have you lived in both a condo and a cluster home?

[tanusa]

Hello. For those of you who have lived in both a condo and cluster home during your time in Singapore, which do you prefer and why? I'm wondering about issues such as neighbor noise, privacy, convenience, comfort of the home in terms of size (overall size and size of rooms, kitchen, etc.), layout, condition, outdoor space. Also, which is better in terms of knowing your neighbors? Can you get a "community" feel in a condo or is a cluster home better? We'll be moving with two kids (2 and 5).

Any opinions/advice would be appreciated!

[durain]

condo for me (this is based on the one i am living in)...

> only 4 condos per floor and has 2 lifts for the block.
> usual stuff like pool, gym, tennis courts, play area. great for the kids.
> can lock up and go on holiday without worrying about security.
> no need to take the garbage out (just use the chute).
> no need to cut the grass or water the plant.
> good to mingle with other residents/locals (but also bad if you want to avoid some people!)
> fogging taken care of by the condo management.
> lots of space and ceiling higher than in a house!
> never worry about leaving the windows or balcony door open.
> never got my shoes stolen!

[tanusa]

condo for me (this is based on the one i am living in)...

> only 4 condos per floor and has 2 lifts for the block.
> usual stuff like pool, gym, tennis courts, play area. great for the kids.
> can lock up and go on holiday without worrying about security.
> no need to take the garbage out (just use the chute).
> no need to cut the grass or water the plant.
> good to mingle with other residents/locals (but also bad if you want to avoid some people!)
> fogging taken care of by the condo management.
> lots of space and ceiling higher than in a house!
> never worry about leaving the windows or balcony door open.
> never got my shoes stolen!

Hi. Thanks for your reply. Have you ever had issues with neighbor noise in your condo? Or are condos in Singapore built well to avoid that problem? thanks!

[road.not.taken]

Most of the construction here is poured concrete, so the noise issue really is at a minimum. However it really is the luck of the draw, you hear all sorts of horror stories about furniture dragging at 2am, bouncing golf balls in the middle of the night on the floor above, dogs incessantly barking, etc... Of course noisy neighbors can happen anywhere in any type of housing.

We looked at a few cluster homes and turned them all down because a stunning lack of privacy was unavoidable due to some very flawed architectural decisions.

[Teenie Bash]

Moving from cluster house to condo this week. Why? Well, our house is DARK with almost no natural light as they are 'clustered' together. Moving to a large condo development as want better facilities for our kids, 12 and 8. Will miss the space of the house but looking forward to lower electric bills!

[QRM]

Cluster housing while you avoid the neighbour above type noise (concrete being a great carrier of impact sound.) you still get get noisy neighbours. We found the local cluster housing terrible for privacy, they don't call them cluster for nothing.

We went for a condo:

There are condos with only one unit per floor so privacy is good.
Great views of sunsets, lovely breeze, and no one over looking you unit. ( all these are very much dependant on which condo you choose).
No need to worry about Gardens and critters ( wife has a snake phobia).
Great facilities including room service etc.
When you go on holiday just shut the door and no need to worry.

Sizes, again up to you for some reason in Singapore landed properties as in house are cheaper than condo, possible because of the govt. restriction on ownership of landed properties makes them less desirable? You are limited to only a few condos if you want larger units 4000sq ft plus.

[queenie71]

Cluster housing getting a bit of a bad rep here.... Oh my god, we're moving over soon and I was hoping that cluster house would be great - Teneriffe or Glentrees... anyone with good reports?

[durain]

house is great. that's why jet li bought a S$20million house.

i mean, a house can be as good as a condo and vice versa. i moved to a older condo which are much bigger and with high ceiling. compare with the newer condo, they are not as big. for me, the pro is the swimming pool for the kids and security when the condo is empty.

[cbavasi]

All the cluster homes I'm familiar with are set in a condo environment. Particularily those like Teneriffe & Glentrees. You will not have to worry about these units being dark - if anything they are VERY sunny (which would definitely mean higher electricity bill if you use the AC to cool them down.)

We lived in a townhouse within a condo development when we first moved... always heard the neighbors opening and closing their bedroom closet doors and playing piano... but nothing crazy unusual. Whether in a condo or a cluster house - really luck of the draw when it comes to neighbors.

In re: to size - most of the cluster homes I've been in are very tall and narrow - though some of the older developments have quite large living rooms and bedrooms (Villa del Rose, Duchess Crest, Sommerville Park) but some of those can be very dark.

You will not be responsible for the gardening or maintenance in a cluster home that is within a development - only if you decide to get an actual house or even semi-detached house. This is different than "cluster housing".

[QRM]

One other problem with cluster houses "Stairs" they can go up 5 stories, and light wells which take a big chunk of the floor area, so a 5 storey 4000 sq feet cluster house, would actually give you about 2600 sq ft actual inside living space.

The other side of the coin, some people prefer stairs as it makes the place feel like a "house" while separating the various levels of private areas within the home. The light wells add an interesting architectural features (when its done right)