Apartment Living – A Lifestyle That Suits a Changing Society

As the demographic mix of our Australian society changes, things that older generations took for granted as being a way of life are being challenged. Couples are marrying later in life, or not at all. Women are waiting until their 30s, and later, to start a family, and apartment living as a lifestyle is a conscious choice for many people.

There is no doubt that this style of housing would not suit people who approach maintaining a yard and garden as a hobby. For those who have other interests, however, apartment living, whether renting or buying, has several advantages. At Bunbury Real Estate we receive constant enquiries from owners wanting to rent their apartment, and tenants looking for somewhere to live.

Reduced Rent and Energy Costs

Tenants often comment to us that since they have moved into an apartment, their overall costs are lower than when they were renting a house. Firstly, the smaller floor area of most apartments compared with an average house means that energy costs for heating and cooling are reduced. Secondly, the rent or mortgage repayments for an apartment are usually cheaper than for a free-standing house.

Busy lifestyles don’t leave much time for property maintenance, and for an apartment dweller who is renting, a call to the property manager hands the problem over to someone else. Most apartment complexes have a gardener who looks after the lawns and gardens, and keeps the driveways clean. Tenants can still have indoor plants and vertical gardens for a touch of greenery inside with little maintenance needed.

The Comfort of Secure Premises

The apartments we manage for owners have a range of different security systems. This makes it more difficult for intruders to gain unauthorised access to the premises than to a house. Our tenants like this extra level of personal protection and they report feeling safer because there are other people in close proximity to them in the complex. Often apartments also have secure, off-street parking providing added security for vehicles and the occupants as they enter and exit.

Use of Amenities without the Maintenance

The extra amenities that come with some of our apartments are also a big hit with our tenants. Not only do they have the use of swimming pools, tennis courts, gyms, barbeque areas and other amenities, but they don’t have to spend hours maintaining them. This gives them a lifestyle that they would not be able to afford if they were renting a house.

The final advantage that our tenants often talk about is the freedom they experience with apartment living. Rather than being tied down to a mortgage and a particular area, they can move around in response to job opportunities or just because they want a change of scenery. The one thing that doesn’t change is that they ask our property managers at Bunbury Real Estate to search for something suitable when they want to move on.