Zhou, Xiang Yu (Joe)
Comparing Houses and Apartments

As we all know, Canada is an immigrant country. There are very many people who come from the other countries. When new immigrants arrive to Canada, they will make their own homes here.

There are two kinds of structures for new immigrants to choose from: houses and apartments. Both of them have their own advantages and disadvantages.


From this table, you can see there are three main points that new immigrants should think about. First, people must determine how much money they can spend on buying houses. If they not only want to use less money, but also would like to live comfortably, they can think about buying apartments. The prices of apartments are between $100.000 and $600.000. they are much cheaper than the prices of the middle class of houses.

Second, security is also important for the people who come to Canada for the first time, because they do not have many friends here in the new place. Good security will make them feel safe. People can have guard dogs and alarm system in their houses. When some strangers want to enter, the dogs will give them a warning. If the houses get some problems, the alarm system will connect to the police office directly. In apartments, there are security guards and monitoring systems. The strangers will not be allowed to come in without permission.

Finally, the environment of both structures also differs. Depending on how many members are in their family, they can choose to buy houses or apartments. Houses are much larger than apartments. More rooms are available. If people buy houses, they can have their own gardens and laundries. In addition, they can design their home. For example, they can choose to change walls they like. In contrast, people who buy apartments have just one to three rooms and have to share public laundries with the other residents. They also cannot design whatever they like in the apartments; however, they may feel convenient because there might be a gym or swimming pool at their apartments.

As a conclusion, both this two type of structures are suitable for different people’s needs. New immigrants can decide which kind of home they prefer to build based on their specific wants.
 

August 2004