Would you buy an apartment or a house?

[HousingAdviceNeeded]

Just asking for someone else, NC for privacy.

If you had these choices, which would you choose?

Married couple, no kids, one self employed, WFH and needs a room for that, and the other works in an office 4 days pw.

The options are:

Buy a city centre apartment (similar to the one they currently live in) in Manchester - they would probably only get a two bed/two bath apartment, newish, well decorated etc. They would want a balcony, which is possible. Cost about £270K. FTB. They want children in two or three years. The one who's at work could walk to work. Service and ground rent around £2K-ish in all.

Buy a house further out - the one at work would have to commute. Problem is that the nicest areas are out of their price range. They are worried about moving to an area they don't like - houses are moving quickly at the moment and they might have to decide on the spot. The advantages of course are a garden, three bedrooms and more space.

However, they want to rent it out in 3-5 years and buy another property - that second one would definitely be a house.

Which would you go for now? The properties are all around the same price. The houses they are looking at would probably cost £2K pa upkeep anyway. This one is an investment property whereas their next one would be more permanent.

I think what they're worrying about is just how many apartment blocks are being built in Manchester. Also, though, if they rented out a house it's likely to be to a family, which would probably involve more wear and tear.

Any advice?

I would never buy somewhere that I have to pay annual fees for clerk g/maintenance

I wouldn’t touch Manchester City Centre newish apartment with a barge pole

@DustyLee123

why not?

Families are also much more stable renters so you are likely to have fewer void periods than if you are renting a property where the population is inherently more transient.

I don't mean brand new. The one they're in at the moment is about 30 years old, I would think. No cladding. Very good condition. The houses they are looking at tend to be much older than that.

I think what they have at the moment in their rental is good - the place is kept clean and well organised. However, if they did rent it out later, of course they would have to pay that service/maintenance cost themselves.

But I think the wear and tear with families can be much worse, can't it?

Sorry, not really enough information to say.

Have you they considered the actual nightmare the Govt us making renting out a property?

how certain is it they could buy another property in 3-5 years without selling this one?

which one would 'at home' with the baby? WFH/WOH

I don't know Manchester at all. The price range they're looking in. Would that be a nice area & would it have a lift? Bit of an arse with a baby if it doesn't have a lift & if the stairwell is grotty.

You can't really have any certainty. A pair of twentysomethings might have loads of parties, be clueless when things go wrong, and cause havoc.

A family might keep the place immaculate because they're worried about eviction if they don't.

You just don't know.

But a higher turnover rate means more costs every time you change tenants. Minimising those should be the priority.

How much extra wear and tear would there have to be to mitigate the risk of there being a void month or so every year?

Also worth bearing in mind that houses almost always appreciate at a higher rate than apartments or flats.

@SorePaw that would get them a nice apartment but obviously the closer a house is to the centre of a city, the more expensive it is.

I know they'll be able to afford a deposit on a new house and would be able to afford having to pay a few months if someone reneged on their mortgage. They are quite risk averse. I know how difficult it can be to let flats but most people in a city centre want to rent rather than buy, I think.

I owned a flat. We managed to buy our house 5 years later and I considered renting it out. I decided against it in the end as it would have been a nightmare. The company who actually own the building would have wanted me to ask permission and register each tennant with them personally. Even if I was having a management company deal with the flat, I'd have to do that.

That was a flat that would have easily rented for £800 at the time and I and no mortgage but it just wouldn't have been worth the hassle by the time you had to pay the monthly free and (then council tax on top for the months it wasn't rented).

I honesty hated the management company by the time I moved out.

That's good advice, thanks.

@HousingAdviceNeeded
ita not a matter of finding someone to rent the apartment, that's not going to be the issue. Do they have ANY idea of what's involved with being a landlord now & the various changes that have been made to both responsibilities and financials. Tax laws & what have you.

it's not as easy or as worthwhile as it used to be. it could be a monumental pain in the arse for a young couple with (hopefully) kids.

I guess what I'm saying is, in their position, I'd be looking at buying a nice family home now & finding a better route for investment.