Multi-Family House V.S. Apartment Living (Yonkers, New Rochelle: homeowners association, upkeep, landscaping)

[BXGEAR]

Describe your experiences living in an apartment. How does it differ from houses?
What do you prefer and why?

Also, where do the massive sprawl of apartments (inner city) end? Jersey City to the west? Yonkers to the north? Eastern Queens to the east? North Shore Staten Island to the south?

[rlrl]

I went from living in a big house upstate for 23 years to a small apt bldg in Riverdale for 16 years. Though many people, look down on this, they don't know my life story and therefore have not walked in my shoes. Sorry to be defensive but this is a lingering thing with me whenever I think of my history and asked to discuss it

I could never answer the first question because I lived with my folks and brother in the house, then lived on my own in an apt without anyone else.
As for the second question, you've got it pretty accurate. The solid wall of apts from NY(NJ Hudson River shore is pretty built up though) west fades gradually as you go west, though you have your cities like newark, hackensack, paterson, etc

To the east it fades out after you get near the nassau County border. North of that you have the massive Co-op city complex but east of that is the LI sound and LI

To the south it all ends at the Atlantic ocean and NY harbor near Staten island

To the north, after the bronx it fades though you can still have heavy apt sprawl in Yonkers, mt vernon, New Rochelle, White plains. North of I 287 it's suburban

[mead]

I'd say that north of the Cross County Parkway its pretty suburban, even south of that to a large degree.

There is also a decent stretch of apartment buildings and high density areas along the "gold coast," in NJ stretching from Bayonne on up thru Jersey City and Hoboken.

[Hustla718]

I think a better comparison is between single family homes and apartments.

Single family homes have the advantages of privacy, safety, cleanliness, customization.

-In terms of privacy, you are less likely to hear neighbors (same back). You also wouldn't have to share a lobby or laundomat for example.

-When it comes to safety, apartments are more public. There is also a fire risk, you are in the hands of your neighbors.

-When it comes to cleanliness, in an apartment, you can be the cleanest person in the world but if your neighbors have roaches, guess what...

-In terms of customization, on a single family home you can do as you please with the grounds (landscaping) and the structure itself.

Also, often homes have more room then apartments. In terms of bedrooms (size of) and overall space. Of course you also have LAND.

[scatman]

One things that sticks out on Apts v. Homes is maintainance.......

With Apts, maintainance peeps do the work for you (inside and outside building), but you have to pay mandatory maintanance fees and/or common charges. Plus, the coop/condo board has rules about what you can/cannot do with regard to your unit.

With homes, you have more privacy, and you have the land, but although the maintanance fees are not "automatic", you still end up constantly maintaining the house, anyway (inside and outside), so costs are still there; and the costs are normally more than the apt, due to it being larger and more constant. Homeowners associations may require you to upkeep the outside of your home, to protect everyone's property values.

[saturnfan]

Some homeowner's assns make folks wish they stayed as tenants.

[SeventhFloor]

i think the OP meant having an apartment in a 3-4 family house as opposed to living in a 6 story building. correct me OP if im wrong.

honestly i would say a building is better because usually 2-3-4 family houses are owned by 1 person and they're usually cheap, lazy or a combination of both.

[mead]

Unless its one of those newer Fedders multi-family homes, like this one:



I would definitley say that living in an apartment, at least for me, is better than a multi-family home. The main reason for this is that multifamily homes are manytimes really old houses. As a result the walls can be paper thin and you can hear everything that goes on in the house.

[BXGEAR]

^They should stop building these

[Hustla718]

Originally Posted by clubBR

^They should stop building these

That is the biggest thing going in many sections of the city. I made a thread about this before.

And below is typical outer borough construction.



However if you think that is bad, this is what they are selling to investors for 600k in the South Bronx:


Two 3 family homes. Basically small block apartment buildings pretending to be houses.

Here is one of the new "affordable housing" buildings also going up in the South Bronx:



And check this out, also in the South Bronx. Gotta love living in that building next door. Typical urban OVER development. Hurting the community in the long run.



Does Fedders have some kind of deal with the city? Well at least they are clean looking when they first go up (organized).

However this thread would make more sense if it were a comparison between single family homes and apartment buildings.