Starting a family and eventually growing it will require a home that must be comfortable, nurtured, and cared for. Since Filipino culture strongly reflects on familial ties, some are content on staying with their immediate families, and some are considering settling on a new and fresh house to start with. If you are included on the latter part, finding a new residence can be hard work and will need consistent and extra efforts. Also, there are many types of houses to begin with, single-family houses, townhouses, apartments, condominiums, etc. Choosing one and weighing all their respective pros and cons already needs lengthy decision making and there will be more steps ahead after.
Condominiums are one of the most advantageous types of residence to start a family with. There can be two options when you are considering to settle in a condo unit, either you can find and avail a condo for sale, or be a tenant on a condo for rent. The reasons to settle in a condo unit also vary for each and everyone’s lifestyle, preference, future plans and many more. Because of the many factors needed to be considered, the foremost aspect to mostly emphasize is the purpose of your settlement. So, deciding and discussing it with your family members will be an excellent first step.
Compared to detached houses that have their own lawn, garage, fences, and etc., condominiums that are located in buildings are structured as units and usually do not have the elements found in a house. Instead, condominiums have their own amenities which are shared by the residents in the condo community. This is just one difference between the most common types of housing and there are more to be discussed. There are also many advantages to living in a condo with your family and children. However, the question we want to answer is that: is living in a condo ideal for children?
Benefits of Condo Living with your Family
Before arriving at the vital answer, we must first examine and acknowledge the general aspects of condo living and how it will affect your life, and of course your children's lives. Here are the advantages to look forward on while settling on a condo unit:
Convenient Location
Most condominiums are located in urban areas where businesses and shops are abundant. Convenience stores, food markets, restaurants, malls, libraries, and many more places of necessity can be located near your condo and this will absolutely save your time on traveling to other places more often. Additionally, urban and metro areas thrive because of central roads and efficient transport hubs. A condo will usually be located near some of them, making your commuting less hassle or even better, have your home and workplace or your children’s school only between a walking distance.
Aside from having easy access to your necessities, having a condo as your home guarantees you and your family access to generally customized amenities shared by the whole community. Swimming pools, playgrounds, parks, gardens, sports areas, and many other recreational or leisure areas are completely available within the short radius. Instead of going to farther places and allotting time to prepare for the kids to have fun and amusement, your family can just directly enjoy the condo amenities without hassle and taking too much of your precious time and effort.
Flexible Sizing
There are different condominium unit types and every type can vary in size. Since every family has various members, it is really important to consider the size of your condo unit that is enough and according to your family’s satisfaction. The most suitable type of unit for a family is a bedroom type unit. A bedroom type unit can have one or more than one bedroom to accommodate everyone’s privacy if they are sharing a condo unit. A unit like this can be perfect in terms of space, just make sure that the kids will have their own space to play and run around especially because of our pandemic circumstances.
Security and Safety
One of the most obvious benefits associated with living in a condo is the security and safety it provides. Most of the condominium buildings are equipped with CCTV cameras, reliable security guards and staff that are within close vicinity, and advanced lock systems on the doors of every unit. Condominium buildings also have their own safety measures in mitigating emergency situations caused by various hazards. One example is having automatic smoke alarms in each unit and all the areas of the building to avoid fire emergencies. An advantage like this will surely make your kids safer and give peace of mind.
Customizing is Not a Problem
The trend is to do it yourself! Making DIY projects with your family, especially your children, is not just a sort of pastime hobby, or a money saving activity. Initiating this within your household will create time for you to have a great bonding with the kids while enjoying and having fun. Since owning a condo unit guarantees you freedom to add extra corners or to design and customize some empty parts of your unit (depends on the regulations given by the condo management), you can create DIY projects like a comfortable study corner with bookshelves, a small music corner, a cozy living room that can act as a mini movie theatre, or an online class corner for the kids to use in this time of no contact. There can be more ideas from your imagination or necessities and the important thing is to engage everyone in the family. Asking for their opinions and suggestions for the designing and customizing will surely help them feel a sense of importance and they will know that their expression matters.
Having a baby in the family will also not be a problem. Customizing the unit to ensure the baby's safety is of course a great action. Ensuring to create a safe environment for the children in a condo unit will be easier and an opportunity like this must always be considered greatly.
