Apartamentul ideal nu este intotdeauna casa ideala
Ca parinti vine si momentul cand iti dai seama ca nu vei mai avea loc in caminul vostru si atunci trebuie sa achizitionezi casa ideala. Apartamentul ideal ales de noi inainte de venirea copilului nu este intotdeauna casa ideala pentru a creste un copil. Am trecut de vreo doua ori pana acum prin aceasta provocare inainte sa apara copilul si parea ca am ales ce trebuie. Acum cred ca nu ne mai arde de o mutare. Totusi cautam pasiv acea casa a visurilor noastre. Apartamentul ideal nu mai este casa ideala o data ce iti dai seama ca nu mai ai loc in el. Si mergem pe strada si vedem case cu gradina si ne spunem ca asa am vrea sa fie. Si cream un vis: casa cu gradina, curte de jur imprejur, loc de parcare, loc de gratar, uscarea hainelor afara in curte, multe flori pe care sa le uzi seara in serile calde de vara si tot asa. De fapt alegerea unui apartament sau case devine implinirea unui vis comun. Asa am ales noi casele pana acum. Copilului pare sa ii placa foarte tare aceasta casa. Cata vreme el este foarte fericit in casa lui de acum noi nu avem motiv sa cautam alta casa ideala. Si poate de asta nu gasim ca trebuie sa ne mutam in ceva mai mare, mai central, mai pe pamant sau mai altfel. Lista noastra de cerinte pentru casa ideala este lunga.
Cand am inceput cautarile pentru acest apartament am fost constienti ca facem un compromis in anumite puncte, dar am decis ca indeplineste cateva din criteriile care il defineau ca pe o casa ideala. Punctul de plecare in cautarile noastre pentru o locuinta este ca nu vom gasi niciodata casa ideala. Inainte de toate amandoi ne doream sa ne crestem copilul intr-o gradina. Curand am realizat ca suntem inca foarte tineri si nepasatori asa ca nu aveam nevoie de responsabilitatea unei gradini. Puteam sa alegem totusi un apartament la parter cu gradina, dar noi ne doream o vedere de sus pentru a simti ca suntem in varful lumii. Si mai era un inconvenient major: multe din casele sau apartamentele cu gradina pe care ni le permiteam se aflau in afara orasului. Asta inseamna timp pierdut in trafic, deci mai putin timp petrecut cu copilul. Asta era exclus! Doua sau trei ore din timpul nostru valoros pe care sa le petrecem in trafic nu a fost niciodata o optiune reala. Asa am decis ca un apartament este ideal in locul unei case cu gradina.
Nu vei gasi acea casa ideala. Exista cateva criterii pe care noi le verificam si la care tinem, dar putem face rabat la anumite puncte, daca unele cantaresc mai puternic. Spre exemplu, ce a cantarit cel mai mult la acest apartament a fost faptul ca era gata amenajat si nu departe de cum l-am fi facut noi, ceea ce salva din timpul nostru aproape inexistent. Stiam ca nu avem suficiente spatii de depozitare, dar prima conditie a primat. Si dupa toate cautarile noastre pasive, va pot spune ca nu am reusit sa gasim inca acel apartament ideal, mai bun decat asta si mai bine compartimentat sau mai accesibil. Asa ca am decis sa cautam mai departe pasiv apartamentul ideal care sa fie si casa ideala.
Iata ce consideram noi ca familie ca trebuie sa verificam cand cautam o casa
- localizarea in oras: nu vrem vedere la strada principala si nu vrem intr-o zona extrem de circulata, vrem sa fim aproape de scoli si gradinite, preferabil zone cu expati. Am scris deja despre importanta unei dezvoltari intr-un mediu multi-cultural: https://mama.srl/what-we-say-about-the-others/
- potentialul comercial: zone comerciale, cladiri de birouri
- impartirea pe camere: zona de noapte sa fie departe de accesul in apartament si separata de zona de zi si bucatarie
- minimul decentei spatiului pentru dormitor: aici fiecare decide cat spatiu are nevoie, dar un 12mp este minimul acceptabil, astfel incat sa inghesui un dulap de 2m lungime si un pat decent cu doua noptiere.
