ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF AN APARTMENT :

ADVANTAGES OF AN APARTMENT:

• One of the key advantage of an apartment is security for your family members in the event you are traveling or for the expensive house hold goods.

• Facilities such as power and water backup, uninterrupted supply of cooking gas would help you to live a hazzle free life. The scarcity of power and good water is becoming a serious problem in most top cities and the problem is expected to escalate more in the future.

• An apartment which is part of a large development will have a well maintained garden and landscaping as part of the complex. This will provide  space for you and your family to take a stroll and relax.

• Club facilities will provide you access to gym, sports, swimming pool etc which will help you to lead an active and healthy life – a must need in the current high stress environment.

• Services such as plumber, electrician are available on call (from the society) which will help to reduce the hazel of maintaining your home.

• If you own an apartment and you get transferred, some societies help the apartment owners to rent out the apartment which will enable you to generate revenue from the asset with limited efforts.

• No war of words with neighbor for parking space which has become a daily phenomenon in the larger cities. The parking slots are well defined and allocated in case of flats.

• If you are staying in a city where you don’t have any friends or relatives nearby it’s always better to go for a flat as you can get acquainted to some of the many families in the apartment.

• Availability of convenience stores with the apartment complex help you to shop for basic essential / groceries easily.

• Apartment complexes have staff that comes to collect payments for usage of utilities such as electricity, water, internet etc which removes any hazel of setting reminders for making payment.

DISADVANTAGES OF AN APARTMENT:

• Maintenance of the common facilities would come at a cost. Typically they range from Rs 1 per sqft to Rs 2.5 (for luxury properties) per month.

• Limited or no freedom to make modifications to the exteriors your home.

•  Very limited space to develop interests such gardening or growing smaller farm animals (societies mostly object to the same).

• Sound seepage between the wall of the adjoining apartments or voice from lower or higher floor could irritate you and visa versa especially if you have a nocturnal neighbour.

• If you are a believer in “good walls make good neighbors”, then apartment may not be the best option. A life long problem if you cannot get along with your neighbours in the same floor.

• No flexibility to expand the space for future needs as your children grow or if your parents move in to live with you.