A Sense of Community
Even though condo units are structured atop and side to side with each other, making it different to the usual houses in towns and villages, there is still a community found within that is created by the residents and also for the residents. Since everyone is on the same page having only a wall between their private space and then the neighbor’s space, every resident is naturally aware and respectful for each and every one. In addition, having a community within close grounds will help your children grow while learning about social interactions and the importance of it.
Furthermore, an association found within the community is present. The homeowners association consists of acting officers carefully appointed by the majority of residents. To begin with, these officers will be also coming from the group of residents and their responsibility will reflect and affect the whole community. Having this kind of association can help to organize social gatherings, events that are child-friendly – which can help your kids make friends, and other affairs that can boost community affinity.
More Family Time
The amount of housework to maintain a condo unit is much lesser compared to the housework needed to maintain a standalone house. With the assistance of the maintenance staff provided by the condo management, the upkeep tasks that are very time consuming will become less of a worry for unit owners. Since these manual laborers are passed on to someone more knowledgeable and fit for the job, you can focus only on your household chores, career works, and significantly allot more time to bond with your family members.
The most prominent of the reasons as to why live in a condo is to have a closer location to your workplace or your kids' school. Instead of committing your as well as your children's precious time for stressful commuting, you can just create more quality time with them.
Cost Efficient
It is economically cheaper to own or rent a condo unit compared to buying a house for your family. Some reasons for these are: maintenance and repair costs are generally aligned with your monthly association fees and will be handled by the condo management, reduced costs for your fuels and save on commuting fares, and etc.
Moreover, condo developers not just offer different types of condo units but also, they have size variations determined with square footage. Lesser space means cheaper cost, making more room for your family budget and savings for the future of your children.
Condo Living Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
Relative to what is happening globally, condominiums in the Philippines are taking serious measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among the residents currently living within their buildings and communities. More than ever, real estate developers are aiming to provide and create a COVID-free environment for their clients by taking and following health protocols and embedding them in their system that holds numerous and vital lives within their compromised properties.
Some of the benefits of living in a condo with your family presented above are now affected, influenced, and changed by the circumstances that transpired because of the highly contagious virus. Shared amenities by the residents of the condo are temporarily closed until the pandemic subsides, community gatherings will of course be banned too, some managements minimize the contact between staffs, resulting in their decrease, and many more preventive measures for the safety of all.
Apart from the first question we had in mind, new and significant questions will arise and must also be answered before the final verdict. How will my family, especially the children, be safe and protected from the pandemic while living in a condo? What will they do now when they are confined only in their respective spaces in the unit? Will they be bored? What if someone in the building becomes infected by the said virus? How will the management control it? Questions like these will emerge and be contemplated upon by the condo residents and of course a prospective unit buyer or tenant. Of course, these questions are not insignificant because naturally, a virus like this can ultimately affect everyone’s lives and change the way of living of many people. It is very crucial to think about the causes and effects, being rational in these times of crises will be the only way to mitigate the bad effects.
From– is living in a condo ideal for children?– to– is living in a condo ideal for children while dealing with the pandemic? As a result of the heavy toll of pandemic on everyone, new problems emerged creating new uncertainties, and our main question may have changed. However, in the present, everyone is affected, every person with different careers and areas of professions, every family regardless of where they live– a condo or not, and it is only a matter of what actions are we planning for the countermeasures. Even if the ultimate question has changed, the answer will still be the same.
Is Living in Condo Ideal for Children?
On the bottom line, condo living for children is fundamentally ideal and it does not greatly differ from growing your kids in other types of residence. The advantages presented by a condominium are more on the urban lifestyle. As a parent, the final decision will ultimately depend on you, nonetheless, it is still very important to listen to the points and opinions of each family member so that everybody has a contribution to the final answer.
To own a condo and settle with your family, it is important to have a partner that will ensure that every process related from the beginning and to the end, will be walked on easily and nicely. It is important to trust a real estate agency and have their hands to help you all throughout the venture. From the start of finding your desired condo unit, to shouldering the property management, BedandGo Inc. will surely offer you real estate services that are of great quality and security.
Sources:
https://communities.dmcihomes.com/condo-living-benefits-for-families/
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