Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,143,370 members, 7,781,030 topics. Date: Friday, 29 March 2024 at 07:43 AM

American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here - Politics - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here (1284 Views)

Photo : Gov Fayose Rocking Dubai [oya Shakitibobo] / Biafran Guy Talking Sense Into The Heads Of Other Biafras *PICS* / Gowon Is Talking Sense Here (video) (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply) (Go Down)

American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 3:12pm On Mar 11, 2016
You have a job in a small rural town in America's deep south (I will not mention the State's name)
The pay is more than 100K per annum, excluding health insurance, generous (16%) 401K retirement savings, and other perks (no exaggeration)
Such pay puts you well in the upper middle class for that region; the median family income is about 40 K. So you are a wealthy person by the standard of the area and certainly moreso by Nigerian standards.

The average rent in the town is 300 USD per month.
Mortgage is very low: a 4 bedroom single home sells for as low as 100K.
With that salary and the low mortgage, you don't even need to rent a home. Just save up for your 20% down-payment (20K) and then take a loan of 80K, pronto you are the owner of a beautiful house. See a good example of houses there. The interest (they call it APR) there is low, about 3.8%. So do the compound interest calculation for 80K for say, 15 years. You end up still with significantly less than 150K final payment over 15 years. Not bad at all.

However, because of the rural nature of the place, few outsiders (Americans not born in the area, immigrants/new citizens) reside there, and so the turnover rate of housing purchase/sale is very, very low. I know folks who have been wanting to sell their homes for 3 years now and no buyers yet. In the US property business, three things are important: location! Location!! And location!!!

So, the question is, do you want to end up your life in rural America? You have to drive at least 2 hours to get to the large city where you can buy African food (garri, yam flour, ogbono, egusi, stockfish, goat meat, etc). When your kids are of college age, they'd be gone and from there get jobs elsewhere. So you are stuck with madam alone in the house. When you travel out, you have to first land in Atlanta or Houston, then take another flight to the nearest airport city (name withheld) and then drive 3 hours to get home.


What would you do when you are tired/retired and would love to leave for a different, likely more diverse and bubbly city? You cannot easily sell the house because there is no ready buyer. So you end up selling at ridiculously low price or renting it out only to be paid 300 USD per month. Remember nothing concerns the bank who borrowed you the money; you still have to pay your mortgage whether the house is unoccupied or not. That is, if you have still not finished paying the mortgage. On top of that you will pay property tax to the county and/or State, regardless of the occupancy of the house.

What would you do? Stick it up in the small town or risk the house for somewhere else?

There are two other Nigerians living around the area and they are not finding this situation funny either. But I guess the love of ego (money) is the beginning of risk taking for Nigerians.

Imagine me leaving my former lively city (Dallas) in a bid to make tons of money here, only to end up in.................

Hehehe! In America, all that glitters is not gold. grin grin grin grin grin grin grin grin grin

Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 3:12pm On Mar 11, 2016
More pic


Note that In Maryland, DC, California or New Jersey, such houses go for 600K to 1 M or more grin grin grin grin grin

Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by megaik: 3:26pm On Mar 11, 2016
Re-Phrase this your story by adding how Nigerians will make profit, then see the core naija brains pour out for you. thank me later.


Meanwhile i wan come over to USA ooo ....Texas to be specific, any help feom you will be highly appreciated. thanks.

1 Like

Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 3:28pm On Mar 11, 2016
Can I get one of your thieving, money-miss road NIGERIAN politicians to buy my house? I am selling only for 120K shocked shocked shocked shocked shocked shocked shocked
With the billions they are stealing, 120 K USD would be chicken change for them.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by asha80(m): 3:37pm On Mar 11, 2016
Difficult situation..most white folks actually will like to retire to such homes outside the city
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 3:38pm On Mar 11, 2016
asha80:
Difficult situation..most white folks actually will like to retire to such homes outside the city

Dude! I am no white folk. I am a bloody Igbo man from alaigbo. Besides the city is not on the coastline. So no beaches around to attract people.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 3:42pm On Mar 11, 2016
megaik:
Re-Phrase this your story by adding how Nigerians will make profit, then see the core naija brains pour out for you. thank me later.


Meanwhile i wan come over to USA ooo ....Texas to be specific, any help feom you will be highly appreciated. thanks.

