Taking the plunge to buy a home is a very expensive one and you can’t afford to go in unprepared. You have to make a list of the things you need in your home including the number of bedrooms, the size of the house, its location as well as the kind of finance you can afford for it. And aside from all this, you also have to decide on the kind of home that you want – an independent stand-alone home, a villa, a villament or an apartment.

While the current trends are for villas and apartments, you need to choose the one that’s right for your family’s needs and status. Here are some tips to help you decide on the type of home to buy:

Cost

Price is one of the major factors driving real estate. While it’s common knowledge that villas cost more than apartments, it’s only the discerning ones who know that the investment benefits for villas are much higher than apartments. Such people make the effort to invest in the more-comfortable villas instead. Since the value of land is only heading north, the value of the plot on which the villa stands will also go up, thus increasing your villa’s value over time. The value of apartments, however, goes down with time.

Don’t look at short-term gains and spend less to buy an apartment as villas make better investments.

Location

It’s a popular belief that villas can only be found located in the city suburbs while apartments can be found all over the city. However, some recent trends indicate that villas can be found within the city also. More so, villas are usually preferred by well-to-do families who treasure their personal space and peace a little away from the traffic and air pollution. Apartments are great for small families where the members are usually out for most of the day.

Customization

With villas being independent homes, no permission is required to make any additions or modifications to keep up with changing trends. Apartments, unfortunately, cannot be modified in any way as it would affect the rest of the building.

Freedom

With villas you have the freedom to potter around in your own little garden, providing space for your kids and pets to play around in. In most apartments, kids are deprived of the joys of keeping pets. Villas also offer greater privacy than apartments.

And at the end of the day, the decision to choose depends entirely on your own particular needs.