- intrarea intr-un hol: pentru ca trebuie sa iti lasi haina si incaltarile undeva, ai nevoie de un antreu, de un hol la intrare ca doar nu pui in chiuveta sau pe aragaz hainele cat timp te descalti sa arunci langa cosul de gunoi pantofii.
- acces la baie pentru dormitor: aici e important ca toaletele sa fie langa dormitoare, doar nu vrei sa treci prin living cand partenerul are un skype call si tu te duci la baie adormita
- depozitare: spatiile de depozitare, asa zisele debarale, sunt extrem de importante pentru ca vei avea haine de iarna sau de vara de depozitat, incaltamintea de iarna, si mai ales aspirator si mop sau carpele de praf. Aceste lucruri au si ele nevoie de locul lor in orice casa.
- balcon: e important pentru uscarea hainelor, pentru plante de apartament, pentru o gura de aer sau o simpla iesire ca sa vezi lumea de afara
- bucatarie spatioasa: un copil te conditioneaza sa petreci destul timp in aceasta camera. Ca sa nu te simti sufocata e bine sa iei in calcul un spatiu vast. Aici consideram ca un 10mp este decent. Evident cu cat mai mare cu atat mai bine.
- orientare si lumina soarelui: cel mai important criteriu cand cautam o casa este orientarea (suntem iubitori de vest si sud) pentru ca asta aduce lumina multa in casa si aceea este naturala. Este extrem de binefacatoare lumina in dezvoltarea si mentinerea psihica a omului. Noi o consideram esentiala
- loc de parcare: blocurile comuniste nu pot oferi acest comfort, asa ca este unul din punctele pentru care facem rabat. Totusi daca ar fi sa alegem din nou, vom cauta un bloc nou ca sa putem avea si loc de parcare.
- boxa: este o idee mai veche revenita de curand in mintea dezvoltatorilor. Nu am considerat-o necesara pana sa avem copil. Aveti idee cate jucarii si cate triciclete si carucioare o sa aveti de pus acolo? Noi am vazut asta intr-un exemplu de apartament cu boxa si importanta ei iti poate reduce importanta spatiului de depozitare de mai sus. Bineinteles cu conditia ca boxa sa fie totusi neinundata, iluminata si fara sobolani. Imi era groaza de boxa tocmai din motivul rozatoarelor. Dupa ce am vazut cat de decenta e o boxa intr-un bloc nou, pot spune ca sunt mare fana.
- creditare: daca vrei sa cumperi un apartament nou si nu ai incredere in dezvoltator iti recomand sa iei in calcul un credit. Asta obliga la niste cercetari si cum o conditionare pentru dezvoltator.
- vandabilitate: gandeste-te si daca poti vinde rapid sau bine apartamentul sau casa dupa ce isi va fi pierdut farmecul pentru tine si familie. Vine si acest moment si daca nu dispui de bani sa tot achizitionezi case va trebui sa vinzi apartamentul ca sa poti lua altceva. Daca iei un chilipir acum, se poate sa ramana si mai tarziu chilipir.
Astea sunt criteriile mele. Daca voi aveti alte idei sau tineti la alte puncte, va rog sa imi spuneti parerea. Promit sa citesc si poate exista aspecte ratate.
The Ideal Apartment Is Not Always The Ideal Home
As parents there comes a time when you realize you will soon be out of space in your home and then you need to buy the bigger ideal house. The ideal apartment we picked before our kid was even in our plans is not really the ideal home to raise a kid. We went twice so far in our lives through this challenge before our kid arrived and it seemed we picked the right place each time. Now I believe the last thing we would engage in would be another move. Still we are pasively looking for the dream house. The ideal apartment is no longer the ideal house once you realize you no longer fit into it. And we walk down the street and see houses with gardens and we keep telling ourselves this is what we would love it to be. And we create a dream: a house with a garden, a yard around it, parking spaces, barbecue space, drying the clothes outdoors in the garden, lots of flowers to wet in the hot summer days and so on. Actually the selection of an apartment or house becomes the fulfilment of a common dream. That is how we picked houses so far. The kid seems to love very much this house. As long as he is happy in his current house we have no reason to look for another ideal home. And maybe that’s why we can’t seem to feel we need to move to something bigger, more downtown, more central, more down to earth or different. Our list of requirements for the ideal home is long.
