Everyone who is going to buy a home, usually asks the question, where it is better to live – in a house or an apartment? There is no specific answer here, each person has their own priorities in the factors of choice of housing. However, let’s consider the pros and cons of living in an apartment and a private home.
Of course, the first thing is to choose a reliable real estate company, that’s the main thing. If you’re going to buy an apartment or house in Hawaii, we recommend the best service – https://hawaiitrustedrealty.com/.
Advantages and disadvantages of living in an apartment
The advantages of living in an apartment
-
Transport accessibility and pedestrian accessibility
Naturally, one of the most significant advantages of an apartment, is the transport and pedestrian accessibility. You can easily live in the apartment even without a car, using public transportation at any time.
-
Infrastructure
When choosing which is better, an apartment or a house, one of the most important factors of choice is infrastructure. In an urban environment, any infrastructure you can choose from is available to you. This can be especially important to you if:
- You are an active person and don’t like to spend a lot of time at home.
- If you are not a homebody and like to be out of the house all the time – going to entertainment, going to the movies, visiting, then you may not find yourself in the suburban life.
- In addition to entertainment in the city you will be more accessible to engage in various hobbies, such as fitness club, yoga, music, dancing, etc. In the countryside, the choice of entertainment for your tastes will be more limited. However, it all depends on what your hobby is. If you like to embroider, draw or play computer games, there will be no problem.
- It is important what kind of kindergarten/school your child will go to.
Living outside the city, even in a village with a fairly developed infrastructure, the choice of educational institutions will be very limited. If you want to send your child to a school with a particular bias, lyceum, etc., you will have to take him from the city every day.
-
There is a management company
Living in an apartment building, you do not have to worry about cleaning the yard, garbage collection and other things, because there is a management company that solves these problems. Also, if there are problems with communications, they can always be solved by inviting a foreman from the management company. In a private home, you will have to solve problems yourself or call a handyman, which can entail unplanned expenses.
-
Relatively inexpensive apartment maintenance
When deciding what is more expensive – an apartment or a house, some people forget about the future maintenance of housing. It is much cheaper to maintain an apartment than a house. Spending once to repair the apartment, you will forget about this issue for a long time. Also, your responsibilities will not include repairing the facade, taking care of the site, garage, communications, etc.
-
The apartment is the best investment
An apartment will be a better investment because it will be easier for you to sell it, the demand for apartments is always higher than for suburban properties.
-
Safety from robbery
There is a perception that an apartment robbery is less likely than a private home robbery. However, if your house will be in a secured cottage community, this probability is also reduced to a minimum. You can also install alarms and security cameras yourself to prevent such events.
Disadvantages of living in an apartment
-
Small living space
Of course, the biggest disadvantage of an apartment is the limited living space.
First, for the same price you can buy either a house or an apartment, which will be many times smaller in area. If you have a large family, buying a private home will be much more profitable and spacious.
Secondly, if you like space or you already have experience of country life, it may be better to live in a house rather than an apartment. In addition, in an apartment there is no way to expand the existing space.
-
No possibility to create your own layout
Although there are now many different modern layouts of apartments, they do not compare to the possibility to plan the space entirely according to your needs and desires, as you can do in your own home.
-
Lack of your own plot
During the warm season, living in an apartment is, of course, significantly inferior to living in a house. In the absence of a plot of land, you will have to spend time and money on country trips to spend time with friends in nature, fishing, cooking on the barbecue, etc.
-
Neighbors
For some people such a factor as neighbors behind the wall is very important. You can’t choose your neighbors, so you may be bothered by constant noise, loud arguments, music, repairs, and other “joys”. Of course, you can find quiet neighbors, but the fact that you also can not make noise later in the day can be uncomfortable.
In addition to noise, there may be more serious problems. For example, you could get flooded, there could be a fire or a gas explosion. All of these could result in property damage or even life-threatening injuries through no fault of your own. Or vice versa – you may have to compensate your downstairs neighbors for the damage from a new repair if you are flooded.
-
Lack of a parking space
Living in an apartment, a garage or parking space will cost you money. Or you will be forced to park in tight yards. Car-clogged yards are another disadvantage of living in an apartment. This problem can be solved if you can buy a parking space in a house.
The benefits of living in a house
-
Larger square footage
As mentioned above, if you need more space, the house will cost a lot less. If you have a large family or just like a lot of space, you will be happy living in a private home.
The square footage of the house can allow you to make a pantry, walk-in closet, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms.
-
Have your own parking lot or garage
If you have your own lot, you can build a garage or just store your car in your yard.
-
Quiet and fresh air
Some people want the 24-hour noise and traffic of the city, but most people still prefer the peace and quiet after a day of work that you get, and choose to live in your own home.
-
You can expand your living space
If you live in a house, there’s always a way to expand your living space – for example, with a basement or an extra floor, an attic, or just an addition to the house.
Disadvantages of living in a house
-
Always calculate your commute time
Naturally, due to the remoteness from the city you will always have to calculate the time to get to work, kindergarten or school and leave in advance. However, there are now many cottage communities very close to the city with their own developing infrastructure.
-
Having a car is a must for comfortable living
If you are unsure whether it’s better to live in a house or an apartment, be sure to think about transportation. Living in the countryside without a car would be inconvenient. For a comfortable life, it is good to have even 2 cars, so all family members can go to the city.
-
Constant housework
Compared to an apartment, life in a private home is different in the number of chores. It is useful that someone in the family knows how to solve periodic problems: to insulate something, to replace something, to repair something, etc. In addition, more time will be spent cleaning the house and the surrounding area. But are household chores a problem for you? This question is strictly individual.