Apartment downsides

thestar

Looking to possibly buy an apartment and thinking of the pro's and cons as opposed to a house. The main downsides to me are

parking

Management fees

Maintenance fees.

The apartment I'm looking at doesn't have a parking spot which is the major downside for me. I also don't see anywhere in the area to rent/buy one.

HeidiHeidi

I bought a house about 20 years ago, had to move out to get building work done on it.

I hated the thought of living in an apartment (had only ever lived in one abroad) - multi-occupancy building, lack of privacy etc etc.

I spent 9 months in that rented apartment, and on the day I moved out I met/spoke to the first person the entire time. It was the complete opposite to what I'd imagined (I still hated it!)

The house is a much more "normal" existence (for me, I'm at least one generation removed from you, I suspect) - neighbours know each other, chats on the road, very sociable.

That will not be the case for every house, obviously - nor the case for apartment blocks either. Just my experience, FWIW.

You'll have maintenance fees on a house as well. Management fees (as well as management agent, and OMC, and how they run the development) are absolutely things you should do diligent research on.

You'll be in very close proximity to other housing units, and have absolutely no control over who lives there - same goes for a house, obviously, but it's not quite such close quarters. See if you can get a vibe of what the development is like - but remain aware that that can change very quickly.

You'll need to decide yourself if no parking is an issue - it would be a hard no from me, but some people live happily not owning a car, and just renting or using GoCar or similar (and probably spend half of what I do on cars!). Very much depends on your work/lifestyle

J_1980

• Lack of storage is the biggest one
• Too small sizes being amplified by that
• Houses have maintenance costs too (many people moaning about service charges ignore that) but you can DIY some things and look after the dwelling yourself to prevent major issues which makes it cheaper

kippy

Generally the lack of private outdoor space is a con. It limits what you can do. But I suppose it can be worked around. Others might see this as a pro, no maintenance.

Access can be another con, depending on your situation. No private access means reliance on OMC to keep stairwells/hallways and lifts secured, clear and operational. This can be an issue if limited mobility, you have kids, carry big loads to and from apartment.

Storage limitations, can be worked around but depends on your situation as mentioned.

Very close proximity to many neighbours(potentially) an issue that can be made worse by poor build quality but on the upside may be cheaper to heat.

Parking and location of parking as already mentioned.

Generally, a higher risk of fire and flood.

There's a few more but they are the biggies for me.