What is the Right Type of Home for You?
Category Buying & Selling Tips
Everyone is different and when it comes to finding the right type of home for ourselves and our families, we need to carefully consider our needs and wants. There are three different types of homes available to choose from and each presents its own advantages and disadvantages, and each is suited to different types of people. Read below to find out all the advantages and disadvantages of each type to help you decide which will be best for you.
“Detached” or Freestanding Home:
The detached home is one of the most popular options for families in South Africa with many options available for location, size, architectural style, and garden preferences.
The detached home offers families the most privacy, space, and independence for deciding how to use the space available. Detached homes will usually increase in value over time, making them a sound property investment and the extra space allows for more furniture and a comfortable home for multiple family members.
The few things to consider when looking at detached homes are that a bigger house requires more time cleaning and maintaining. Maintenance and repairs on detached homes can also be a much more costly job than an apartment or townhouse with bigger areas to consider.
Town Houses and Clusters:
Townhouses and clusters fall in between a detached home and an apartment, giving a comfortable middle ground preferred by a wide range of South African families. Clusters and Townhouses are smaller homes connected in rows or vertically with two or three stories.
Many ground floor townhouses and clusters will contain a small garden allowing for small animals. The advantages to a townhouse of cluster home are the communities become close and tight-knit, providing a sense of security. Some home maintenance will be covered by a high Home Owners Association fee, and homes will often be more affordable than detached homes.
Before buying a townhouse, you will need to consider that all renovations will need approval from the Home Owners Association, your space will be limited and you will be sharing areas such as parking and staircases with neighbours.
Apartments:
Apartments are a single unit within a large building and can come in various sizes from having several rooms to being a studio, open plan throughout the whole space. These types of homes would benefit smaller family units such as couples and singles.
The advantages to living in an apartment include covered maintenance costs through rent or the usual agreements made with landlords. Utility bills can often be lower than cluster or detached home living as you may not be entirely responsible for lights and water unless the apartment has prepaid electricity. Many new apartment complexes include lifestyle amenities such as fitness centres and in-building security.
The disadvantages to living in an apartment is less privacy than you would get when living in a cluster or detached home as sounds from the neighbours can easily travel through shared walls. Unless there is designated parking for each apartment unit, finding a safe place for your car can become a difficult activity. Space can be a little limited and while some apartment buildings may provide a communal garden, others may not.
Finding the right home for you may be a challenge; at one point you may think you have found your dream home only to realize that it may be too big or too small for you and your family. This easy guide to the advantages and disadvantages, finding the right type of home may be a little easier.
Author: Lillian Rencken
