Most people looking for a home in the area arrive with the same dilemma: a villa, or a flat on an estate? Both can be found on the same estate, with the same security and the same shared facilities. The difference shows in daily life. Here I compare the two in terms of upkeep, running costs, layout and resale.
What a villa gives you
A garden, your own entrance and a life spread across floors are a villa's strengths. The children go out into the garden on their own; the bedrooms sit on a separate floor from the living area. Having guests, working from home and the children's play can all go on at once without getting in each other's way.
In return come garden maintenance, higher heating costs and a daily life with stairs. A villa is a home, and it is also a building whose upkeep never stops. For those who enjoy that upkeep it is a pleasure; for those who do not it is a burden.
In a villa the roof, the outside walls and the garden are your responsibility. On a viewing I look separately at the condition of the roof and the external walls; they are an early sign of the costs that may arise in the first years.
What a flat gives you
An estate flat or a top-floor duplex offers the estate's security and shared facilities with less upkeep. The estate looks after the garden; the roof and the outside of the building are a shared responsibility. When you go away for a long trip, locking the door is enough.
Living on one level is easier for families with small children and for older parents. Without stairs there is less daily effort, and the home stays usable at every age.
A top-floor duplex sits between the two. It offers a terrace and a view and asks for no garden maintenance; even so, it has a staircase inside.
Service charge and running costs
You pay a service charge either way; the pool, security and social facilities set the amount. On the same estate the charge for a villa and for a flat may differ; ask the management for both.
For a villa, also count extras such as a gardener, pest control and roof maintenance. These do not show in the service charge, but they are paid every year. When you compare two homes, look not only at the charge but at the total spent over a year.
Heating costs vary with the layout too. Heating a home spread over three floors is not the same as heating one that sits on a single level. The current owner's bills give the most accurate picture; I ask for them at our meeting.
Layout and light
At the same floor area a villa spreads over three floors while a flat sits on one. Of two homes the same size on paper, one can feel spacious to you and the other broken up.
Which you will live in more comfortably depends on the layout. The relationship between the kitchen and the living room, the position of the bedrooms and which room the light reaches carry more weight in the decision than the floor area.
Before a viewing I explain the plans of both options side by side. You then know what to look for on the viewing, and you compare the two homes by the same measure. Reading a plan is my job; I show you on the drawing what kind of day each home would give you.
Resale
When you buy a home you should also think that one day you will sell it. Demand for villas in the area is steady among families; well-placed flats appeal to a wider range of buyers.
It would not be right to say in one general sentence which sells more easily. We assess that together with comparable sales, for the specific estate and location.
If you are buying the home to live in, decide first on the type that suits you. Resale is the second measure; it does not make up for years spent in a home that does not suit you.
Questions to ask before you decide
A few questions make the decision easier. Do you enjoy looking after a garden? Would stairs make daily life harder for you or for someone in your family? How many people live in the home today, and how many will live in it a few years from now?
The answers usually settle the type on their own. When you cannot be sure, I suggest you view one of each; two homes viewed one after the other on the same day show the difference better than any description.
In our first meeting we answer these questions together. Once the answers are clear, there are fewer homes to see and the viewings are more productive.
The right answer depends on how you live; neither a villa nor a flat is the better choice in itself. In our first meeting we talk through your daily life and choose the type that suits you together.
Damla Sübar
