What are you searching for? A House or a Condo (Part 2)

The characteristics of a common condo purchaser was the topic of our previous article. Today we will look at the characteristics of a typical house owner.

A house is Susie's preferred possibility.

Susie cannot imagine living without having some privacy. When she was in college, she had enough of communal living and presently she doesn't miss having only thin walls between her and her neighbors at all. Spending some more time for traveling to work is not a problem for Susie, as long as she has her privacy and enough space around. And as for shopping, she just takes her SUV to the supermarket once a week and load it up. When Susie was little, she used to play around the yard all the time. And this is what she wants also for her own two children, who mean everything to her. Another advantage is that a lot of other families with school age kids live around, and it's really handy to know the other parents and consult experience with school sports, the best babysitters and the new off-leash park. And although Susie and her husband Stuart haven’t really thought about expanding their family, it’s just possible that in the future they might have another baby, or maybe Stuart’s mother might need to move in with them later in life. Therefore they for sure need enough room for the family to expand. In a house, there is also enough space for hobbies - for instance Stuarts has a vintage car in the garage where he likes working and their daughter Jenny plays the drums. Both of this wouldn't be feasible to do in a flat. The drums are already loud enough when Jenny plays in the basement, so they are planning to soundproof it and build in a bathroom, which would make a great teenage retreat. During the weekends, Susie's hobby is digging around in her garden, which she really loves and is proud of - nothing compares to picking fresh vegetables for a salad while Stuart prepares stuff for a barbecue. Susie and Stuart also consider very important the fact that they actually own the land they live on. Well, if the roof leaks (as it did last year after all those storms), it's still their own roof and they had some cash for such emergencies set aside. Every house just needs some occasional repairs, that goes without doubts. Susie and Stuart have divided all the upkeeping tasks up and each of them knows what his/her responsibility is - for Susie, it's cutting the grass, while Stuart has to take the recycling out to the curb. They just don't mind this work, it's a part of their life. And the security issue? Susie believes in the new system they just installed against thieves, and in the residents' association that keeps watching what's going on around. She is just satisfied in their secure neighborhood and wants to stay there long-time and put down roots.

Which characteristics resonated with you the most – Hari’s story or Susie’s story? Neither of them? Well, in that case you might like to consider living in a condo town house, which has some pluses of both a condo and a house.

Final advice If you decide to buy a house, then we recommend that your mortgage combined with all property taxes shouldn't eat up more than 25 per cent of your monthly income, just to make sure you have enough cash left for any necessary upkeeping. First try to estimate the necessary up keeping costs and also to what extent you are able to manage the repairs needed, as all the responsibility (from a leaky faucet to a flooded basement) will be just upon you. Consider the financial and physical cost of commuting, which is likely to grow if you will be moving to a suburb. Always ask for a new home inspection and examine it in detail, so that you won't come across any nasty surprises that would ruin your carefully organized budget. For example, a fixer-upper with an ancient furnace, old wiring and insufficient insulation will demand a more or less immediate cash infusion just to make the house livable.