Choosing between renting or buying a home is already a hard choice for a lot of people. If you decided to rent, there’s also the question of whether you will be renting a whole house or apartment. Depending on your circumstances, a different option might be better for you. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of renting a house vs apartment.
Advantages and Disadvantages of House Rentals
There is no one right decision when you’re choosing between renting a house or renting an apartment. A lot of people have different circumstances and different shelter needs. Find out if renting a whole house is the right option for you by checking out its pros and cons.
Pros
- Space: Space is an important thing to consider when you’re trying to find a home. When renting a house, expect more spacious rooms and additional function spaces such as a living room and parking space. It is also likely that you will receive an outdoor space for a yard or garden.
- Privacy: Living in a house is more enjoyable for some people because of privacy. Although there are still neighbors all around, your houses are separated with a considerable amount of space. Apartments would usually be separated by thin walls, which provide little to no privacy at all.
- Leisure: Do your hobbies produce loud noises such as playing an instrument or creating woodworking projects? Do you want to have a pet while living in an area? Because renting a house means that you’re not sharing space with other people, you have more leeway in doing whatever you want.
Cons
- Distance and Convenience: Most properties are erected in the suburbs, away from the major cities are establishments. This means that if you’re working in an urban area, you will likely have to drive or commute every day to go to work. You would also have to drive if you want to buy groceries, get entertainment, or visit hospitals and clinics for health concerns.
- More Maintenance: Although houses provide more space, privacy, and creativity, expect more work from getting all of those additional areas. You will have more rooms to clean, a garden, a lawn, and will have to take care of your own plumbing problems.
- Landlord Negotiations: Yep, you might not meet your landlord very often. You won’t even consider the fact that you have a landlord if he/she is a great person. However, since you’re renting his/her own house, you might have to negotiate on things and fight for your right as a tenant.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Renting an Apartment
Renting an apartment also comes with its different pros and cons. House rentals are not for everyone, and renting an apartment might actually be more beneficial. If you want to know more about renting an apartment, here are some pros and cons to consider.
Pros
- Cost: If your current budget is restricted, you might want to consider renting an apartment. An apartment unit is cheaper to rent than a whole house because you won’t be paying for extra spaces and utilities. In addition, the heating, cooling, water, and electricity bills are sometimes included in your monthly rent. Because apartments will only provide you with enough space to keep your activities going, you don’t have to pay extra for additional space heating or cooling.
- Ease of Moving Out: Are you constantly on the move because of the nature of your job? Apartment units offer flexibility when you’re always on the go. You don’t need to leave anything behind and worry about mortgages. In addition, acquiring a new unit is also an easy task. This is a perfect option for people who are growing in their careers or searching for new job opportunities in new places.
- Convenience: Because of its location, most apartments are surrounded by convenient stores, entertainment and shopping centers, restaurants, and fast-food chains. Almost everything that you need would be a 15-minute walk from your apartment. In addition, you would enjoy fewer maintenance jobs because utilities are handled by apartment management.
Cons
- Home Improvement: If you want to exercise your creativity, renting an apartment might not be the best option for you. You can’t really make home improvements such as renovating or remodeling your own unit to add more personality to it. If design changes are not forbidden by apartment management, it is utterly undoable because of limited space.
- Limited Space: Do you fancy adding different kinds of furniture or appliances to your home? When you’re moving in to an apartment, you’re limited to the things that you can bring along. Although this seems like a small thing to some people, you can feel the disadvantage of a small place one you started living in it.
- Nuisances: Whether its a faulty plumbing line, unclean water, or noisy neighbors, a lot of nuisances are connected to living in an apartment. You might have to improvise a clothesline, be creative in parking, fight against infestation, or use noise-cancelling headphones if you want to completely drown out the noise from other tenants at night.
Conclusion
House and apartment rentals have their own ups and downs. If you like to have more freedom, privacy and space, along with a more quiet environment, a house rental might be the best option for you. However, you might need to pay extra for these things. You might also need to be patient on doing more cleaning and maintenance. House rentals are recommended for families.
Apartment rentals tend to be limited in space and freedom of doing some things. However, if you want to save funds or don’t mind all the nuisances, apartments would likely give you a cheaper option with less maintenance.
Article By: Sam Radbil
Source: ABODO