The answer is very simple. I don’t live for anyone.
I live in a small house..My house is not an architectural wonder..It is a very simple house, but it fulfilled all my criterion.
Location !Close to schools and public transport.
Small house, lots of land ( land value increases over the years)
Less than 10 years old ( older the house, the more you spend on fixing it )
Enough rooms for my children
Single story house and Disabled friendly.. ( I don’t foresee myself living in Australia for the rest of my life, but in the event I do, I wanted to be able to live in my own house independently..two story houses are a pain as you grow older and it costs a lot more money to convert a house in the later stage to make it wheel chair friendly)
Most importantly, I didn’t want to send the Bank CEO on a vacation using my money !
Simple maths can tell you that if you take a loan of $250.000 at 7.25 % over 30 years, at the end of 30 years, you would have paid $600,000 to the bank..and that is why the banks can pay their CEO’s millions of dollars as bonus.
I don’t see the need to impress others by living in a very expensive house.. My ego doesn’t need a boost..I don’t care if I am judged by the size of my house..
I can afford my holidays because instead of giving all my money to the bank, I chose to live in a small house and spend my money on our holidays.