I lived in Texas until a few years ago. You can come to America if you want to. But I am not sure there is any way I can help. What did you want me to do about your wanting to come to America? Buy air ticket for you or give you a visa?
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by greenmonk: 3:56pm On Mar 11, 2016
If u really 4m alaigbo den u really bleep up. D money wey u for fix for naija with minimum of 10% pa, use 5k pay house rent for US & dey get balance of 5k, u go useam buy house. Abi u go amerika 2go develop their country or urself?.
When u retire just look for one park bench & umbrella dey rest there ooo. No American go gree buy that house from you oo. U don buyam be say u don buyam. Shekina.

But if u wan do small small naija business with de house just reply this post.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 3:57pm On Mar 11, 2016
In Nigeria we would easily call this a village. The difference is that there are a few banks, a post office, a couple grocery stores, a farmer's market (like the one in the pic below), a couple schools (elementary, middle and high), cops in speed cars, constant electricity, cable TV connections, and internet, among other conveniences. Population is less than 8000 (exclusing neighboring towns), less than that of my village in alaigbo.

Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 3:58pm On Mar 11, 2016
greenmonk:
If u really 4m alaigbo den u really bleep up. D money wey u for fix for naija with minimum of 10% pa, us 5k pay house rent for US & dey get balance of 5k, u go useam buy house. Abi u go amerika 2go develop their country or urself?. When u retire just look for one park bench & umbrella dey rest there ooo. No American go gree buy that house from you oo. Shekina.

Dude! You do not know what investments I have in Nigeria. Do I sound dumb to you? That house is just slightly above 100K and I am paying it off in a few years. I just want to sell it off and live in a rented house, so that I can be free to move outta here when I am ready to do so.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 4:04pm On Mar 11, 2016
greenmonk:
If u really 4m alaigbo den u really bleep up. D money wey u for fix for naija with minimum of 10% pa, use 5k pay house rent for US & dey get balance of 5k, u go useam buy house. Abi u go amerika 2go develop their country or urself?.
When u retire just look for one park bench & umbrella dey rest there ooo. No American go gree buy that house from you oo. U don buyam be say u don buyam. Shekina.

But if u wan do small small naija business with de house just reply this post.

You are funnily ignorant. Nigerians in New York, Virginia, Maryland, DC, etc take out mortgages of more than 400K, excluding the interest, to purchase houses over 15-30 years payment period. So wetin come be 100K, even when your salary is also 100K per annum?
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by greenmonk: 4:12pm On Mar 11, 2016
Environer:


Dude! You do not know what investments I have in Nigeria. Do I sound dumb to you? That house is just slightly above 100K and I am paying it off in a few years. I just want to sell it off and live in a rented house, so that I can be free to move outta here when I am ready to do so.
Now u are talking like Igbo man. I wish u all de best. Udo diri gi.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 4:13pm On Mar 11, 2016
See the difference? This is a farmer's market somewhere in Texas (compared to the village cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy I live in) , You can buy cassava tubers here

Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by knightsTempler: 4:17pm On Mar 11, 2016
From the first 2 pics or so, the place looks like a ghost town, very boring, if you live alone in that kind of environment, depression will almost kill someone.

Nope, i 'll pass.

Edited***
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 4:19pm On Mar 11, 2016
knightsTempler:
That place looks very boring, if you live alone in that kind of environment, depression will almost kill someone.

Nope, i 'll pass.

Hahaha! Now you get my drift. For now it's still okay with wify and kids around. Also, there is a small bar down the street. And the people are not racist, at least not to me, yet.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by BeClever: 4:20pm On Mar 11, 2016
Environer:


You are funnily ignorant. Nigerians in New York, Virginia, Maryland, DC, etc take out mortgages of more than 400K, excluding the interest, to purchase houses over 15-30 years payment period. So wetin come be 100K, even when your salary is also 100K per annum?


Just concentrate on looking for the buyer, it will only cost you time.. Since you have made up your mind now.

But, come to think of it, you exchange all the pleasure of of leaving in a busy area for this Village like location.. That got me thinking shaa...

Nwanne, chezie ihe nke ofuma. ..e hard somehow shaa.

Goodluck man!
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 4:21pm On Mar 11, 2016
knightsTempler:
From the first 2 pics or so, the place looks like a ghost town, very boring, if you live alone in that kind of environment, depression will almost kill someone.

Nope, i 'll pass.

Edited***

The pictures don't tell all the story, though. Otherwise, ghosts would have killed all 8000 people here. grin grin grin grin grin grin
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 4:23pm On Mar 11, 2016
BeClever:



Just concentrate on looking for the buyer, it will only cost you time.. Since you have made up your mind now.

