Issues discussed in the material:
- Obvious advantages of a country house
- 9 far-fetched disadvantages of a country house that can easily be turned into advantages
Only theorists who have never lived outside the stuffiness of a modern metropolis can discuss the pros and cons of a country house. Those who have long ago exchanged a city apartment for the comfort of their own cottage outside the city can talk for a long time about the advantages of such a life.
And the point here is not only about additional square meters or your own lawn for playing with children and evening tea with loved ones. Each country house project is individual and has its own charm for the owner. We will tell you about their pros and cons right now.
Privacy and healthy environment
A calm, measured life in nature is a joy for a stressed-out city dweller. Silence, clean air and picturesque landscapes affect health (both physical and mental) in the best way. Many people notice that positive changes begin just a few weeks after moving. People feel many times better than when living in a metropolis.
However, it is worth mentioning that silence in a country house is not guaranteed. There is always a risk that the neighbors will be partygoers or a popular, noisy hotel will be built nearby. But the likelihood of this is much lower than in the city.
Reason #3 – Security
A significant reason why most buyers choose an apartment is the high level of security. Yes, you may be annoyed that the neighbors behind the wall hear your every sneeze, but if necessary, they will always come to the rescue and call the police, ambulance or fire department. In addition, apartment complexes often have video surveillance and a pass system, which gives residents an additional sense of security.
Opportunities for remodeling the house and expanding living space
Remodeling an apartment is a daunting task, and it’s not always worth the effort. You can expand the living space only through a corridor, vestibule or glazed loggia. And for the sake of a few square meters that can be won in this way, you have to collect documents for months and coordinate repairs with the relevant authorities. On the contrary, you can rebuild your own house at your own discretion - demolish and erect new partitions, complete extensions, turn attics into residential attics.
Redevelopment of the house should be done only in accordance with building codes and regulations. But neighbors cannot prevent an expansion that does not affect them
Plot
The opportunity to go out into your own yard at any time was especially appreciated in the past year not only in Moscow, but also in the outback when we had to spend several months in self-isolation. And even without strict restrictions, the presence of a local area provides both varied outdoor recreation and space for your own hobbies. Some people set up greenhouses and experiment with vegetable gardens, some grow flowers, some make crafts, while others take up farming and get not only pleasure, but also food for the table. You can build a bathhouse on the site, install an inflatable or frame pool in the summer, realize yourself in landscape design, introduce children to caring for animals, and much more. True, from this year, fans of cooking meat dishes on an open fire have been somewhat restricted - you can build it, but you will have to fry kebabs at a distance of at least five meters from the house.
Having your own land
A site is not only a place for family recreation and gatherings with friends, but also a springboard for solving many problems. If you have your own land, you don’t have to worry about where to park your car, how to store seams, firewood, and where to put your gardening tools. A garage, a barn, a shed, a cellar, a chicken coop - all this can be built if you have the required number of “acres” at your disposal.
By the way, about the chicken coop. The site allows you to keep not only domestic animals, but also poultry and small livestock. And of course, we must not forget about the beds, which can provide fresh vegetables and herbs. A good help in difficult times.
Problems related to finances:
Housing cost
Prices for private houses very often bite. Sometimes, a small plot in the suburbs is equal to the cost of a two-room apartment near the city center, depending on the region of residence. In addition, most likely, after purchase, you will have to spend a lot on repairs. Therefore, an apartment most often turns out to be more profitable than a private house.
Expenses
Maintenance of a private home is also quite expensive. Be prepared for the fact that you will have to pay about 2 times more for utilities. Have you ever thought about how much a sewer service costs? If your family consists of, for example, four people, you will in any case have to clean the septic tank at least once a week, or even twice. The cost of this service can reach thousands of rubles. Would you say it's too expensive? And you will have no other choice, since there is often no access to sewerage. Also, if you are an active Internet user, then you should not live in a private house. Often companies refuse to provide Internet to such remote areas, or they charge too much for it. You can use the Internet using modems or sharing from a mobile phone, but at the same time you will be sacrificing your traffic and transmission speed.
Transport
If you do not have your own car, then you will have a hard time. In the private sectors there is a very poor choice of public transport, limited to a bus that runs once an hour, or even less often. Taxi drivers usually get rich off the residents of the suburbs.
