winter... mind you, it's pretty mild.
I can imagine the upheaval if I were to submit plans for a second floor expansion comprised of a pair of Chumash like huts on my roof... the HOA (Homeowners' Association) would have a cow and the City would go bananas.... I mean, but surely it's quake proof and organic enough to satisfy the environazis at the State... BUT.. Actually, I think it would be fun to pull such a stunt at the HOA's Board of Directors.
I said:
'and the ancient building techniques used in earthquake zones must be observed and preserved for posterity.'
What I did not say was that they must be copied, or no other technique is valid.
They are something to learn from, and the reasoning for doing what they did must be understood.
Most were built with local, not exotic materials.
The idea of pricking the old farts bubbles at Home Owners Associations always appeals to me...
Of course, a double wide motor home or a converted shipping container, on a shock absorbing platform, connected with flexible conduits for utilities, is a perfectly valid answer to some of the requirements...
But in Japan, and in San Francisco, for example, the tall buildings have fairly complex hydraulic shock absorption systems for safety in the event of an earthquake.
I don't think aerated concrete was used in their foundations.
'and the ancient building techniques used in earthquake zones must be observed and preserved for posterity.'
What I did not say was that they must be copied, or no other technique is valid.
They are something to learn from, and the reasoning for doing what they did must be understood.
Most were built with local, not exotic materials.
The idea of pricking the old farts bubbles at Home Owners Associations always appeals to me...
Of course, a double wide motor home or a converted shipping container, on a shock absorbing platform, connected with flexible conduits for utilities, is a perfectly valid answer to some of the requirements...
But in Japan, and in San Francisco, for example, the tall buildings have fairly complex hydraulic shock absorption systems for safety in the event of an earthquake.
I don't think aerated concrete was used in their foundations.
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https://depts.washington.edu/liquefy/html/what/what1.html
https://geographyandyou.com/what-is-soil-liquefaction/
In other words, it is very dangerous and expensive to build in areas prone to soil liquefaction.
https://geographyandyou.com/what-is-soil-liquefaction/
In other words, it is very dangerous and expensive to build in areas prone to soil liquefaction.