But, come to think of it, you exchange all the pleasure of of leaving in a busy area for this Village like location.. That got me thinking shaa...

Nwanne, chezie ihe nke ofuma. ..e hard somehow shaa.

Goodluck man!

When you move from a salary of about 60K in Texas (plus higher cost of living) to a salary of more than 100K (plus lower cost of living), few people (not in the least Nigerians) can resist that in spite of any environmental difference.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by knightsTempler: 4:26pm On Mar 11, 2016
Environer:


Hahaha! Now you get my drift. For now it's still okay with wify and kids around. Also, there is a small bar down the street. And the people are not racist, at least not to me, yet.

I'm guessing the place to be either Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi or Louisiana.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 4:34pm On Mar 11, 2016
knightsTempler:


I'm guessing the place to be either Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi or Louisiana.
Lol. You for add Arkansas, Tennesse too na. Smart fellow cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy

Anyways, it's one of all of those 5 states above, between Texas and Georgia

Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by knightsTempler: 4:36pm On Mar 11, 2016
Environer:

Lol. You for add Arkansas, Tennessee too na. Smart fellow cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy

Anyways, it's one of all of those above, between Texas and Georgia

Lol grin cheesy

My bet is on Louisiana wink
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 4:37pm On Mar 11, 2016
knightsTempler:


Lol grin cheesy

My bet is on Louisiana wink
epic fail grin grin grin grin
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Nobody: 4:54pm On Mar 11, 2016
Nwanne mehn. Looking at the picture makes me imagine how lonely that place would be.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by biazarre(m): 4:58pm On Mar 11, 2016
and here they come again....
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 5:02pm On Mar 11, 2016
gboss4sure:
Nwanne mehn. Looking at the picture makes me imagine how lonely that place would be.

Well, most places in America and Europe can be lonely for a Nigerian - we are very boisterous and loud. You know those are not ''noisy'' societies like yours. So you may live in a big city like Houston and still be personally lonely. It all depends on many different factors.

1 Like

Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by ISpiksDaTroof: 5:43pm On Mar 11, 2016
Oklahoma.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Environer: 6:00pm On Mar 11, 2016
ISpiksDaTroof:
Oklahoma.

Cheap and unintelligent guess work. Is OK anywhere between TX and GA?
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by BeClever: 7:24pm On Mar 11, 2016
Environer:


When you move from a salary of about 60K in Texas (plus higher cost of living) to a salary of more than 100K (plus lower cost of living), few people (not in the least Nigerians) can resist that in spite of any environmental difference.

You are very right.

Good pay would determine your tomorrow, sometimes we live just for tomorrow.

If stressing today guarantees freedom tomorrow, then I won't be bothered so much.

But, someone like me whom have lived, worked and I'm blessed here in Nigeria may not understand those conditions you narrate, I have never been to the US.. Only some parts of EU and Asia on vacations and business...

So I may really not understand what you are going through right now.

But your analysis is CLAER and I suggest you go for better wage if you need the cash, but if you have made some progress in life and you are at a certain stage of life, considering ur age and statues, then you might want consider only what makes you happy.
Re: American Wahala: Oya Come Show Your Naija Sense Here by Wallie(m): 7:57pm On Mar 11, 2016
I think your situation will determine if it is a good move!

1. Are you married? It will be very difficult finding a partner in the middle of nowhere.
2. Lifestyle - outdoors vs city life.
3. How stable is the job? If you lose that job, forget getting another remotely similar one in that area. You will probably have to move.
4. Rental market - how strong is the rental market? If strong, you can always turn it into a rental property. On the other hand, $100k is not a lot of money if you’re already making that much in income.
5. Kids - pros and cons of growing up in the middle of nowhere.
6. Tolerance – people far away from metropolitan areas tend to be less tolerant of anything that’s different from what they know.

Bottom line - there's a reason why houses cost so little over there and it revolves around jobs! If I were in your shoes and want to move, I'll be buying a property no less than 10 acres and also explore building from scratch. With that amount of land, you could get lucky if and when society encroaches on that area. :-) But 2 hours to get to a major city? Damn! What if some type of natural disaster occurs?

(1) (Reply)

Power Supply: Nigerians Are Architects Of Their Own Problems – Presidency / Igbos Have No Leader / Protecting Gov. Emmanuel, PDP, Radio Station Halts Live Interview With APC Chief

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 51
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.