Pigeons live in coops; some humans live in apartments

Get out of the concrete blocks with elevators...

And get into a house, with windows on 2, 3 or 4 sides (yes, more than 1 - home ain't a cave), a yard, garden, patio, or just a place to lawn chair).

I know this reeks of Western old-fashioned living. But doesn't it smell good?

The Korean love of high rises means you can get sweet deals on houses at 300,000 won a month a glore.

Houses, jutaeks, villas and onerooms are not a very good investment in Korea.
This is especially so if you are anywhere outside the Seoul/Gyeonggi cluster.
But if you aren't concerned about money, I would agree.

I don't know about as an investment, but standalone houses are becoming more popular in Korea. And many Koreans are pretty savvy regarding investing in RE.

I don't know about as an investment, but standalone houses are becoming more popular in Korea. And many Koreans are pretty savvy regarding investing in RE.

Too true, at least in my area. a few new housing subdivisions have popped-up over the past decade or so. The first was  about 2001, the second 2008, and now another 3 have been added...more to come by the looks of it. New apartments are also going up but companies are finding it hard to attract new owners or tenants. A big complex has just gone bust.
My little old town is turning into a rural city 

We also own our current house (and one before). We bought it for lifestyle not for profit. Apartment living made me stir-crazy...haven't lived in one since the early/mid 2000s.

People raising kids have different preferences compared to a single person.
I'm not a big fan of apartments either but for our current life, it suits us best. We made sure to pick one with actual nature view so it kinda feels like a detached house.  Without an actual private yard, unfortunately.
We would need to go way out next to rice paddies to find an actual house with a decent size of land that is affordable. But it would be very inconvenient. No school nearby, we would need 2 cars etc.
What would be better located is a so called town house or duplex style place. There are many around where I live. But they have only a tiny yard that is not usable for anything. They also tend to be packed close together so your window is looking at your neighbor's one just a few meters away. Their frame is also quite small so they are not that spacious. Overall, they aren't really an improvement compared to an apartment.

Oh yeah, I lived on the top floor of an old 2 storied house. It was good for about 6 months of the year. Well, during the rainy season there was some leakage through the ceiling here and there. But in winter, no amount of heating would keep it warm. The wind was literally blowing through the walls.

People raising kids have different preferences compared to a single person.
I'm not a big fan of apartments either but for our current life, it suits us best.

I agree with you. The 'whatever is best for your current situation' is important. As much as I don't enjoy apartment living, we will be moving back to apartment living as we get older. I reckon another 7-10 years will see us enjoying a rural sunset from deckchairs on the grassy area. My wife is adamant we will be buying 1st floor accommodation... convenient but might be noisy.

I agree with you. The 'whatever is best for your current situation' is important. As much as I don't enjoy apartment living, we will be moving back to apartment living as we get older. I reckon another 7-10 years will see us enjoying a rural sunset from deckchairs on the grassy area. My wife is adamant we will be buying 1st floor accommodation... convenient but might be noisy.

My wife was also adamant about living on the first floor. And we are not even old :). There is no noise from the hallway whatsoever. The layout of the place already helps with it and we have an inner door as well, separating the shoe area from the rest of the house. We lucked out with our upstairs neighbors too. An elderly couple. I hope they don't move out for a good while.

That's great Lazio. You've sold me.

Absolutely!
Blessed are the elderly for I am rapidly becoming one...and...yes they make good, quiet neighbours (unless they drink) 

That's great Lazio. You've sold me.

Absolutely!
Blessed are the elderly for I am rapidly becoming one...and...yes they make good, quiet neighbours (unless they drink) 

Or when the grandkids come over. Luckily it only happens a few days in a year. Living like that every day would be hell.

i lived in a jutek for a year.  the winter was horrenous.  pipes constantly freezing, ran on kerosene gas that ended up costing a fortune to use to heat the place.  im in an apartment now and i have never used my heat.  its always above 18 degrees.

i lived in a jutek for a year.  the winter was horrenous.  pipes constantly freezing, ran on kerosene gas that ended up costing a fortune to use to heat the place.  im in an apartment now and i have never used my heat.  its always above 18 degrees.

Yeah, we had the same problem. We were on the 4th story of a small building.
The first floor was shops. The second and third floor had two apartments each
and we had the entire top floor, plus the roof which had another room. I actually
really liked living there. But yeah, it got cold fast. And the roof leaked. And sometimes
people crapped in the stairwell. Guess who had to clean it.

We live in a high-rise apartment now and the heating is much cheaper. It would
have been even more cheap, but we renovated and removed the balcony doors.
So, now we have 15-20% more space in each room, but less insulation. The old balcony
floors have no ondol.
 

We moved into our house 5 years ago. It’s significantly cheaper to heat and cool than our old apartment because of green tech. It has a solar array on the rooftop, and utilizes geothermal heating and cooling. Even in the peak of summer we’ve never paid more than 40,000 won in utilities.

We have had some minor leakage because of the heavy rain, but our insurance has partially covered the cost of having the roof resealed with urethane.

