With rapid development in Malaysia and the ever increasing population, much land area has been cleared for commercial and residential projects. This has led to scarcity of land which resulted in the emergence of high-rise residential buildings – apartments and condos.
High-rise living has become quite popular in recent years but some still prefer to live in landed properties such as terrace houses, semi-detached and bungalows. In fact, each property, condo or landed, has its advantages and disadvantages:
Space and Privacy
Landed properties come with a small plot of land which you are free to use as you please. It can be turned into a beautiful garden, a recreational area for your kids or an extra parking lot.
While the terraced houses are separated by walls, the semi-detached and bungalows have more space between each house. Hence, residents are less likely to hear noises from their neighbours which is a common complaint for condo units due to close proximity living. With more space and privacy, landed property is a better choice for big families or families with children.
Facilities
High-rise residences may lose out in space compared to landed properties but it compensates with common facilities which is accessible to residents only. Many high-end condos feature facilities such as swimming pool, gymnasium, community hall, reflexology path, landscaped garden, children’s playground, yoga deck, tennis court and much more.
All facilities are located within the condo compound for extra convenience. However, residents of landed properties will need to travel to different locations to access different facilities unless you have a bungalow with all the built-in facilities.
Maintenance fee
Many condos are built with common areas such as garden and other facilities which need to be maintained. The monthly maintenance fee is charged to residents. Some may find it a little unfair to pay the high cost of maintenance when they hardly use the facilities.
For others, the monthly payment is an additional cost of living. Since owners of landed properties maintain their own house and land, they need not worry about paying monthly maintenance fees.
Security
One of the top reasons cited for choosing high-rise over landed properties is safety as most of them are gated and guarded. All high-rise residences excluding low-cost apartments have some sort of security system in place. The system can be as basic as a guardhouse and guard patrol or a sophisticated one with multi-tiered security features including intercom, access card and CCTV.
Even though many residential areas also feature their own security system, it is much harder to manage due to the large number of houses spread over a wide area. Since high-rise residences mainly consist of several buildings in one small area, the security system would be more effective.
Resale value
When you purchase a landed property, you get ownership of the house and the land. You can continue to maintain the property for as long as you own it.
For a condo, maintenance is the shared responsibility of all its residents. Hence, if a large number of residents do not pay their maintenance fees, the condo may become rundown over the years. For these two reasons, landed properties generally have a better resale value compared to condos.
Conclusion
Many single working adults may prefer condo for its facilities but families with children would want landed properties for more space and privacy. For property investors, the resale value of each property type will play a major role in their decision. There are no hard and fast rules in this matter. After all, choosing the right property largely depends on your lifestyle and personal needs.
For a comprehensive listing for houses, click on ‘House for Sale’ or check out ‘Condominium for Sale’ if you prefer the high-rise option.