Home Styles and Types of Home Ownership

Home styles:

Colonial - Colonial dates back to historical New England. The Garrison Colonial, New England Colonial, Dutch Colonial, Salt Box, Southern, and Modern Colonials are just a few of the various Colonial styles. A colonial home can be described as any house where the second floor living area is 100% of the first floor living area. The roof ridge runs parallel to the main road. Bedrooms are usually always on the second floor. The front entry door is normally near the center on the home. Windows are generally spaced evenly on both sides.

Cabin - I toured a cabin on Lake Wyola last month. It was very small but had lake frontage. You’ll pay about $50,000 more for water frontage, on average. This was basically one room of living area and very little else.

Country – Country isn’t always southern, though many think of the south when they think of country. I think of western as being very different than country. I’ve lived in the south three times over the years. And I’ve lived on the west coast and in the mid-west, too. Country, to me, is more feminine, more an attitude of designed casualness.

Luxury - Mc Mansions are out according to the articles I’ve read recently. My brother-in-law, who is a train book publisher and is active in the arts, agrees. He recently took me on a tour of Massachusetts. He kept saying, just look at those Mc Mansions. I said, what do you mean? He said, you know, those huge houses over there that are huge just for huge sake. They have no uniqueness, no style, no sophistication. He much prefers older homes that have been lovingly maintained or thoughtfully modernized or new homes made to fit into the neighborhood where they are built so buyers can’t tell they are new or at least, buyers think they were built to look like they belong there. His family likes to say “there’s no there there”. That means they wouldn’t ever live in a place that wasn’t identifiable as that place. If you go somewhere and it looks like anywhere USA, then that is not a desirable location.

Victorian - Think lots of detail; ornate; often very small rooms, unusual things like round rooms or tower rooms.

Cape cod – A cape often has a dining room in the center, back of the home, and a kitchen next to it in the front of the home. It often has dormered ceilings in the upstairs bedrooms and a good-sized eat-in kitchen.

Ranch - A ranch home is for someone who doesn’t want an upstairs. All rooms are on the main floor and there may or may not be a basement. A ranch comes in all shapes and sizes. A ranch home is often a rectangle but can be U or L shaped. They lend themselves well to our aging population.

Raised ranch – I am constantly taking real estate classes to improve my expertise so I am confident you will receive the professional service you deserve. To that end, one instructor recently said his least favorite home style was a raised ranch. He said he understands that it is a very affordable home style and makes very efficient use of space. A raised ranch often has a central front door, where you enter the home in the center of a stair case that goes both up to the main living area and down to the family room on the right and the garage on the left (or visa-versa). The upstairs has a living room to the left, a dining room to the right, and bedrooms off the dining room. The kitchen is in the back of the home.

Contemporary - This is a style of home that doesn’t conform to any other style. I’ve seen round contemporaries, A-framed contemporaries and homes that look like modern art pieces with lots of sharp angles on the inside and outside. I owned a home the neighborhood kids called “the castle” because it sat high on a corner lot and the street was on an angle, so it make the already tall home look even taller. It had very little yard and was multi-storied. There were no square rooms anywhere. There were odd angles everywhere. There were lots of stairs, a balcony inside and outside and it lent itself to contemporary art and furniture fabulously. The bedrooms were on the 1st and 3rd floors and the living areas were on the second floor, very open and flowing. The water views were to-die-for. Needless-to-say, all that same furniture in my current colonial home just doesn’t look the same! Prudential Sawicki, in Amherst has two contemporary homes currently on the market in the north Quabbin area.

Farmhouse – I was recently in a farmhouse in Amherst. It is currently on the market. It is located on a busy road but has plenty of parking for occupants and visitors alike. The entire home is exactly as it always was. Not one dime has been spent on renovations over the decades or centuries it has existed. This can be a plus or a minus. If priced right, a plus. It allows a buyer to come in and renovate to their exact preferences. It has views and surrounding land and open space but is fairly centrally-located near everything. The bedrooms are upstairs and the living areas are all on the first floor. The rooms are small and not open to each other. The unfinished basement is full of old furnaces and things that a new owner will need to have removed. And lead paint, asbestos, and other issues are most likely present.


Types of home ownership:

Single family – Single family homes are one home on one lot. Sometimes an in-law apartment is allowed but check with your town’s planning board. Often, visitors may stay in the apartment but renters might not be allowed. Usually, the number of people allowed to live in the home is limited by law; ask your town’s board of health or planning. This would not be a good option if it were being purchased for the purpose of renting out rooms to students, for instance. The owner owns the deed to real property (unless mortgaged) and has all ownership rights allowed by law. The amount of monthly payments includes four things: Principal amount owed on mortgage loan, interest on that mortgage loan, taxes on the property, and insurance on the property (PITI). And if you put less than 20% as a down payment, some lenders may require the person with that loan to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). This is wasted money. It helps only the lender. It does not pay the borrower unless additional insurance is purchased (not affordable for most homebuyers). I paid PMI once and re-financed as soon as I realized what I’d done to myself. After that, I continued to buy homes with zero money down. The difference is that for my later home purchases I used two loans to buy one home. One loan for 80% of the purchase price and a second loan for 20% of the purchase. Then I pay two monthly payments until I can get the second loan paid off. This is not recommended for most home buyers. And this is not normal for Massachusetts’ purchases. In Massachusetts, the offer is accompanied by $500 to $1000 earnest money. Then, when the offer is accepted by the seller, a second cash deposit is paid by the buyer. This is often 10% of the purchase price, less if the property is a pricey one. The purpose of this is to give all parties involved an incentive to actually see the purchase through to closing.

