Real estate is a rewarding investment. Be it a residential or a commercial property, it’s important to clear your room of doubts before stepping into one. One question that might be triggering your mind is whether to buy a flat or a house?
Choosing between them can surely be a daunting task and might require some professional help. You can hire the estate agents in Bexleyheath to help you with your professional needs.
While grass is always greener on the other side, it is essential to investigate your sides carefully. Buying a flat vs buying a house comes with numerous sets of advantages and disadvantages.
In this section, we have listed the pros and cons of buying a house vs buying a flat that can help you to make a significant decision.
What is a better choice- a flat or a house?
Well, choosing to live either in a house or an apartment is completely up to an individual’s choice. There are several factors that can aid you in making decisions easily:
Tingling Neighbors
One factor that certainly makes life easier or difficult is contradicting neighbors. While living in an apartment, you will stay a little too close to your neighbors while life separates you from your neighbors in houses.
Life can get difficult in an apartment if you have tingy neighbors. In houses, you will be able to create a wall of separation between you and your neighbors.
Space Involved
Flats and houses may not differ much in size but the contributing factor that makes the houses at par with the flats are garden space and expansion of the property. While the majority of flats may not come with garden space and almost none will come with an extension facility.
A building management company manages a flat while you are the owner of your house and can monitor them accordingly.
Location
In general, flats are more likely to be found in the city and outskirts region whereas houses are found more on the commuter belt.
Safety Issue
While considering the safety factor, flats are much safer than your houses depending on the location of your house. Apart from being located with ample people around you, flats are managed by management companies that offer security and maintenance services.
Maintenance Charges
Flats are generally maintained by a maintenance team where you need to align to the terms and conditions of the team. Whereas in houses you are the owner and any maintenance revolves around you. You are in full swing of anything and everything that needs to be fixed in your house, right from fixing things to hiring someone to do one for you.
Costs Involved
Flats come under leasehold agreements- where you own a piece of the apartment but not the land on which it resides, while houses come under freehold agreement- where you are the land owner. In houses, you are fully responsible for any additional maintenance cost, and they are quite expensive to purchase compared to flats.
Should I buy a flat or a house – the pros and cons
Pros and cons of buying a flat:
Pros
- A flat comes under a leasehold agreement which makes it eventually cheaper to purchase as compared to traditional houses.
- Flats are generally more secure in comparison to houses as they have coded entrances at the ground level and may help prevent certain miscreants from peeping in.
- They are generally maintained by the maintenance team so that you don’t have to worry about fixing pinpoints.
Cons-
- Flats are usually smaller than houses and mostly do not have garden spaces.
- Another disheartening factor that makes a flat a choice to reconsider is the noisy neighbours. You cannot separate yourself from the nuisance that they create in flats.
- Flats are generally under leasehold agreement which means you do not have the right over the land where the flat sits.
- Another factor that degrades flats are the mandatory building maintenance fees.
Pros and Cons of buying a house:
Pros-
- Houses are generally under freehold agreement which means you own the land where it sits.
- You have the freedom to expand your property and enjoy the garden space.
- Houses keep you at par in terms of privacy as you are not just separated by slick walls.
Cons-
- Houses are more expensive to buy as compared to flats.
- Maintenance comes over the individual’s pocket and has to be monitored by oneself.
- They are more likely not much safer, and location is a contributing factor.
- Houses are seen as a long-term financial investment, and the value of the property may not increase at first.
Should I Buy a Flat or a House?
Buying either a flat or house is completely dependent on individuals’ choices and several other factors such as the cost involved, risk, purpose and return. Whether you are buying a residential or a commercial property, is a matter of counter-check the pros and cons.
Conclusion
Choosing to buy a house or a flat is completely dependent on personal choices. Some people prefer flats over houses as they are convinced with their flexibility and convenience while others prefer houses over flats due to their long-term returns. As a potential buyer, it is pretty much your choice to choose one for yourself, looking at the pros and cons.
