Differences between US and U.K. homes

[Youngatheart00]

Just a ponderous thread as it’s my day off and I’ve been thinking, mainly following the abundance of Netflix we’ve all watched over the past year, but also some of my travel experiences (not recently, obviously!)

Some of the differences I’ve noticed are;

• many more of the US homes seem to be fully open plan downstairs. Some don’t even seem to have doors between the rooms?

• the bathroom count / ratio to bedrooms is much higher! (Eg 3 bed / 3 bath or even 2 bed / 2.5 bath)

• heating systems, I don’t recall seeing radiators, instead vents in the floor, are these used to flip between hot and cold air depending on the time of year? How effective / efficient are they compared to our big radiator bars here?

• toilets - they seem smaller and the flushing mechanism is different

• baths - they also seem smaller, short and strangely blocky

• Space and size - all of the bathroom stuff is unusual when the overall size of homes, even cheaper ones, is so much larger. And some ‘back yards’ are absolutely huge! Obviously more land space in the US compared with the U.K. but still, notable but often not much privacy / fencing?

• waste disposal units - what ARE these?

• closets - I haven’t seen any free standing wardrobes. Are these just not used in the US?

Anyone got any others to add or any comments?

@MotherWol

Timber-framed construction means you can hide cables inside walls, so wall-mounted TVs etc look a lot tidier than they do in this country, and it's easier to rearrange the internal layout of a home than brick walls.

Wood floors seem more usual than carpets - is it because the rooms are bigger so carpet would be expensive, or is it a hygiene thing?

Carpet was the norm in the 60s-80s until wood flooring came to be seen as stylish and desirable. It's fashion more than form.

I’m not positive but I think Florida has very low property tax, which is one more reason why so many old people live there. Their state schools are atrocious but pensioners don’t care.

Property taxes in Florida vary by county as does the quality of schools. Some school districts in Florida have some of the best performing schools in the country. And one of the good things about property taxes in Florida is that if you live in a county with some areas of high value property, people in more modest areas of the same county may benefit because the revenue is spread around. Also Florida has homestead exemption so that property taxes on a main residence are reduced. "Snowbirds", people from other places who have winter homes in Florida, pay more.

Also many pensioners in Florida do care about the quality of schools, if for no other reason than the affect it has on property values.

Is Texas cheap? A taxi driver we had was going on about retiring somewhere or other - no taxes I think he said. He was a huge trump fan (and a sexist git) so I was concentrating hard on not kicking his seat (and thereby having to walk to the airport).

[quote Lanique]This is such a great thread! I'm fascinated by interiors and property, (I'm such a Right Move addict!) and I'm also interested in cultures and comparisons to what we consider our norm.

There are so many things about US properties that make sense, such as the big open plan spaces and the built-in closets and dedicated laundry rooms, but I'm not sure if I could tolerate the lack of back garden privacy and the dark wood kitchens. Also I find the bonkers attitudes of not walking anywhere due to lack of pavements really perplexing. Also these ridiculous laws about not hanging out washing in a mainly sunny climate (how on earth are we going to save the planet at this rate?!)

That aside I have of course done my research and found a pretty perfect-looking home in a lovely-sounding neighbourhood, which is about a million times the size of our house in the UK and of a similar value. Now, how do I get a green card again? 🤔

[[https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3416-17th-St-S-Arlington-VA-22204/12094481_zpid/]][/quote]
Beautiful house, the garden room/porch is gorgeous.

I wouldn’t think you would lose your home due to medical bills if you were well insured?

Or if you live in Florida where the homestead (primary residence) is exempt from being taken by creditors.

@SenecaFallsRedux

I’m not positive but I think Florida has very low property tax, which is one more reason why so many old people live there. Their state schools are atrocious but pensioners don’t care.

Property taxes in Florida vary by county as does the quality of schools. Some school districts in Florida have some of the best performing schools in the country. And one of the good things about property taxes in Florida is that if you live in a county with some areas of high value property, people in more modest areas of the same county may benefit because the revenue is spread around. Also Florida has homestead exemption so that property taxes on a main residence are reduced. "Snowbirds", people from other places who have winter homes in Florida, pay more.

Also many pensioners in Florida do care about the quality of schools, if for no other reason than the affect it has on property values.

Florida has no state income tax which many find appealing.

In the US we pay federal income tax but also the states tax our income. Some cities do as well.

Oops, meant to add:

A person who works in Detroit (whether or not they live there) would pay 3 percent of income to city, about 6 percent to state of Michigan in addition to their federal rate which varies to as high as 20-25 percent.

Plus we pay more than 15 percent of our wages to Social Security and Medicare taxes.

And yet we still have bad roads, no national health care and lots of pollution.

I think in Florida you also risk your home falling into a big hole.

America’s social safety net is not good but for now people 77+ still get a basically livable amount of monthly income via social security.

