Which is the practical option?

(Conclusion)

Prestige, status symbol

A condominium unit is said to offer some sort of “psychological” advantage over a house and lot in terms of the kind of prestige and the status symbol it gives to the owners—except of course, if the address of your house is a posh subdivision.

To a yuppie, a condominium would be great. But for a married couple with growing kids, a house is always a better option even without the prestige and the status symbol attached to it.

Security

Many believe that a condominium can offer better security than a subdivision because the former usually has closed circuit televisions, with some even having state-of-the-art security features like video entry phone systems and controlled elevator access for guests.

Such features give parents—who are buying condo units for their schooling children—a greater peace of mind as compared to having their children reside in a subdivision or at boarding houses.

Size, cost per square meter

In contrast to a condominium unit, a house and lot offers you more living space at a lot lesser cost per square meter.

Although it may appear at first that bigger means better, a house and lot has its own disadvantages too. The bigger the lot or the floor area, the bigger of course would be the unit owner’s share in the association dues. In addition, a bigger lot or floor area means a higher cost of maintenance.

Property taxes

Property taxes in urban areas, where many condominiums are located, are definitely higher than taxes imposed on houses and lots located outside of the metropolis. Nonetheless, all unit owners in a condominium project proportionately share in the property tax, hence making it affordable.

Community relationship

Residents of subdivisions claim to enjoy closer neighbor-to-neighbor relationship than unit owners in condominiums.

For obvious reasons, people residing in a housing neighborhood get to see and chat with each other more often than condo unit owners who mostly confine themselves within their units upon getting home.

Accessibility

Perhaps the most distinct advantage of condominiums is its accessibility to the day-to-day requirements of the urban jungle such as fastfood outlets, malls, universities and offices to name a few. Condominium living is associated with convenience being within striking distance from your home.

Amenities

Nowadays, amenities that can be found in subdivisions are being matched by condominium developers by including these amenities like swimming pools, gymnasium, play area, basketball court, etc. within the premises of the project.

But still, big residential subdivisions enjoy an advantage over condo developments when it comes to amenities because of the huge available land area as against the limited area that condominiums have.

Parking area

As more people can now afford a car—at times even more than just one vehicle—parking spaces have naturally become a growing concern. On this aspect, buying a house and lot becomes a more practical choice rather than a condo, where prices of parking spaces can cost as much as or even higher than a house and lot.

Timetable of completion

Depending on the urgency of a buyer’s need to occupy the unit, owning a house may stand as an advantage over a condo because the former can be completed within an average of about four to eight months, unlike a condominium project which normally takes two to three years to complete.

Ownership

Both house and lot and condo units offer the buyer absolute ownership as evidenced either by a Condominium Certificate of Title or a Transfer Certificate of Title.

The advantage of a condo unit is its flexibility to be sold even to foreigners. A lot of buyers, however, opt to own a house and lot which they can pass on to their children and their children’s children in perpetuity as against some condo units wherein ownership is restricted to a long-term period (usually 50 years) only.

Improvement flexibility

A house and lot owner has an advantage over a condo unit owner in terms of the former enjoying the liberty of renovating, expanding or adapting changes within and outside his unit for as long as such improvements do not violate the restrictions of the subdivision.

In comparison, a condo unit owner can only make improvements inside his unit without the possibility of expansion.

Budget

This factor, by far, spells the major consideration in choosing the practicality of either a condo or a house purchase.

After all, how much a buyer can spend for the downpayment and the amortization of his unit without affecting his capacity to meet his other living expenses, is the ultimate gauge of what’s practical or not.

Which is the more practical buy between a house and a condominium, therefore, is a question that can be answered best by only the buyer.

Nonetheless, valuable inputs can be obtained from a credible real estate agent especially if the agent understands fully the underlying purpose or objectives of the buyer in making the purchase.

James Aguila is the EVP of SLLI Global Marketing Inc., the newest marketing group of Sta. Lucia Land Inc. and Sta. Lucia Realty Development Inc.