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You have been in the same home for several years, but you want to move. You'll need to decide whether to rent or buy and if you decide to buy, what type of home you want. Condominiums, townhouses and single-family homes all have benefits, depending on where you are in life. Many people don’t want to deal with lawn maintenance when they get older. Sometimes, younger people who are focused on their careers would rather not have any maintenance to deal with. However, the perks of owning a single-family home often outweigh the cons, especially if the only con is the maintenance. After all, you can always hire someone to take care of the maintenance.

More Privacy

Even if you are in the city with your neighbors close to you, you have more privacy with a single-family home than you would with a condo or a townhouse. Even though you have a yard with a townhouse, you'll likely share it with the others in the same building. And, when you share a wall with your neighbor, you must be mindful of loud noises, which means you can’t turn the television up as loud as you want. With a single-family home, you can also fence in your backyard for even more privacy.

Add-Ons

When you buy a single-family home, you can add to the value of the property without getting anyone’s permission. If you want to add a garden shed, a detached garage or even a pool, as long as zoning allows it, you can do that. However, if you are buying a house in a neighborhood with deed restrictions, you will probably have to get permission from the property association before initiating these projects.

Additionally, with a single-family home, you can build out additions on as long as you can get the permits. Maybe you have aging parents you want near you. If they don’t want to live in the same house, you can add on an in-law apartment, guest house on the property, or even add a bedroom suite to your house. If you start out small but decide to have more kids than you originally planned, you can add more bedrooms to a single-family house.

If you plan on adding to your property, you probably want to avoid restricted deed neighborhoods.

Entertaining

Single-family homes are usually better for entertaining as they have more room inside and out. With a single-family house, you can add decks and porches to your specifications. You can even create an outdoor living area complete with a kitchen and screened in patio that you can enjoy yourself or for entertaining large groups. If you do enjoy entertaining, a home with an open floor plan makes gatherings more comfortable because you don’t have walls creating smaller spaces. People can mingle throughout the living room, dining room, kitchen and den areas. Adding French doors out to the deck or patio makes your entertaining space even larger.

Tag: Buying Tips