Difficulty selling
Have you unexpectedly received a new job offer or just decided to move to another city? Get ready for problems to arise with the sale of your wonderful house. Buyers are hard to find, and reducing the price of a home you've invested so much effort and money into is quite unpleasant. Often people are looking for private houses for rent, and this is quite profitable for the landlord. If you need money, then you can try to rent out your plot.
Independence from centralized utilities
The homeowner himself decides when to turn the heating on and off and how much hot water he needs, which, by the way, no one will turn off for maintenance. And it pays only for those resources that it actually consumes. As a result, utilities in a country house are often cheaper than in an apartment.
So, living outside the city has many advantages. But, unfortunately, there are also disadvantages
, alas, quite significant. And they should be considered before making the fateful decision to move.
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In Ozhegov's dictionary
PRIVATE, oh. -oh. 1. see part. 2. Being a separate part of something, not common, not typical. Ch. conclusion. Ch. case. Conclusion (conclusion) from general to specific (noun). 3. Personal, not public, not state. Private correspondence. On a private matter. 4. Belonging to an individual, not to society, not to the state. Private property. Private ownership. 5. Relating to personal, individual possession, activity, economy and the resulting relationships. Ch. owner. Private trade. Private person. Private practice. Give private lessons (at home, for a fee). || noun in particular, -i, f. (to 2 digits).
Poor infrastructure
Whatever the cottage community, its infrastructure will in any case be poorer than in a large metropolis. And while the absence of large shopping centers and cinemas can be survived, the same cannot be said about clinics. Of course, you can go to a metropolis for routine treatment, but accidents do happen. Therefore, when choosing a place to relocate, you should make sure in advance that there is a medical facility nearby that can provide emergency care.
Schools deserve special mention. Not every locality can boast of an educational institution. This means that the younger members of the family will have to be taken to lessons in the nearest city every day. Or transfer them to distance learning.
PRIVATE HOUSE OR APARTMENT reviews
When the question arises, which is better: a house or an apartment, opinions are divided, and this is understandable. Everyone's preferences and tastes are different. Both have their pros and cons. I lived in an apartment in the regional center for a long time. A nice three-room apartment, and the house is not old, and it’s not cold in winter. But six years ago, after the death of our parents, my wife and I moved to the regional center, to our parents’ house. The wife, of course, resisted for a long time, but then she finally agreed.
The house is wooden, an ordinary five-walled building, 6 x 12 m. Although it is not old, there was a lot of work in it. My father didn’t have time to finish a lot of things. It’s good that I’m a civil engineer and can do a lot of things with my own hands. Over the years, we have put the house in order both externally and internally, replaced the heating, installed water and sewerage, built a bathhouse, a garage, and outbuildings.
Now we are busy landscaping the site. I must say that the very first year we arrived, we planted a garden, and along the perimeter of the backyard, where there is a low spot, I planted willow cuttings. Now they have grown and look very beautiful. And the garden was already producing a harvest. So, my wife no longer regrets that we left our comfortable apartment. Besides, I do almost everything myself. First of all, I love working in the yard, it's the best activity for me. And secondly, we don’t have much income to hire anyone.
So, a private house is for those who like to tinker in the yard, build something with their own hands, or garden. There is no time to sit in your house. Especially in summer. And in winter there will be so much snow that you won’t be able to open the door. It needs to be cleaned. But the house is always warm, individual heating, set to any temperature. I remember how we sometimes froze in the apartment, God forbid anyone.
Last summer I decided to make a small fountain on the site. I looked on the Internet to see what people do - nothing special. I dug a pit 1.5m x 3.0m. and covered it with three layers of thickened PVC film. I brought stones from the quarry, fortunately I have an old UAZ, and laid them on a film around the perimeter of the pool. And for the cascade I laid out a small slide. I bought a fountain pump with a power of 700 watts from Leroy Marlene and lowered it into the pool.
It must be said that the choice of such pumps is now very large, and the demand is growing. Many began to make small fountains in their plots. Firstly, it is beautiful, and secondly, it keeps you cool in the summer. True, the water turns green over time. Experts recommend using a special remedy against this, but I didn’t. Because I put young green reeds that I dug up in a nearby lake into the pool. And he, to my surprise, began, and without any land. In addition, I also put crucian carp there that I brought from fishing. And they lived there wonderfully all summer.
