| Chris Hu said: Those houses may be a lot more expensive when compared to a comparable sized house in the US but like a lot of people already mentioned they are build a lot better then most houses in the US which are mainly made out of wood, drywall and vinyl siding and cheap roof shingles. Also what matters a lot in real estate is location my maternal grandparents house in Germany is bigger and better then the houses mentioned but only sold for 50,000 Euros since its located in a very rural area if it would have been located in a slightly more popular area it would have easily sold for five times as much or more. |
More expensive building materials doesn't necessarily mean a better built house. I think you have to remember, you build with what is in abundance, and you build based on the location.
A stick frame house built in the US will last longer than a stone or brick home in the UK in event of an earth quake. In fact, brick buildings are almost non-existent in high-quake zones. In fact, reinforced concrete form homes don't exist in the UK, yet they'd provide the strongest building material available and still be cheaper than stone or brick homes.
You don't build a house with an exposed stick frame (wood or vinyl siding) in Florida. Your house will be devoured by termites. You don't use vinyl lap siding in high wind areas.
As for asphalt shingles vs. terra-cotta or slate tile shingles, while the latter two can potentially last longer than asphalt the difference is when you get a wind storm and have one of those shingles break/rip out. With an asphalt shingle, you lift up the tile above it, remove the old one, then nail in a cut replacement. With the other two, you higher aa professional who comes out and spends all day to carefully open up the area around the damaged shingle, then replace it and all the other shingles necessary to remove. And if it happens to be along a lead joint, fuck-all you're paying up the arse to get your roof fixed.
I'm guessing the cost of one repair is roughly the same as replacing an entire asphalt roof after 20 years.
