Choosing an apartment is a rather complicated and labor-intensive process that requires certain knowledge from the buyer. Some people have been looking for a suitable home for years, and someone buys the first apartment they like without going into the details of the transaction and the object. But still, it would be more correct to approach the issue of buying an apartment as carefully as possible, otherwise there is a risk of acquiring a “pig in a poke”. In order not to miss the best option and be confident in your decision, find out what you need to pay attention to when choosing a home and what mistakes to avoid.
Which layout to choose?
The layout of the apartment includes the total number of rooms, their location, the area of the premises, the type of bathroom, the number of windows, etc. In order not to get involved in redevelopment in the future and not to waste your nerves on thinking through the situation in the apartment, we will try to briefly consider what you really need to pay attention to.
Before choosing an apartment, be sure to look at the layout of the future housing. For example, consider the layout of a three-room apartment – a good option for a large family. There is a separate bathroom, niches for a closet, a large kitchen-living room for convenient meetings with friends, etc.
- Think about where you will spend your leisure time with the whole family. It should be the most comfortable and cozy place. A kind of “collection point”, a spacious common space. Modern kitchen-living rooms are perfect for this (there is no need to move dishes and a table from the kitchen), or a separate, but spacious living room.
- Keep in mind that non-standard-shaped rooms can cause a lot of trouble. As a rule, rooms with sharp or rounded shapes are poorly functional and non-ergonomic, in addition, such rooms are difficult to furnish with furniture.
- Discard elongated rectangular rooms. Looking at the layout of the apartment, it may seem that the area of the rooms in it is quite large, but this is only at first glance. In fact, elongated and oblong rectangular rooms are very uncomfortable, when you furnish them with furniture, it turns out that there is absolutely no room left for your free movement.
- Pay attention to the size of the hallway. It will be much more comfortable for you to live in an apartment with a large entrance hall, because in it you can normally organize a storage area for your things (seasonal clothes, shoes, household tools, etc.). The optimal size for this is around 50ft².
- Don’t fall for the marketing gimmick called ” free floor plan “.It may seem to you that you yourself decide where to build walls and you can implement any design decision. In fact, “free planning” is not so free. The fact is that there is such a strict document as the project declaration. It necessarily marks, for example, the so-called “wet zones” (bathroom, shower room, kitchen). If, when building walls, you climb into this “wet zone”, then you cannot avoid redevelopment and will have to legalize it. In addition, you will not be able to move the kitchen, bathroom to another location, as well as increase the already approved living space of the apartment by adding other premises. Another important disadvantage of “free planning” is that the price per square meter is higher than in an ordinary apartment, and there are more problems.If you really want freedom in planning your future apartment, then take a closer look at the apartments. Here they are truly free and there are no such restrictions as in residential premises, but again, you have to pay for freedom with increased utility rates, a higher property tax, the inability to register, and you can’t get a property tax deduction. You can find full list of available appartments at https://hawaiitrustedrealty.com/houses-for-sale-honolulu
- A vest (butterfly) apartment is a housing, the windows of the rooms of which face opposite sides of the house at the same time. In other words, from the window of one of the rooms you can see the courtyard, and from the window of another room, for example, the street. One side will be sunny and the other side will be shady. Another main advantage in such apartments is that the rooms are located quite far from each other, and this in turn gives a sense of privacy for all family members.
- Another option for arranging rooms in an apartment is linear . In this version, the windows of all rooms face one side of the house, either the courtyard or the street. Your level of comfort depends on which side the windows face. If this is the sunny side, then in summer the apartment will be very stuffy without air conditioning. And if the windows overlook a noisy highway, then you will suffer from noise and dust from the road, especially at night.
- Refuse an apartment with a walk-through room. Agree, there is little pleasant when you are in your room, and your family members, in order to get into your room, first pass through you, disturbing your peace, sleep and comfort. The same applies to adjoining rooms, the wall between the rooms provides very little insulation from active children.
- Decide on the number of rooms with a margin for the future. Of course, a bachelor can be comfortable in a studio apartment, but a family with a child will be much more comfortable to have different rooms with their own personal space. This factor is especially worth considering if you have children of different sexes or children of different ages, for example, 5 and 15 years old. Each child will have their own interests and needs in their own personal space separate from the rest of the family.
- For a family, especially a large one, take a look at the option with a separate bathroom. In the morning, when the whole family wakes up and gets ready for work, it will be much more comfortable to go to school or kindergarten so that your trip, for example, to the toilet does not limit the rest of the family, and they could wash at this time, and not stand in line at the door.
- Choose a spacious kitchen. It is optimal for the kitchen to be at least 130ft². In such a kitchen it will be comfortable both to cook and to gather the whole family at the table.
Of course, we have not considered all possible options for planning an apartment, but all of the above should be enough to form our opinion about future housing.
But first, answer your own questions and prioritize:
- How long do you plan to live in the chosen apartment?
- Do you have any children? How many are there, what age and gender are they? If not, do you plan to?
- Where will you sleep, relax or even work?
- What and where will you store? Is the hallway large enough to store outdoor shoes and clothes?
- How many friends do you have? Where will your guests be located? Will everyone be comfortable or will you have to do a little furniture rearrangement each time?
Which area to choose?
The area where your future home will be located is important. Nobody wants to live next to drunken and criminal neighbors, to see a dump or gray factories from the window.
So how do you choose a good area to live in?
- The most important thing is that you have a well-developed social infrastructure “at your side” . This includes hospitals, clinics, schools, kindergartens, parks, squares, etc. Agree that it is much more comfortable to get to such objects if they are nearby, and not to go, for example, for a child to a kindergarten on the other side of the city. And in parks or squares you can take a walk, breathe fresh air and enjoy a piece of nature, being in the “stone jungle”.
- Consider the distance to the city center. As a rule, all the most important and significant objects are located in the city center: large shopping centers, entertainment places, offices and business centers.
- Pay attention to the “problem” objects nearby. It is clear that if there are landfills, sewage treatment plants or factories nearby, then the unpleasant smell from them, especially in summer, will prevent you from living comfortably in your apartment. In addition to such obvious “unfavorable neighbors”, it is also worth finding out if there are other objects nearby that can cause inconvenience: student dormitories (it can be very noisy at night), nightclubs, a prison, a mental hospital, etc.
- Assess the traffic flow through your area. No one wants to live on busy streets or near major interchanges. This is not only very noisy, dirty and dusty, but also not safe for pedestrians.
- Try to find out how the area you are interested in will develop. After all, usually people move into their apartments for a long time, and the area in which they still live can change a lot. For example, the city administration plans to build a new factory, a highway, or demolish the private sector and start a new development. In order to find out plans for the development of the city, find the master plan of the city on the website of the administration of your locality. It reflects all the information on the development and improvement of the city for several years to come. In addition, try to find information on the development of the area on city news sources.
- Conduct a virtual reconnaissance of the area. Use Google Maps or maps from Apple to collect information remotely. On these services, you can find out, for example, the traffic situation, including the predicted time, “walk” through the streets with the help of panoramas and evaluate the area.
You can assess the desired area without leaving your home. With the help of panoramic shots, you can take a virtual walk through the streets of the city. Of course, sometimes this method may not work if there are no fresh and up-to-date images on the maps.
By the way, the information you are interested in can also be found on city forums, public pages on social networks, etc.
