# house vs apartment (pros & cons)



## sincitymama (Sep 20, 2003)

Both would be rentals, so equity is not an issue here. I want to flesh out my own thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of each option, and I'm hoping you smarties can help me out! FTR, we live in the house right now but are considering looking for someplace smaller (we've rented in this city before so have a pretty good idea what it's like). Trying to decide.

House Pros:
-attached garage
-private backyard
-loads of storage space(cabinets and closets)
-quiet neighborhood
-privacy(from neighbors)
-safe area-I feel comfortable going for solo walks/runs
-square footage is nice, ds can really move around in here
-easy to be 'alone' as needed while others are still home
-not a financial hardship
-nice little playground just 3 houses away
-awsome landlord (I've never even seen him! but the few problems have been handled quickly and well)

House Cons:
-too much space=too much stuff
-all that square footage and stuff makes cleaning/upkeep overwhelming
-is all that space between family members really desireable? (there's a country song that goes here-'love grows best in little houses'-I'll spare you the rest of the lyrics







)
-high heating/cooling bills
-harder to keep track of 3yo DS
-feeling the need to 'fill it up' with 'enough' furniture/decorations/stuff in the cabinets ($$$)

Apartment Pros:
-more motivation to keep clutter away
-easier & faster picking up and cleaning
-save money (probably about $3k/year or so)
-lower utilities and rent means more into savings
-pool/gym access
-potential for more 'community' feel, like neighbors actually *talking* to each other
-larger yard area for outdoor running & games
-probably still a playground of some sort in easy walking distance

Apartment Cons:
-might be too squishy, after the luxury of this house (it's the largest place we've lived)
-shared walls and less privacy
-potential for questionable neighbors
-we'd have to move. again. omg.
-coming up with deposits is sucky
-crowded parking
-management companies as landlords
-less freedom to paint and otherwise change stuff

I'm not really looking for help deciding, just more food for thought. What do you think are the pros and cons of a house vs apartment? What have I missed here?


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

I've found that living in a house means that I have to maintain the yard or pay to have someone do it.


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## sincitymama (Sep 20, 2003)

That's a good point. There's not much maintenece though, it's 'desert landscaping'. So basically all we do is change the automated watering schedule based on the season







Mostly it's rocks.


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## calynde (Feb 11, 2005)

For us, *the* major downfall to apartment living is the neighbor issue. We have had partying neighbors, neighbors with weird work schedules, neighbors with big, loud tv's (er, you get the idea







)...and perhaps worse, the quieter neighbors that we've had over the years have complained about the noise from ds. So it can be really hit or miss. I find that in an apartment I'm always telling ds to quiet down, stop running or playing exhuberantly, etc....which I hate doing. Maybe if you opt for one, a ground floor apt. would be better. And the best-insulated one you can afford!


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## late-night nan (Jan 28, 2003)

the savings of the apt sound considerable, but personally I'd stay in the house and try to work on making the con's a non-issue. They seem to be more a matter of how you manage your life and are things within your control, compared to the cons (real or potential) of apt living. WOuld it be possible to live in just a part of the house; e.g. leave the top floor empty and unheated? or if you want to keep it less cluttered, you could go minimalist with at least a room or two and leave that for doing yoga or meditation--this is what our neighbors did for a while.

regarding heating costs, at some level it is unavoidable with a larger space. but we keep the t-stat much lower than most of our friends (tho we raise it when guests are here), and go "british-style" wearing sweaters in the house. ds and dh are both polar bears, anyway, and the indoor air feels much healthier when it's not so dry in the winter.

we recently moved from one duplex to another, but going from a situation with many of your apt-cons to a place with your house-pro's. the move was a major undertaking, as expected, but it was so worth it. i would have been miserable if, after all that effort, we ended up in a place with loud neighbors instead of our peaceful neighborhood!


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## ***Heather*** (Sep 28, 2006)

Quote:

*management companies as landlords*
This is a HUGE issue for us. They don't care about us as people, we're just money in their pocket. Whenever there's a problem, they don't want to fix it. They were all nice to us when we first moved in, but since then it's like pulling teeth. Once our stupid hot water handle in the tub BROKE off. It was like that for a month before it was fixed. We don't have proper insulation in the wall around our balcony door. There is a 2 inch crack on the outside where cold air gets into the wall. They won't fix it. Sucky plaster jobs they haven't finished properly, a couple dents/holes in the walls from old tenets... none of this is fixed even though we keep asking for it. Yet, our rent keeps going up. Isn't that nice? It must be 'the taxes' because it sure isn't from improvements. And you know what? This is supposed to be a decent building!

I am so out of here once I can afford a house. (Or sooner!)







:


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## sincitymama (Sep 20, 2003)

Thanks for all your thoughts.







You are helping me get more clear about this.


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## boysrus (Dec 2, 2001)

A while back I asked this question on this board. The vote was overwhelmingly for house instead of apt. We moved into a house and we are soo glad. I haven't lived in an apt since my 10 year old was 2, and it is easy to forget about the horrible things. Our biggest thing is the noise. We hate having people walking over our head. So, we would like to live upstairs. But, we have kids, so living over someone would give us the tress of having to keep the kids quiet.
Another issue that I never thouht of till my mil experienced it. She had a townhouse apartment, so no one was living over her. But, her next door neighbor would sit outside and smoke and the smoke would waft into her house. Also, the smoke would go through the ventilation system and the smell would come into her house. Sh eheard the neighbors tv through the walls as well.
Finally, just being able to allow the boys to go outside and play whenever they want is totally worth the extra $300 a month to me.


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## wife&mommy (May 26, 2005)

What about when something breaks they come fix it? Does this happen with a house rental too? I know when I lived in an apt if something broke they sent someone out the same day usually. We bought a house after that so I don't know how it works with renting houses.


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## sparkprincess (Sep 10, 2004)

Personally I could never live in an apt again simply because of the landlord issues and neighbor issues. Anyone, and I do mean anyone, can live next door to/above/below you. 'Course, the same thing is true for living in a house, but at least you don't have to share a wall/ceiling/floor. LOL. I bet you could find a _small_ house to live in, btw.


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## sincitymama (Sep 20, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *wife&mommy* 
What about when something breaks they come fix it? Does this happen with a house rental too? I know when I lived in an apt if something broke they sent someone out the same day usually. We bought a house after that so I don't know how it works with renting houses.

Yes. Depending on the issue we can call either the builders (house is brand new and still under waranty) and they will send someone over, or call the landlord and he will send someone.

I think maybe having had some time away from apartment buildings, I am downplaying some of the negatives


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

The management company this house we are renting is ummm ahhh how to say this nicely she is atrocious. Takes forever to get things fixed, she cant get anything right. If the owners would get rid of her and deal with us themselves would be really nice.

Like a previous poster said they just want your $$$ and want to do nothing for it.


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