Home vs. Apartment, Loft or Flat

[GlidingWings]

I want to know would it be better to own a home or an apartment, loft or flat?

 

Which do you prefer and what are some pros and cons why you picked your choice?

And someone not from the USA correct me if I am wrong please do you call it flats, or lofts?

I'm trying to weigh out all my options and would like some very major opinions.
I have so many pros and cons that figured impartial answers may sway me more one over the other.

[other one]

Wings, I think that is much too complicated to write out the differences.   You could write a book on the subject.

 

I think it depends on how much money you have and what you are looking for in a place to live.   We purchased a house in 1979 and took about 20 years to pay off the loan for it.....   but we do have a dwelling that is ours.   We only pay for insurance and taxes on the house.   

 

Some appartments have the utilities included and some do not.   We pay for our utilities being home owners.

 

Flats are just a small appartment type thing.

 

So you should give some consideration as to your needs and plans before deciding.

 

What kind of privacy are you looking for?

How long do you plan to stay where you are?

Do you have an expected long time career where you can work in the same place for at least 5 years?   

Do you want to move around?

What kind of credit do you have, it makes a lot of difference in the interest you pay on a home mortgage.

How much cash do you have for a down payment?

 

Do you have animals?    that can limit apartments if you do.

 

The banks make a bunch up front when you take out a mortgage on a house or sell it, so if you can't stay there for a few years you will loose money most of the time.

 

What do you want out of a place to live......   do you want a garden, or raise flowers:  do you have kids or plan to have them.   Long term family plans can make a huge difference in the size house and where it is located.....   and one should know the area history of where they purchase a house.

 

 

It also depends on where you live.....    the taxes on our house are about $650 a year.....   if we lived around the Rochester New York area instead of central Oklahoma this same house would have taxes in access of $6,000 a year.

[GlidingWings]

Hi other one.. Thanks for your great advice. I really think you know what you're talking about. You certainly have taken things into consideration. We're most leading towards an apartment. There are no children involved. If we do get any pets I would want a couple of ssmall dogs if they allowed them.

 

And actually these places in Nevada (where we're looking now) has more square footage then the places that we have looked in Calif. for the same price.

So are 2 greatest concerns might be...

1. How well the manager is with the tenants and hoping the residents are decent..

2. That this would not need anything in the way of repairs too fast.

[The_Patriot21]

I think a lot depends on your personal preference and budget, as well as what is available. I prefer to own my own home. I wish it was in the country, but I like my house in town. whats right for you is individual to you. I dont like being crammed in with my neighbors I like having a nice yard and space. thats just me.

 

As far as the managers every apartment manager will be different. worth shopping around for. good landlords will keep the place up, if the place is trashed with no signs of being repaired I wouldn't give it a second look.

[missmuffet]

I lived in an apartment once....never again.

[other one]

if you do decide to buy a house I would go through a realtor  to do so.   There are a lot of pitfalls to purchasing a house....   a lot of things that could be wrong or go wrong.....   and never buy a house through a realtor that is also selling the house....   they will be working for the seller and not you the buyer.

I got into that when we bought our house and it ended  up costing me about 14,000 to get right.

[The_Patriot21]

there are some honest realtors out there, ours treated us well and fair. before picking one its good to ask good friends you know their advice on them.

[kwikphilly]

Blessings GW

      Since you mentioned repairs,this is also something to really consider.....When you own your own home you are responsible for all the upkeep & repairs & depending on what type of community you live in you may be required to do certain things that are mandated by the homeowners association......if you purchase in that type of development,they usually have rules & regulations that keep the development uniform & there is much involved in comparison to owning a home that is not in a devlopment(still,when you own,it is best to have a little cushion for repairs....eventually things do break)      When renting an apartment repairs are the landlords responsibility and there are alot less headaches & if you are not happy there it is much easier to simply move elsewhere when your lease expires.

       If I was unfamiliar with the area & was not really sure about what I wanted I would find an apartment with reasonable rent,a year lease & get familiar with the surroundings to see if this is where I wanted to make a purchase & shop around.............it is a buyers market right now but I would not rush into anything

                                                                                                                                                     With love-in Christ,Kwik

[OakWood]

I lived in an apartment once....never again.

 

Is that a flat?

[Guest LadyC]

when i was younger, i wouldn't have even wanted to live in a house. apartment living suited me just fine! if there was a maintenance problem, someone came to fix it. if the lawn needed mowing, that was somebody else's responsibility. if i wanted to go for a swim, there was always at least one pool in whatever apartment complex i was living in. the apartments provided laundry rooms, and most had laundry machines in each apartment. it was perfect for that time in my life, as a single mom.

 

but now that i'm older, and i no longer like to spend my free time at the swimming pool, and i have a husband who can take care of minor maintenance issues, i'm happy to live in a house. yeah, mowing the lawn sucks, and it's a huge lawn. but i'm glad i have my own driveway now. i'm glad i have a storage building in the back for stuff that we don't want to get rid of. and i'm very glad i don't have neighbors making a lot of noise, and nobody stomping overhead in the apartment above. 

 

really it boils down to personal preference and what your priorities in life are.