apartment complex vs. house?

I've enver lived in a large complex. I've had a house, lived in a 4plex, and now live in an apartment above a garage.

o\One thing that's turned me off of a complex is parking. I NEED to have an attached garage, or be able to park right in front of my house. I ould go nuts dragging kids and groceries and stuff from a parking area to my apartment.

Second, I would not like to have the landlord/owner on site.

Then, like you said, havung to pay for laundry would be a big pain.

well, the biggest thing I can think of is cost! Around here, houses are usually twice as much as apartments.

you know, I always hated complexes but I'm going to be moving into one again.

I'm doing it because of location- we're moving to Atlanta GA, in an area that makes me kind of nervous (most of my city living was done in rochester and buffalo NY, which are not scary cities in terms of crime) so we found a gated complex for what i feel is a ridiculous price, but whatever.

the only reason i did not like living in a complex before was the noise, smelling people's cooking, and small apartments. but if you find the right complex, that can be overlooked or avoided.

with the landlord problems I have had this year when I rented a house, I am looking forward to a managed property.

I can't stand apartment complexes.

I don't even have kids, and I can't imagine what it would be like to try to bring bags of food or books from my car or the bus to my apartment, plus my tag alongs and their assorted paraphenelia.

I find apartments to be less private than duplexes/4plexes/basement suites/etc. The general layout of an apartment building usually includes communal hallways and laundry areas ( which SUCK, especially if your complex allots only specific times and dates for your laundry performing duties ), mailboxes, and entrances. I know that when I get home after work/school/grocery shopping/etc the last thing I want to do is talk to five people on the way to my suite about the new paint on the doors or the lady in 304 who lets her cats pee in the hallway. I also find apartment buldings have more restrictions than suites/x-plexes, such as painting, curtain color if you have windows, pets, music, smoking, talking on your deck...on and on.

However, in the interest of saving money, apartments can be wayyyyyy cheaper. Not all apartment buildings are like my description above. There are many truly great apartment buildings where utilities, internet, and cable, etc. are all included and the building managers are nice people.

Many suites and plexes have tight-ass landlords too, and sometimes you have to live under/beside/above them. They may have even more intense regulations than apartments, since plexes and suites are usually privately owned properties, and your living happiness depends on how chill (or not chill) your landlords are.

So that's my personal-experience-angry two cents. Good luck finding a place!!!

theriverpiedra:we're moving to Atlanta GA, in an area that makes me kind of nervous ,so we found a gated complex for what i feel is a ridiculous price, but whatever.

I just wanted to say that having been a resident of Atlanta for 20 years, that I have lived in every and I do mean every housing project there is or ever has been here, and not once have myself or any neighbors that I have known been victims of crime. I recently moved to the more suburban so to speak side of town, in a gated community more than some people pay in house mortgages to say the least and as not to offend anyone and my neighbors broke into my car and stole my audio equipment and I had to install a surveillance system in my home, after coming home to find my door kicked in. I honestly feel that the gates keep out the police who should be patrolling and lock in the drug dealers and criminals. I have found that like others have said duplexes, etc to be a better move. I do apologize for the long post, but I sometimes feel compelled to warn people about certain things with hopes that they can learn or have an advantage on account of my experience.

The only reason I would prefer a house is because I want a backyard for my daughter. Although I have found apartments less stressful when it comes to landlords and repairs.

I personally prefer apartments and will hopefully never have a house, ever. My dream home is a condo or townhome that I own. Anyway, the only 2 things that bother me about apartment complex living are #1 smelling other people's food (I am very picky and hate the smell of most food), and #2 when the other kids in the building are loud.

I love being able to call my landlord and have stuff taken care of right away if there is a problem. Also, parking hasn't been an issue for me. In apartment complexes that I've lived in, I've almost always had an underground, heated parking spot, or a garage (don't have one now because I don't need one, but I park in a lot that is seriously no further than a garage would be).

to the two other posters i live in atlanta, in sort of a " bad " area, however the rent is very cheap and its a huge complex, 25 buildings with 10 apartments per building, some are three some are 2 and only about 50 are one bedroom, it is gated but the gates never work because they cant afford to keep fixing them, i really love my apartment, i often wish for a yard but for now this is what i can afford. a few good things about big complex's, fast service, we have a 24 maintance, also im sure the owner or anyone who works at the office lives in the complex but parking is an ass.

I think duplexes are a nice compromise. When I lived in a big complex I was upstairs (and very pregnant) and some creep stole my bath towels. Also I really like having a yard.

i currently live in a medium-sized apartment complex, comprised of multiple buildings with 2 stairwells in each, with each stairwell having 8 aprtments. i like it. i miss the openness and yard of living in a house but i honestly can't complain about living here. we have "quiet hours" and other regulations but i can handle that. we also have in-unit washer and dryers, so no more coin laundry!

This is just my own experience, and your mileage may vary, but I've found it less expensive to rent a house. When Husband and I were looking for a place to live, we found it (first of all) beneficial not to rely on the classified ads, and to actually drive around the areas we were interested in living in. Many houses were for rent that were not listed in any newspaper. We found that for about what we'd have to pay for a comparable apartment, we could rent a house that had an attic, basement and fenced in back yard. We've been married almost five years, the point at which at lot of folks would say "why don't you just buy a house?", but right now, comparing prices, we save money renting a house rather than buying.

I'm on my 3rd apartment since i've been on my own.. my first place was an upper flat in a house (2 apts).. my 2nd was also in a house which had 3 apts.. my current place is in a complex (2 buildings.. like 18 apts each)

Honestly, i love my current place.. its the biggest apt ive had and the rent is pretty cheap for a 2 bedroom.. its a pretty quiet building (lots of older people), and we have coin op laundry in the basement which is nice..

Both houses i lived in, i had issues with the other tenants..

I've lived in a condo, an apartment and now a house.

Here are the pluses and minus..

My condo was individually owned. There was no on site maintenence so things that broke had to wait to be fixed sometimes. It was also a PLUS that there was no on site mangament because I didnt have to worry about someone looking over my shoulder all the time. Carryin groceries in was AWFUL because we were upstairs and did not even have sight of our vehicles once we were inside. We had a car stolen from there actually.

Large Complex was nice for a lot of reasons... 24 hour maintence, swimming pool, lake for fishing, tennis courts, fitness center, tanning bed...VERY nice perks.. The downside..The dumpster was so far from our apartment that we actually had to load our trash into the car and drive it to the dumpster.. It was awful..

Living in a house. So far I can find no minuses. I've only been in my house about 3 weeks now and I am LOVING it.. We have a HUGE fenced backyard, more space for less money. No neighbors above, below or beside us making noise. It is incredible. The only drawback I can think of is taking care of the lawn but I actually enjoy cutting grass..and some places include lawn service with rent.

I know each of these things will not be true for you indivdually..it all depends on the management of each property..but theres just an in general idea of my experiences.