The house is built into the hillside so the first floor and basement are insulated year round by the fact they’re built into the soil. The second floor temperatures range hotter and colder because they it’s above ground completely.

Investment wise it’s so so. Our house has doubled in value but if we had kept our old apartment we would have gotten a better return on our investment.

Overall I much much prefer living in a house. No waiting for elevators. I have 3 personal parking places so I never worry about parking. During covid hanging out in my back yard without a mask was great.

Negative points. Mowing grass in this weather sucks. The nearest convenience store is about 600 meters away. Nearest super market about 1km. My wife says it’s too far but coming from rural Texas it still feels convenient to me.

Actually the thing I liked least living in a four story place was the caliber
of people I came across on a daily basis. Lot's of drunks, yelling, garbage
and poverty. By western standards my old neighbors were absolutely
fine, but living in a high rise most people are well off professional types
and they are always well dressed and polite.

So, now we have 15-20% more space in each room, but less insulation. The old balcony
floors have no ondol.

Normally, that kind of work is done by bringing out the heating pipes to the former balcony areas.

Normally, that kind of work is done by bringing out the heating pipes to the former balcony areas.

Sure, if you want to pay for it I'm sure you could get solid gold
heat conducting pipes anywhere you want.

Digging up the concrete and extending pipes would have cost
millions.

Sure, if you want to pay for it I'm sure you could get solid gold
heat conducting pipes anywhere you want.

Digging up the concrete and extending pipes would have cost
millions.

There is always the half-assed/cutting corners way, and there is the proper way. Of course it would cost more, but so is everything if you want to get it done decently.
Now you spend those millions on heating over the years. Not to mention the discomfort of having an ice-cold floor in a quarter of the room. And those cold corners lead to condensation and mould.

...could also impact on a sale and/or price when it comes to selling. If a prospective buyer is looking at paying the equivalent of a million dollars plus for an apartment, then you don't want heating only 3/4 of the way in the living areas. Sometimes you have to spend a little, sometimes it's money poorly spent. In this case i think it would be the former.

We moved into our house 5 years ago. It’s significantly cheaper to heat and cool than our old apartment because of green tech. It has a solar array on the rooftop, and utilizes geothermal heating and cooling. Even in the peak of summer we’ve never paid more than 40,000 won in utilities.

We have had some minor leakage because of the heavy rain, but our insurance has partially covered the cost of having the roof resealed with urethane.

The house is built into the hillside so the first floor and basement are insulated year round by the fact they’re built into the soil. The second floor temperatures range hotter and colder because they it’s above ground completely.

Investment wise it’s so so. Our house has doubled in value but if we had kept our old apartment we would have gotten a better return on our investment.

Overall I much much prefer living in a house. No waiting for elevators. I have 3 personal parking places so I never worry about parking. During covid hanging out in my back yard without a mask was great.

Negative points. Mowing grass in this weather sucks. The nearest convenience store is about 600 meters away. Nearest super market about 1km. My wife says it’s too far but coming from rural Texas it still feels convenient to me.

Absolutely amazing...40.000 won! Green Tech seems like a sound investment. We just forked over 260,000 won  just for power (mind you I'm running 3 air conditioners). I saw the photo's you posted awhile back...looks like a great place to live and relax.

As for the roof, our place needs the same. Teach me for having a roof vegetable garden. The neighbours had their roof coated in May...wow big smell for a few days! We had a lot of rain-water run down a couple of walls in the past...nothing this year, cross fingers. Mind you, clearing the roof drains constantly helps. Ahh! just realized something...all the big trees on the other side of street (narrow street) were chopped down over winter. That'll be why I've had no leaf blockages this year 

I envy you having all that grass. Hot weather...no problem...togs and steel-cap boots. You'd be quite the sight. Yeah, shopping can be too convenient. The GS 25 is 70 meters away, and the first supermarket is less than a 5 minute walk...way too easy to buy stuff that's only a thought. I reckon your distances are just about right.

...could also impact on a sale and/or price when it comes to selling. If a prospective buyer is looking at paying the equivalent of a million dollars plus for an apartment, then you don't want heating only 3/4 of the way in the living areas. Sometimes you have to spend a little, sometimes it's money poorly spent. In this case i think it would be the former.

We ain't gonna sell it in the winter and we're not going to advertise anything
negative about the unit. Caveat emptor. (Anyways, everybody knows most people
don't extend the ondol.)

We ain't gonna sell it in the winter and we're not going to advertise anything
negative about the unit. Caveat emptor. (Anyways, everybody knows most people
don't extend the ondol.)

Fair enough...just killing a bit of time having a chat. Buying and renovating houses was my (expensive) hobby back in NZ. I know nothing about apartment renovations...just thinking out loud. Not throwing shade at you at all. Your home and all...
I'd be careful about that Caveat Emptor. It doesn't always work in the seller's favour. There are certain things that you must or should disclose. Mind you, Korea possibly works on its own set of rules.