There always seems to be some sort of debate that ensues when it comes to which is better than the other. Chocolate or vanilla? Coke or Pepsi? Apartment Living or living in your own house. One just happens to be on a whole other level of concern. So which is better? Living and renting out an apartment? Or saving up, and purchasing your own home? Well, we are here to help you decide by breaking down the benefits of living in either one, and it is up to you to decide which you prefer.
Maintenance
One of the major problems when it comes to renting an apartment or maintaining your home is in fact maintenance. However, dealing with maintenance can be two totally different experiences when you live in an apartment, compared to when you own a house. While you may own your own home, if anything were to break, like the air conditioning going out, or a light fixture decides to give out and snap, it falls onto your hands to replace it, coming out of your pocket. Living in an apartment, you do not need to worry about fixing anything, just giving the call that you need something to be replaced. Never wait for the day you move out to have anything fixed, if you do, you will more than likely be charged for damage. The only main negative about maintenance in an apartment is the individual in charge of the maintenance case not showing up timely. That may be due to the fact that they are assisting other renters or it might be in fact the team does not have the best work ethic. We hope when you rent you have a good property manager with the best work ethic.
Maintenance is not just limited to fixing appliances, it also means maintaining the yard, and if you have a house, you are tasked with that duty. If you are blessed with apartment living, you are living life a little stress-free. With owning a home, you may fall under a Homeowners Association group which means you have to maintain the way your home looks on the outside, including trees, your yard, and the driveway. Leaves need to be raked, and if you live in an area where snow is a normal occurrence, you have to make sure you keep your driveway shoveled. Granted, you will have to shovel your driveway anyway in order to get to work, but with an apartment, you do not need to worry about any of that!
Ownership
Now with owning a home, you can easily say the house is yours, which is true. You can claim ownership proudly, you can paint the walls whatever colors you want and decide if you prefer carpeted floors or hardwood. You can even hire a moving company like Allen & Son Moving and Storage to move your furniture with complete ease without having to get permission from an apartment complex to tell them where to park.
When living in an apartment, you can not replace the carpet or hardwood floors. You basically get what you agreed to upon the least contract. Sometimes you are able to paint the walls, but before you end your lease you will have to paint the walls back to their original color or you will be charged, much like if you forget any maintenance reports. Let us also not forget if the carpet is ever damaged, you will have to pay to replace it and you can say bye-bye to the security deposit you were hoping to get back.
Space
If you are someone who does not necessarily keep many sentimental items or decorations, space is probably not something very important to you, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you are someone who does need space, living in an apartment limits your options. Granted, there will be opportunities to rent a house that will grant you the space you are looking for, but if you have a habit of moving frequently, you may not have as many items to move.
With a house, you have more options when it comes to picking furniture or even having a collection of sorts. With more space, it brings you more room keeping family members apart and not driving each other crazy. Everyone needs alone time every now and then. Plus, with that space, the family can grow and you could get your own pet without worrying about an apartment pet fee. If you do happen to expand on your family, having space like a backyard would also be beneficial, and once again, you will not have a backyard when renting an apartment.
Amenities
Now while you do have all that space in a house, you have to fill that house with necessities like a washer and dryer. Heaven forbid you to decide to install a pool in the backyard, it costs money, as well as time.
While renting an apartment you have a chance of renting an apartment with a washer and dryer unit, or you can simply go to the laundry room usually provided on the apartment complex property. Preferably the units would be in the apartment, but with the units in a separate laundry room, you will not have to worry about them breaking and waiting for maintenance to come around your apartment to fix them. You can simply just use a different unit in the laundry room since usually, they have multiple options.
Most of the time, apartments will also have amenities such as a pool. Maintenance for the pool falls into the hands of the apartment management to clean. There is a possibility of a gym being included on the property too which means there is no need to build your own gym in a house, or even get a gym membership.
Cost
Rent and mortgage can be tricky. Not every apartment or every home is the same, and it can fluctuate from state to state, even overseas. However, if you are trying to purchase a house, it will be far more expensive and a mortgage tends to be a little pricer than renting. That is not to say renting is easy. If you live in locations like Los Angeles or New York City, rent tends to be far higher and you are not necessarily getting more space. A studio apartment in Los Angeles can start around $1400, and a studio in New York City can start from $700 and go up to $6500. There are locations, like in Florida that can be far cheaper in rent.
Safety
When you rent an apartment, safety precautions differentiate between apartment complexes. There is no guarantee that there will be security on the property, or even be a gated community. Usually, when these are included in an apartment complex the price of rent does go up. The benefit of living in an apartment when it comes to security is that the neighbors are close. Chances are they will hear any peculiar noises and can assist you if the time comes. However, when renting an apartment, and depending on the property management’s rules and regulations, you might not be able to install cameras by your front door. Be sure to check with your landlord before installing any security cameras.
With a home, you can install as many outdoor cameras as you want, as long as it follows the Homeowners Association if your home does fall into such a jurisdiction.
Moving
Moving can be easy either way when you hire a moving company like Allen & Son Moving and storage, but when it comes to the finance of it, it is not so easy.
When moving out of an apartment, you have fewer items making the move ideally quick, as long as everything is packed, which again, Allen & Son Moving and Storage can always assist you with. You can move from one apartment to another with ease, and if you have saved up, you can always move into a home.
Unfortunately, if you like moving homes frequently, it is not easy to do so with a house. With an apartment you just let the landlord let them know you are moving after the lease is up, find a new apartment complex and sign a new lease and move in! With a home, you have to plan out how to sell your home, how to put your home on display for others to buy it, and then you still have to buy your new home and wait to see if you are approved too.
If you like an easy move without stress, perhaps apartment living is for you. If you are someone who is trying to settle down and try not to move, then purchasing a home is better suited for you. It all depends on your preference!
