What about an apartment?

Differences to consider between an apartment and a house

Have you considered owning an apartment?

Cost considerations

Apartments may be more affordable purchase price than comparable houses. It's important to also be aware that apartments often come with costs you wouldn't have with a house, such as maintenance or management fees and strata fees.

Less maintenance

When owning your own house, if your air conditioning breaks or you have a leaky roof, it's up to you to source and pay for the repairs. Apartments usually have maintenance staff or a site manager so you can report the issue to them and they'll organise the repairs for you. For the most part, your maintenance fees (or strata fees) will cover the cost of the repairs needed. There is likely to be less maintenance involved too as you are not likely to be responsible for the external areas of the building.

Urban lifestyle and access to public transport

Do you want to be closer to the city and have easy access to amenities? Or do you dream of suburban life? If the city life is for you, apartments might be your best option. They are often located in central locations full of amenities and transport hubs. New apartments often build amenities on the ground floor of their building, such as coffee shops or gyms.

However, if living in the suburbs far from the hustle and bustle of the city is for you, you may find you have more choices in houses than apartments.

Space

When choosing an apartment over a house, you are sacrificing space. If you need a lot of room and dream of having a backyard, a house may be the best option for you.

With apartments, although you may not have as much space, you’ll find that you may be making significant savings on your utility bills as you may have lower power or water consumption.

Often newer apartment complexes will have a communal outdoor area for tenants to enjoy. So although you may not have your own garden, you may still have a nice area to enjoy a barbeque with your friends.

Privacy

A benefit of living in a house is you generally have a bit of space between you and your neighbours. So you can go about your day or have friends over to your house without worrying that you may be disturbing others, and vice versa.

When living in an apartment, your neighbours can be a lot closer and you may hear more comings and goings. it’s a good idea to sit and spend some time in an apartment to see what the noise acoustics are like too.

A home loan designed for apartment living

Start living your urban lifestyle sooner with our Urban Connect Home Loan, available for medium and high-density apartments, giving you more choice in where you live and what you can buy.