Ladies: would you forgo a diamond engagement ring to put a deposit on your first home? One recent study from the US has found plenty of women would do just that.
According to a survey from ERA Real Estate, close to 50 per cent of women said they would swap a big engagement ring to use the money on a down payment for a house. And in even more surprising results: more than 17 per cent said they had already made the swap.
A further 60 per cent of survey respondents said they would miss out on a honeymoon in order to put the cash towards a home deposit, with 16 per cent having already done so.
ERA, a US-based real estate franchising network, surveyed 1000 people in committed relationships to find out how buying property had affected them. Nearly 90 per cent said buying a home together had strengthened their relationship.
Some other interesting results from the survey:
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Three-quarters of the surveyed couples said it was easiest to agree on a location to buy a home, rather than factors like a property’s price or size.
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Forget finances, decorating and paperwork. When merging two households, deciding what to keep and what to throw away or donate was the hardest part.
- 62 per cent of the respondents said that crime and safety were the most crucial factors when deciding on a location to buy property.