Duplexes vs standalone houses-

Which should I buy: duplex or standalone house?

  • Duplex

    Votes: 5 6.4%

  • Standalone house

    Votes: 61 78.2%

  • Neither

    Votes: 4 5.1%

  • Either, doesn’t matter

    Votes: 8 10.3%
  • Total voters
    78
Foxhound5366

Foxhound5366

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So I’m on the hunt for a three-bedroom family home, and I’m struggling to make up my mind about the pros and cons of duplex homes in complexes vs standalone homes.

Does anyone with practical experience of both have some insights to share into the actual value of the points I’ve collated below?

Duplex Pros:
- Tend to be a bit more secure than standalone homes
- Easy to put a security gate between the bedrooms on the top level and the rest of the home on the bottom level for extra security
- Tend to be considerably cheaper in terms of purchase cost
- Benefits from shared services like garden services and maintenance
- Often has common property assets like a swimming pool and braai area at least, or a nice garden area for picnics

Duplex Cons:
- You’re sometimes uncomfortably close to neighbours
- Levies can run up over R3000/month easily …
money which could have gone into a larger bond on a standalone house
- You most likely have to deal with body corporate rules in terms of things you can and can’t do
- The risk of falling down stairs inside your home is a risk you don’t have with a single-floor house
- Gardens tend to be smaller (you’re limited to tiny dogs by complex rules generally … if at all)
- Roof space is smaller for that all-important solar installation

Standalone house pros:
- Do what you want to your house, it’s yours!
- No levies
- More roof space for solar
- A bit more privacy from your neighbours
- Your property value is less closely linked to your neighbours

Standalone house cons:
- More investment required into security (can get a gated suburb for a little more peace of mind)
- More investment required into usual monthly upkeep
- No shared spaces or facilities: it comes with what it comes with
- Tends to be a few hundred thousand more expensive than the equivalent duplex
- No falling down stairs
 
Freehold house is one you own and not part of a sectional title. You can get standalone units in complexes, I mean it's literally in the name it's just not attached to anything.
Complexes suck, getting things done are hard as you need to always fight
 
Lupus said:
Freehold house is one you own and not part of a sectional title. You can get standalone units in complexes, I mean it's literally in the name it's just not attached to anything.
Complexes suck, getting things done are hard as you need to always fight
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Yeah but standalone houses in complexes are typically the most expensive, with very few exceptions for older complexes and older houses. So yeah, this basically increases the price of the purchase AND adds the con of levies, and offsets it with a bit more safety.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Yeah but standalone houses in complexes are typically the most expensive, with very few exceptions for older complexes and older houses. So yeah, this basically increases the price of the purchase AND adds the con of levies, and offsets it with a bit more safety.
Click to expand...
Not really, lots of standalone units in complexes and costs are about the same, though you don't have the disadvantages of being attached to the neighbours
 
Lupus said:
Not really, lots of standalone units in complexes and costs are about the same, though you don't have the disadvantages of being attached to the neighbours
Click to expand...
Guess it depends on the areas. Complexes always come with extra levies too, so have you added the suburbs and levies into your calculation?
 
Most of the pros are covered by the levies anyway. You're paying for all those things.

If you buy a house you pay for security, garden service and pool service. And at least you're in control of your providers.

You can also do whatever the f you want without worrying about some Karen complaining.

The complex security thing is mostly a false sense of security. If criminals want in, they will get in. Just buy a house in a good neighborhood, get to know your neighbours and secure your property as best you can with multiple layers (electric fence, burglar bars, beams, alarm, difficult to access gate motors etc.).

Whether you're in a complex or house, you're just buying more time with layers until you can call in help. At least with a house you have more freedom and control over it...
 
Kinda leaning towards stand-alone here. More space and you can definitely whatever the hell you want.

Have you done a thorough break down of the exact differences in costs?
 
For me, own-title with a HOA works very well. We live in a 40 unit estate, which I like, because I know everyone living there. Stand are also big enough that you aren't on top of your neighbour, so you have a reasonable level of privacy. Larger estates become like a gated neighbourhood, which is much less personal.

One of the big pro's is if you have kids - they have the freedom to visit friends on their own. Vehicles drive slowly because the roads are short. Larger estates tend to limit the freedom of kids, and add risks.

Because we have a HOA, external changes to your house have to be approved - but that also helps keep everything neat and aesthetically pleasing. You just need to make sure you keep a group of level headed trustees on the HOA. If you're not happy, get involved and become a trustee and influence from within.

Sure, there are issues from time to time, but the majority of home owners are a pleasure to have as neighbours. We have become great friends with several families in the estate - a quick message to a friend, and you can just walk down the road for a few beers and a braai. The kids LOVE it.

The shared services like security, borehole for irrigation, etc. work well to share costs.
 
I own a 2 story duplex, although not in a complex. I don't care about duplex or free standing, but I do draw the line with body corporate's and levies. So I won't live in a complex again.

@OP, your definition of a duplex is a bit skew. Most of the pro's and con's you mention there is more synonymous with complex's, than duplexes.
 
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definitely stand alone if you have a family and want to live in it

for investment sectional title is the way to go
 
KleinBoontjie said:
Elaborate? Maybe you and OP share the same wrong definition of a duplex.
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I have been living in a complex/duplexes for the last decade. All those perceived "pros" quickly go out the window once you realise the reality of things. I would make a longer post sharing my experience, but sipping on medlemon.


But! Maybe you are lucky.
 
KleinBoontjie said:
I own a 2 story duplex, although not in a complex. I don't care about duplex or free standing, but I do draw the line with body corporate's and levies. So I won't live in a complex again.

@OP, your definition of a duplex is a bit skew. Most of the pro's and con's you mention there is more synonymous with complex's, than duplexes.
Click to expand...
Well boss, if you read the first line of the OP, you'd see I do clarify "duplex homes in complexes". So I'm talking about a specific kind of duplex ... which is most of what I'm seeing on the property market where I'm living at the moment.

I've just come back from viewing a beautiful standalone home with all the pros I mention above: gated suburb, large garden, massive roof for solar panels, more space than I need inside. The trade-offs are that it's a bit more expensive than I'd feel comfortable paying, and also a little on the older side ... but does seem really well-maintained.

I've basically rented in complexes almost all of my adult life, so I'm also a bit tired of that specific lifestyle. The noisy neighbours far outweigh the on-site gym in my experience. Then again, leaving the nice warm womb of on-site 24-hour security at the entrance gates IS a little worrying for me. Though I know that I'm technically safer with full control over who exactly enters my property vs all the unknowns in a complex.

And so round and round we go :D
 
backstreetboy said:
Neither. A flat. Only two bills to pay and almost no maintenance. Sure the levies are expensive but it's worth it for me.
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Top floor (suffer with stairs), middle floor (suffer with people above and below you) or ground-floor (still got people living above you and looking into your garden generally)?

In the estate I live there are a lot of garden units but the "garden" isn't much to speak of. Can't swing a cat by a tail in it, and I want to get a dog that doesn't immediately get PTSD.
 
KleinBoontjie said:
I own a 2 story duplex, although not in a complex. I don't care about duplex or free standing, but I do draw the line with body corporate's and levies. So I won't live in a complex again.

@OP, your definition of a duplex is a bit skew. Most of the pro's and con's you mention there is more synonymous with complex's, than duplexes.
Click to expand...
Their definition of Freestanding as well
 
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