High-Rise vs. Low-Rise Apartments: What Investors Should Know

The choice between high-rise and low-rise apartments can make or break your real estate insurance. Both options being worth more depending on location, markets, prospects for long-term appreciation, and personal preferences, are weighed against each other. Property101 aims to cut through the clutter so that old and new investors alike can make measured decisions.

Let us just accomplish a great and deep analysis of how high-rise and low-rise apartments differ from each other, and the factor that very fundamentally should be weighed by an investor before undertaking anything.

What Is a Low-Rise Building or Apartment?

High-rise apartments are usually defined as apartment buildings that rise to more than seven stories. These high-rises usually tend to come installed with other amenities such as elevators, roof gardens, gym facilities, and security systems. On the contrary, low-rise buildings would be considered as those with a maximum of four floors; usually, there may be some open areas, less dense with fewer areas of neighbourhood.

For an investor, this constitutes far more than a constructionist difference: it also factors into things like rental value and resale.

Pros and Cons of High-Rise Apartments

Probably the spectacular panoramic views and the trendy lifestyle that goes with it are some of the factors drawing attention to high-rise apartments. These apartments are usually located in high-end city-center locations or budding suburbs, drawing a working-class professional population, millennials, and NRIs alike, all in search of trendy living spaces with all the amenities.

High-rise complexes generally have greater scalability, more units per tower — an amenity that can provide greater rental yield potential when the complex is highly desirable. Secondly, modern high-rises are frequently green certified and include smart homes, which appeal more to today's technology-oriented buyers.

But investors must also take into account greater maintenance expenses, elevator dependency, and ownership delays often intrinsic in under-construction high-rise developments.

Low-Rise Housing: Advantage and Drawbacks

Low-rise apartments appeal to a very particular kind of buyer: families; the elderly, who prefer a quieter environment, away from the hubbub of the city; and the like. These apartments are mostly found in more residential zones, with low noise level and small population.

Low-rise housing can potentially give investors better long-term tenant retention and lower maintenance costs. They are relatively faster to erect and, more often than not, offer bigger floor plans than high-rise buildings of similar affluence.

Hence, low-rise buildings suffer from a dearth of modern amenities and can be somewhat niche in terms of popularity with buyers. In Kolkata, while keeping the factor of price at the forefront, low levels of high-class apartments in top locations can even be beyond consideration.

 Which Option Would Be Best for Investors?

The solution depends on your investment strategy. If you desire quick appreciation and latest infrastructure, high-rise apartments in up-and-coming areas like Rajarhat, New Town, or EM Bypass would be the most suitable. If you desire stable rentals, longer tenures, and less volatilities, then low-rise apartments in established residential pockets would be the best option for you.

We here at Property101 tends to suggest that investors look at the plans for future development of the location. A high-rise in a new IT zone could turn out to do better than a low-rise in a rundown residential zone—but this is largely a matter of your investment horizon and risk appetite.

Conclusion 

From the objective point of view, no decision favouring any of the two stands to be deemed universally good. It basically hinges upon some alignment of this choice with personalist goals, aim, and how you expect to derive value on your investment. With Property101, it is our utmost duty to provide life-altering advice along the lines of fact and educated opinion. We intend to make investments in a smart way, under the knowledge of what is ahead, whether reaching toward the horizon or finding some resting ground to settle on.