Choosing Between a House and a Condo: An Easy Decision Making Method

By Michael Sta. Ana 

condominium and house and lot

In developing countries like the Philippines, not everyone has the luxury to buy a condominium and a house and lot at the same time. And everytime, when one already needs a living space, that's the time that decision making is becoming a major concern.

Let's just say, you're blessed enough to have a 1 point something million peso budget to get your family their dream home. And for an instance, you are living in the metro and just could not decide where and what type of house you should buy. Aside from that, you need to consider each suggestion from all the members of your family on how to proceed with your money.

And now, here's the turning point. Let's say, you are starting to talk to yourself unconsciously: "What do I/we really need, a house and lot or a condo?"

To tell you the truth, you are not just the only person who have asked this kind of question. As a matter of fact, this type of decision making question can be like a puzzle or can be a hardcore math problem that you need to find what will the closest formula to solve this, for you to get the most reliable answer at the end of the equation.

Now, let us try to unravel the things that you need to think about. All you need is just a a pen and a piece of paper so we can start the decision making process.

When your paper is ready, draw an intersecting line as if you are creating a big X & Y axis or your drawing must look exactly like this: 

You might be asking me why I asked you to do this instead of having you just listen to my suggestions. It's because I want you to personally work on this while devotedly making sure that you are being honest about everything you write down to fill out the spaces.

Now, start writing down your thoughts. Start with the pros and cons. After finishing all the four sides of these boxes, sit down and review your answers. If one of these--the "House" or the "Condominium", gathered more pros, then possibly that would be the ideal one for you. Yes, as easy as this!

But the truth is, there's really no rule on how and what to choose between the two. A house and lot is good. A condo might be better or vice versa. These two types of living spaces are both acceptable depending on your family needs. Remember that the core of decision making lies on the hands of the buyer not on the real estate vendors. They're not the one who'll eventually live there anyway, so you must be extra careful before you put down your pen and paper and say, "This going to be it".

The X & Y axis of pros and cons thingie that I have shown you is actually not just for your condo/house decision making needs. You can also use this when the time comes that you need to choose: what would be the best design for your house, and even until the time that you need to think about the right wall color that would fit your taste. Easy, isn't it? 

And last but not the least, listen to what your heart will say... And that could be the greatest bottomline.