Multifamily – Two or more families live on one lot. Often, there is one owner who may or may not live on the property. The other units are legally-allowed to be rented out. Be sure you know the law regarding renting. If the property is pre-1979 lead paint is involved. Massachusetts law is very consumer oriented. One to four units have slightly more lenient laws if the owner lives on-site. Also, getting a loan is easier if you live onsite. Also, lending rules allow more buyers to buy a one to four unit property but are more stringent in allowing borrowers to buy a property with more than four units. But discrimination to anyone you do or don't rent to is never tolerated by Massachusetts and is strictly enforced by the state district attorney (even for federal violations). So if you have lead paint and a renter has a child under six years old, you must resolve the lead paint issue (see the lead paint form. Call me for a copy) before they can move in. And the owner may have to pay the renter’s waiting expenses. I am not a lawyer. Seek legal advise from an attorney if you are contemplating renting property. But if having others pay your mortgage appeals, this is the way to build equity for you. But only consider this if you have the cash on hand to pay the mortgage even when many or all the units are unoccupied for an extended period of time. For example, you may need to renovate and have no rent coming in. Try to have the lead paint removed before purchasing such a property. If that’s not possible, be sure your offer to purchase reflects the costs of having this done yourself. There are many, many other considerations of purchasing this type of property. This owner has a deed to real property.

Condominium – Condo ownership is real property. But the common areas are publicly-shared with other owners and visitors alike. There are many rules as to what you may and may not do. There are association fees that change. There are additional mandatory expenses depending on the needs of the building. There are special laws regarding unpaid condo fees and how the association can levy a lien against owners for unpaid fees. But there can be very good reasons to buy a condo. If yard work is not for you but you want a pool and tennis courts that someone else takes care of, a condo can be just the right home. But if quiet and a private yard is your priority, condo life might not be for you. A condo (or townhouse or coop) lends to allowing more open space or public areas as the homes often share common walls, allowing for grouping. This, in, turn, allows for trees, paths, and other features. It also allows for high-density living, which can be good or bad, depending on your point of view. In college I once wrote a paper on open space. I was shocked to learn that high density was environmentally desirable because it keeps more open space for everyone to enjoy. Many town planning boards do the opposite. They mandate two-acre minimums for single family homes. To counter this, Massachusetts has enacted laws that mandate affordable housing in every community, despite what town laws say.

Townhouse – A townhouse is real property, with many of the same issues as a condo. They are often located in fairly-high density locations and often have great access to public transportation, amenities, shopping and entertainment. But remember, the association fees are calculated into the income maximum percentages for mortgage calculation purposes. So if you qualify for $1000 per month mortgage and the mortgage is $1000 per month you have to buy something less expensive if it is a condo or townhouse or even single family with association fees. This is because the fees are included in the calculations. So if you buy a home with no association fees, you can get that $1000 per month mortgage. Even if you later have to put a new roof on the single family home, that future expense isn’t calculated into the amount of single family home you qualify to purchase. But if you buy a townhouse with association fees, then you must buy something less expensive. Here’s why. If you have to add in that $200/month association fee (this fees goes toward maintenance and management expenses), that means you only qualify for an $800/month townhouse. This is because together (mortgage and fees), you have monthly expenses for that townhouse of $1000/month.

Cooperative – Buying a coop is not for everyone. First of all, you are not given a deed when you live in a coop. There is no deed, but there are ownership documents. They just don’t go to the occupant. Ownership documents are held by the association. The association owns the coop and each occupant is given a right to personal property, not real property (real estate is usually real property). There are coop rules to who can buy and who can sell. Some coops keep the profit and allow share-holders only a certain percentage of profit when they sell. A single family home is real property; a coop is personal property. Coop owners are issued shares, like in the stock market. There are also fees and shared common areas and other issues encountered in both condos and townhomes and multi-family properties. But coops can be perfect for some people. My spouse has a fraternity brother who lives in a coop. His very spacious single-family home has lots of land and buildings around it and he even runs his various businesses from other out-building on the property. And all his neighbors are his friends and have been for 30 years. The coop often buys other land that surrounds theirs, when it becomes available. The latest trend to keep local heroes (teachers, firepersons, police, municipal employees, janitors, hospital assistants, wait staff) in high-priced inter-city areas able to buy affordable local housing, is to use a coop to keep the price of home-ownership down. If you live and work in the same area, it is also good for the environment. There are less commute costs, less vehicle pollution, less time wasted in commuting. And the best part, is that if you are always in a community you will care about that community. If you aren’t wasting time commuting, you may volunteer in your local school or hospital, you may work in a community garden. This makes for a better environment for everyone. You’re more likely to know your neighbors if you are in the area night and day. You will drive away bad influences if you are around and care and know each other. What’s not to like about that?