Apartments Are Easier to Maintain Than Houses (11 Main Reasons)

You’ve lived in your house for years but are tired of all the required maintenance. Before you move to an apartment, you may wonder if they’re easier to maintain than a house.

Apartments are often easier when it comes to maintenance but not always.

Here are 11 main reasons why apartments are a little easier to maintain than houses:

1. They’re Smaller

One of the biggest reasons apartments are easier to maintain than houses is their size. Your apartment may have a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and one or two bedrooms.

Compare that to a house with two or three bathrooms and three or four bedrooms. Houses also have garages and outdoor spaces that you must take care of.

If you live in an apartment, you won’t need to put as much effort into maintaining your space. That will give you more time to relax or do things with your loved ones.

And it will force you to only keep things you need since you can’t just chuck everything else down in the basement like if you lived in a house.

2. Most Have One Floor

You may find the occasional luxury apartment with one or two floors inside. At least in my experience, most units are only on one floor, which can help with the maintenance aspect.

For example, you won’t have to drag a vacuum up and down the stairs when cleaning your home. And you won’t have to worry about the heat rising to the top floor of your unit and not getting any warmth below.

Of course, the rest of the building may have multiple floors, so you may have to take things up or down when you bring new gear home. However, you at least won’t have to do that all the time.

Living on one floor can also make it easier to temporarily move your furniture to fix something. You won’t have to move items up or down the stairs.

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3. They Take Less Time

I briefly touched on this, but apartments don’t require as much time to keep in good condition. You’ll have fewer rooms to look after and clean regularly.

If you have a busy work schedule, you probably don’t want to spend all of your free time cleaning. So unless you need the space a house offers, there’s no reason to move out of your apartment.

You’ll still have to spend some time on cleaning and maintenance. However, cleaning three or four rooms takes much less time than seven or eight.

4. They Cost Less

Your apartment rent probably costs less than a mortgage would. However, you can also save money on maintaining your apartment.

Since you won’t have to clean as many rooms, you won’t go through cleaning solutions as fast. You also won’t have to charge your vacuum as often, so you’ll use less electricity.

Having fewer rooms also means you’ll have fewer lightbulbs that need replacing. And if your landlord permits you to paint your unit, you won’t need as much paint to redo a smaller place.

Having an apartment can be nice if you’re on a tight budget. That way, you won’t have to spend all your disposable income on maintenance or repairs.

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5. Utilities Are Cheaper

I don’t know about you, but I like to use heating and cooling. The cost to heat or cool an entire house adds up fast, even if you don’t use the whole house.

Unless you use a space heater or a window air conditioner, your utilities will affect every room. That means you could waste a lot of money keeping your home at a comfortable temperature.

Of course, the same happens if you use the thermostat in an apartment. Since your home is smaller, you may save a lot of money on utilities compared to when you had a house.

6. There’s No Yard

The inside of a house isn’t the only thing you must maintain. Many neighborhoods require outdoor yard work to make the whole area look more cohesive.

That means people who live in houses have to rake their yards when leaves fall. Of course, you’d also have to mow your lawn all year round to keep the grass short.

You’d also need to care for things like the gutters to keep them from clogging with leaves. All of this takes time if you do the work yourself.

If you don’t have the time, you’ll have to spend a lot of money hiring someone else. Depending on how large the property is and how fast the grass grows, you may spend a lot of time or money on outdoor maintenance.

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7. You Don’t Have to Shovel Snow

Another outdoor-related task is shoveling snow. If you have a house, you’ll be responsible for clearing the snow from your driveway and the walkway to your front door.

You may also have to clear the sidewalk for other pedestrians if you live on the street’s right (or wrong) side. Sure, not everywhere has this issue, like California or other states in the south.

But if you live up north, you may have to deal with multiple snowstorms each winter. In my last apartment, we did have a lot of snow, but I didn’t have to shovel it.

My landlord hired a grounds crew to clear the walkways and the parking lot. Meanwhile, my parents, who have a house, must shovel or pay someone else to do it.

8. The Landlord Can Help

Depending on the maintenance issue, you may not have to do anything. Yes, some people own their apartments, in which case, they’re responsible for fixing or replacing things on the inside.

But if you rent your current place, you must call your landlord or property manager. Then, they’ll come by or send someone to your unit to check out the problem.

If the plumbing has issues, they can call and pay the plumber. Or if something’s wrong with the furnace, your landlord will hire someone to fix it.

Unfortunately, some landlords aren’t as responsive or helpful as others. Even if your landlord isn’t great, they should still do the work to fix your apartment when you encounter certain problems.

9. No Need for a Home Gym

Another advantage of many apartments is that they come with a gym. You can walk downstairs or across the complex to a room with plenty of equipment, from weights to treadmills.

That makes it super easy to do your workouts. You won’t have to pay for the gear or pay to replace it when the devices stop working.

Also, you don’t have to set aside space in your small apartment for a treadmill or exercise bike. You can save a lot of space, time, and money if your building has a gym available to you.

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10. There’s a Community Pool

Like a gym, you may want to swim in the summer. If you live in a house, you’d have to install a pool and maintain the water quality and other features.

However, many apartment complexes give their residents access to a community pool. Sure, you’ll have to share the pool with your neighbors, but you don’t have to do anything to maintain it.

You can swim or sit by the water when the pool is open. Then, you can relax, and you may even be able to host a couple of guests, depending on the rules of the complex.

11. Built-In Security Measures

If you have a house, you’re in charge of maintaining a security system if you want to have one. However, many apartment buildings or complexes have security features.

For example, my last place had controlled access to the buildings. You could only get in if you had a unique code or a key to the building.

Some complexes require a code or key to even get past the gate. The landlord might also have cameras around the property and use a lot of lighting outside of the buildings to offer more security at night.

You don’t have to pay to maintain those security systems or lights. However, you’ll benefit from them as long as you live in your apartment.

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