And in late autumn, after releasing the water, I simply caught them all and released them into the lake. In the spring, when I fill the pool with water, I’ll put reeds in it again and add crucian carp, let them live. The cats kept watch on the edge of the fountain all summer, one even rushed into the water after a crucian carp, but failed to catch it. Surprisingly, life immediately appeared in the fountain: various bugs, baby frogs, even snakes crawled. It's very interesting to watch all this.
There is still a lot to do on the site. I can't wait for spring. But now in the summer you can sit in the gazebo by the fountain on weekends and barbecue. And although we keep everything simple, without any frills, we like it. I made several flower beds for my wife, and now she plants different flowers there, experiments, she still has little experience. There are plans to make several more beautiful flower beds from stone and plant dwarf trees or shrubs there. The good thing about a private house is that you can do whatever you want there. As far as your imagination is capable.
Do we regret moving into our own home? No, we don’t regret it at all. And even more so now that the bulk of the major cases have been completed. One bathhouse is being built. My wife has washed herself in the bathroom all her life, but now you can’t kick her out of the steam room. As for the bathhouse, I struggled with it at first. Remade it several times. I replaced four boilers alone. I have never built baths, I have no experience. Everything is from the Internet. I’ll cook one boiler - the water is boiling, but it’s cold in the bathhouse itself. I’ll make another design - it’s hot in the bathhouse, but the water is barely warm.
Then he spat and himself developed a collapsible three-section boiler. Now it’s warm in the dressing room, hot in the bathhouse, and hot water. And the dressing room had to be expanded. At first I did it, but it was a small one, just to undress. And my wife asks for one so that she can relax after the steam room. We had to enlarge it, and now we even put a sofa there.
In general, we are happy with everything. In winter, however, it is a bit boring here. But in the fall we took on another family member. Her name is Zhuzha. She doesn't let us get bored. But also sleep. But it's fun.
Lack of centralized utilities
We said above that autonomy from capital services is an advantage of country life. But it is also a minus. Prevention and repair of all life support systems falls on the shoulders of the homeowner. In addition, he will have to clean the snow, repair the roof, water supply, sewerage, etc. on his own. And keeping a large building clean is much more difficult than a small city apartment.
But the biggest problem is major renovations. If in an apartment building the cost of major repairs is distributed among all residents, then the homeowner is forced to pay for everything himself. And the costs can be quite significant.
Caring for a private home takes much more time and money compared to a city apartment
Reason #1 – Cheap service
The first thing that pushes people to buy an apartment instead of a private house is the budget maintenance of their home. Payments for electricity, heating, gas, Internet, TV are much cheaper in an apartment building, since the area of the apartment is much smaller than in the house.
Poor roads and few transport links
Getting from the village to the “mainland” can be quite difficult. There are no metro, trolleybuses or trams, and buses and minibuses, as a rule, run quite rarely. If the family has a car, this problem can be considered solved, but another problem arises - bad roads and a small number of transport interchanges. This means rapid wear and tear on the car and several hours a day that you inevitably have to spend on the road. However, if the homeowner works remotely, which is becoming more and more a habit, he will be spared these inconveniences.
Reason #5 – Transport accessibility
This plus is decisive for many potential buyers. The rhythm of modern life requires people to be mobile, and for this it is necessary to have an accessible option for quick movement at hand. In megacities there is a metro, in cities with smaller populations there are a huge number of trams, buses, and minibuses, which allows you to get to anywhere in the city. Living outside the city, in your own home and without personal transport, this problem becomes very acute.
Binding
vovadzeFORUMHOUSE Member
A couple of years ago I completed a house, I live in it, everything is fine, but there is one unpleasant nuance, the house is not an apartment that you can lock and go on vacation somewhere warm, especially in winter!
Anti-freeze cannot be poured into every heating system, and even the most “smart” appliances cannot be left unattended for a long time. And a residential building without heating quickly falls into disrepair. Not to mention situations where you have a subsidiary plot, you either have to call your relatives 24/7 or negotiate with your neighbors. Therefore, before even getting chickens, it is worth considering that we are responsible for those we have tamed, in this case, bred.
