Either of these two can be your first home, which is where you’ll make beautiful memories together and with your future kids.
When couples decide to get married, it usually means getting a new home where they can start raising a family. Not only is buying a house a long-term investment that can help newlyweds build resources as they spend the rest of their lives together, but it’s also a good way to start being independent of their respective families.
Although some families can be closely-knit, starting a new life should encourage couples to live separately from the rest of the family and take it as a training ground to become more responsible individuals and homeowners.
One of the first things to decide on is what type of property to buy. For most couples, the top two options are either a condominium or a house and lot. It will take a lot of weighing the pros and cons, so to help you know what’s in it for you, here’s a home buying guide that you can use to make your dream home a reality.
Option #1: Condominium
A condominium’s most attractive feature is convenient living. Since most condos are located in major cities around the country, you don’t have to go far to get basic goods and services for your family. Property developers strategically choose the location of their condominium projects to attract buyers who are concerned about accessibility to schools, offices, hospitals, and so on.
Condo living is perfect if you have a busy lifestyle at work as it allows you to save on travel time, as well as to perform family duties.
It’s easy for your small family to fit in a condominium, too. Although there are units that have two or three bedrooms, a 1-bedroom condominium should have enough space for you and your spouse. In the future, once you have children, you can move to another property to accommodate your growing family while you rent out the other unit as an additional source of income.
You’re also entitled to use the amenities provided by your condo developer. For a small fee or free, you can use the fitness center or gym, swimming pool, playground, game room, and function room located within the condo.
Prices for condo units range from P1.3 million to P4.9 million for mid-range units, depending on location, so expect to pay double-digits for your monthly amortization.
There are just a few things that you should think hard about before deciding to live in a condominium.
- Restrictions in a controlled environment—You may come across specific rules and regulations set by the administrators of the condo. If you notice, the façade of condo units are the same or uniform in terms of color; you’re not allowed to repaint or redesign it because it will look different than the rest. Most condo administrators also won’t allow you to make any changes to the interiors, like adding extra space, so basically, getting a condo is on an as-is basis.
- The high cost of living—The lifestyle of condo residents tends to be more affluent than a typical homeowner. Part of it is because condos are surrounded by commercial establishments, so spending may increase.
- Less privacy—Condo units are so close to one another, and hundreds of thousands of other residents use elevators. Hence, it’s inevitable that you’ll be seeing or running into several people as you go in and out of your unit.
Option #2: House and Lot
Compared with a condo, a house and lot are considered more cost-effective in the long run since buying a house means buying the lot where it is located, too. With a condo, your ownership is limited to the unit only. You don’t have any right of ownership to a plot of land in a condominium property since you’re sharing it with all the other residents.
A house and lot are also deemed more family-friendly. You have more freedom and flexibility on how you want to design it, depending on the needs of your family. It’s your private property, so you can do as you please, whether it involves adding an upper level, expanding the ground floor, and so on.
Additionally, a house and lot can provide the peace, quiet, and security that you want. You can put up a gate in front of your house for more privacy. Although you’ll have neighbors, it’s not really common practice for house and lot dwellers to mingle so much with one another, but there will always be somebody willing to lend a hand during emergencies because the sense of community is there.
As you may expect, it’s more expensive to get a house and lot property in the metropolitan area, but that shouldn’t be your only option. There are also affordable eco-friendly home packages in nearby provinces, and you can take advantage of the fact that there’s enough infrastructure in those areas. As such, transportation and accessibility won’t be much of a problem.
The Verdict
Both a condominium and a house and lot are ideal for newlyweds. Either of the two can be your first home, which is where you’ll make beautiful memories together and with your future kids.
You only need to identify the more important things for you at the time of your home shopping—convenience versus privacy, short-term or long-term family goals, and so on—before the whole picture becomes clearer to you.
Rose is a licensed real estate broker and the co-founder of RE/MAX Gold Philippines, a real estate company in the Philippines. Acting and real estate have always been her passions since childhood. She confidently helps close record breaking deals for residential and commercial buyers while leading her team to success. Check out their website at remaxgold.ph.
