When you feel like you are finally done with renting and want a place of your own, then it seems logical to upgrade and move into a house. However, that isn’t always the best option for people. Not everybody needs to live in a house so sometimes a condo is the logical choice.
How do you know what’s better? There are a number of factors that you should go over before calling a real estate agent. Once you have taken a look at both from multiple angles then it will be clear what your best option will be. In this article, we will go over several factors to consider.
Think about the area
Where you plan to live is going to factor very highly into your decision. For instance, if you are looking at homes for sale In Toronto then you likely will be faced with mostly condos. There aren’t going to be many house options in a city that size.
If you are thinking of living in a rural area, then you aren’t likely to find many condos there. It will mainly be single-family houses with some land for a garden. Think about what type of setting that you want to live in as you will have to go for what the prevalent style of housing will be.
City living will not only have mainly condos as your option, but it is also more suitable for apartment living since you don’t need much space. In the country, the houses are the size they are for a reason.
Lifestyle
If you are looking to live the life of a homesteader then you probably aren’t thinking about a condo so your best option is to have a house that affords you the possibility of a garden and space to do projects. An urban dweller is likely going to thrive in a condo since there is very little maintenance to do to live there. This leaves more time to do things in the city like go to museums and coffee shops.
How you live is directly tied to the type of housing that is going to be best suited to your lifestyle.
Costs
The purchase cost of condos is so wide-ranging that you could easily spend the same or more than you would for a house. Let’s take a look at the ongoing costs instead to get an idea of what you are getting into with either scenario.
It may seem like a house is going to cost more because there is more to maintain. You may have to replace a roof or spend money each season on landscaping which can get expensive.
However, even though the maintenance is minimal in a condo, you often have condo fees to pay to spread the cost of the expenses across all of the residents in the building.
Taxes on a big house may seem high, but you can also pay more for a small apartment if it is in a downtown area with high property values. These costs could easily come out being even.