When we picked this apartment we were aware we are making a compromise under certain aspects, but we decided it fulfills some of the criteria which made it the ideal home. Starting point in our search of a home is that we will not find the ideal one. First of all we both wanted to raise our child in a garden. Soon we realized we are still young and careless so we didn’t need the responsibility of a garden. We could still go for a ground floor apartment with a garden, but we want top view to make us feel we are on top of the world. Also, most houses or apartments with a garden we could afford were outside of the city. That means more travel time, less time with the kid. That was out of the question! Two or three ours of our valuable time to spend in traffic was never an option. That’s how we made the ideal home into an ideal apartment instead of house with a garden.
There are a few checkpoints we always look for and we care for, but we could miss out on some of them, if others weigh more. For example, what weighed most in picking this apartment was the fact that it was newly refurbished and not far from what we would have done in it, so it meant saving our almost inexistent time. We knew we didn’t have enought storage spaces, but the first condition weighed more. And after all our passive researches, I can tell you that we didn’t yet manage to find that proper ideal apartment, better than this and better architectural space or more accessible. So we decided to keep on looking passively for the ideal apartment to be the actual ideal home.
So here is what we, as a family, believe should be checked out when we are searching for a house or apartment:
- position: we are not looking for street view, no high traffic area, needs to be close to schools and kindergartens, preferably in an area with expats. I did write an article about the importance of multi-cultural raise of a kid: https://mama.srl/what-we-say-about-the-others/
- comercial potential: shooping areas and office buildings
- room layout: the sleeping area needs to be far from the acces into the apartment and separated from the living room and kitchen.
- minimum decent space for bedroom: here each person best decides how much space they need, but a 12sqm apartment is the minimum we consider acceptable, so we can squeeze a decent queen size bed with two night stands and a 2m long closet with sliding doors.
- apartment entry into a hallway area: because you need to drop your coat and shoes somewhere, you need an entry area, a hallway as you are not throwing on the sink or the hob your jacket while you are leaving your shoes next to the garbage bin.
- easy access to the bathroom from the bedroom: this is important for bathrooms to be next to the bedrooms, unless you want to cross naked and sleepy the living room in search of the bathroom while the partner is having a video skype call
- storage: storage spaces, so called closets, are extremely important as you will have winter or summer clothes to put away. Winter shoes the same, and most of all the vacuum cleaner and the wiping mop or the dust off stuff. These things need storage also in any home.
- balcony: this one is important for many things such as clothes drying, apartment plants, a breathe of fresh air or a simple getaway to watch the outdoor world.
- spatious kitchen: a kid makes you spend a lot of time in this room. So you don’t feel suffocated it’s best you take into consideration a big space. This is where we consider a 10sqm as decent. The bigger the better.
- sun light and orientation: most important criteria when we are searching for a home is the orientation (we are big fans of West and South) because this brings a lot of natural light into the home. Natural light is extremely good for the development and the mental state of mind of each person. We find it essential.
- parking spot: old communist blocks of flats cannot offer this comfort, so this is one of the aspects we have overseen. Still if we were to pick again, we would look for a new block of flats so we can have a private parking space also.
- storage box: this is an old concept which recently has become quite common in the developer’s mind. We didn’t find it necessary before having a kid. Do you have any idea how many toys, bikes and strollers you will have to store there? We saw this in an apartment which had such option and its existence can reduce your necessary apartment storage space. Of course main condition is that the space is not flooded and no rats are left behind. I was terrified of such a space especially because of the rodents. After seeing the decent conditions from a new block of flats, I can say I became a big fan.
- bank credit: if you want to buy a new apartment and you don’t trust the developer I recommend you consider a small credit. This will involve some research from the bank side and somehow force the developer not to trick you.
- merchantability: when buying an apartment think about how fast and good you will be able to resell this house once it would have lost its charm for your and your family. This moment arrives also and unless you keep putting together money for the purchase of another one, you will have to sell this one to buy something else. If you buy a bargain, it may still be a bargain later, so no added value.
These are our criteria. If you have different ideas or you care for other things, don’t hesitate to share your opinion. I promise to read and maybe there are even aspects I have missed out.