Full retirement age for social security is 66 or 67, depending on the birth year. People can take a lower amount at age 62, which if they were high earners, could be a healthy amount. And at age 65, people qualify for Medicare, government subsidized, single-payer health insurance.

I think in Florida you also risk your home falling into a big hole.

The state sits on top of an underground river, so there are some drawbacks to that. It's also why houses don't have basements in Florida.

Florida has no state income tax because sales tax (much of which is paid by tourists in normal times, I should say) is a major source of revenue.

Nothing to do with the house but even in boiling hot parts of America they don’t hang washing on the line and only use the dryer. I find this crazy for 1 it’s free to dry outside and 2 the impact on the environment. Apparently drying clothes outside is seen as for poor people. This comes from a lady that lives in Georgia so not sure about all parts of the US.

@dontcallmelen

Such an interesting thread, I’m addicted to American property shows (free view channel 42) my favourite is “Hometown” they usually restore old property’s in a place called Laurel which I think is in Mississippi most of the houses have front porches with a swing seat you could imagine yourself on the porch sipping a mint julep. Yy the dark cabinets though they do seem to feature a lot on some of the show, I quite like the big ranges they remind of the ones here probably in the 60/70’s wee made by Cannon & had a double oven six rings with the grill that folded out above the rings they were so practical & looked brilliant I wish I could find picture to post.

I enjoy Home Town but it's a bit misleading. Mississippi in general is a hellhole of dire poverty, ill health, ignorance, illiteracy and racism.

Those houses are dirt cheap for a reason.

American homes often look very cluttered I think. And I really hate American kitchens - they are always dark in colour and a bit gloomy and old fashioned. And no kettles! Like France - I don't get that at all.

On the other hand I wouldn't mind Harry and Meghan's place in Montecito.

@PerveenMistry oh dear that’s not great🙁 it looks so ‘wholesome’ on the programme so naively thought that area had improved & moved on a bit from the dreadful history of many parts of the south.

@toffeebutterpopcorn

Is Texas cheap? A taxi driver we had was going on about retiring somewhere or other - no taxes I think he said. He was a huge trump fan (and a sexist git) so I was concentrating hard on not kicking his seat (and thereby having to walk to the airport).

There's no state income tax in Texas, so you pay "just" the federal income tax - but Texas makes up for it in other taxes such as property tax.

We didn't find it particularly cheap - our health insurance took a big chunk of salary every month even though it was a subsidised company scheme, electricity bills were high during the summer through running the a/c (friends would live on the ground floor of their two storey houses to avoid cooling the top floor), and other costs like house rental, car insurance etc added up.

Also masses of inequality - you could go from super rich neighbourhoods to run down wooden shacks in the matter of a few blocks.

@Literallynoidea

American homes often look very cluttered I think. And I really hate American kitchens - they are always dark in colour and a bit gloomy and old fashioned. And no kettles! Like France - I don't get that at all.

On the other hand I wouldn't mind Harry and Meghan's place in Montecito.

I actually thought the opposite, tbh, that things seem more cluttered with the lack of storage

I don't know much about America but on a trip to Cairns in Australia I put washing out and it baked in next to no time. I used the dryer after that. Maybe it is the same in America.

Those pot filling taps above the hob. When I was watching Dream Home Makeover I had to Google what they were as every house seemed to have one and I had no idea.

My sister in law lives in Florida and has a 4 bedroom house. Brick built and tile roof (which is rare out there and very strange all houses aren't brick built in Florida given the hurricane season every year!). Double doors open into a massive space and the about 3 corridors that take you to bathrooms/bedrooms/utility/kitchen
No heating as its generally warm but she does have air conditioning vents but not noticeable unless you're looking for them inside (outside in the garden there is a massive unit).

What i liked most was how where she lives everything is detached and you're nearest neighbour is a short walk! Like you could shout across to them if you needed to get their attention. I also like how patriotic some Americans are with their flags outside their homes and their little post boxes at the front of their driveway!!!

I once lived in the US, housing costs (renting a room in shared house or apartment) were much more than where had lived in the UK (northern england city / city in a US western state).

Had a fab porch swing, also liked the air con box and wooden floors.

The electricity sockets, windows and door locks were all dodgy!

Large bungalows/ranch style houses. Bliss! 4 or 5 bed house all on one level, no fucking stairs.

My sister has a flag... but her husband is ex military and her daughter is a first responder, so I only take the Mickey a little bit!

@Gladimnotcampinginthisweather I will never get over how fast my washing dried outside in Sydney in December. Never. It was toasty and crisp after approx three seconds outside. SO satisfying.

Doesn't stop me hanging my washing out in London though!

We have a flag. We fly it on national holidays and this year on January 20th.

I live in Boston now and the houses are old, brick and quite small! Very expensive too. Makes London look cheap.
The weird thing is the lack of overhead lights on the ceiling!!! We have to use floor lamps.
We don’t have wardrobes but definitely seen people with them.
There are usually no washing machines inside the house. They are all communal in the basement.