Versatility of UseUrban cottages are small enough to be affordable, but large enough to support many different lifestyles, including single occupants, home offices, couples, couples with children, those needing a low maintenance lifestyle and those wanting a connection to the outdoors, those with multiple cars, and those taking advantage of other mean of transportation. With versatility comes the ability to live in the same home for many years and a broad spectrum of potential buyers when its time to sell.
Easy to finance Single family homes have a greater number of financing methods available then any other housing type. This is a great advantage over the constantly changing financing restrictions for multifamily urban living options. It makes urban cottages easier to buy, easier to evaluate, and easer to sell.
Affordable, Quality SpaceUrban cottages take advantage of and celebrate every space inside and out. Keeping thing small allows for the use of high quality finishes at reasonable costs. Scarcity of space promotes efficiency of it design and use. Money that is normally wasted on ostentatious and unnecessary square footage is used to create effective solutions to the demands of a modern lifestyle.
IndividualityEach cottage is different and becomes more unique as it is changed over time to suit the needs and taste of its owner. It has its own street presence. Your home is the “green house, with the picket fence and big porch”, not the unit on the fifth floor, half way down the hall.
IndependenceAn urban house’s can be customized and improved approved to your taste. If can be expanded to fit your needs. Home owners can benefit from the added value of improvements that differentiate your home from the neighbor’s. The uniformity and restrictions of both urban multifamily units or suburban homes, reduces the ability to benefit from increases.
CharmOf all the properties one’s home can have, charm is the most desirable. Charm makes a house a home. Charm is the result of subtly and taste, but it has a value that anyone can appreciate. No housing type can compete with the charm of a historically detailed cottage with a porch and flower garden.
Community & PrivacyUrban cottages are built close together, creating a feeling of community and a place where you can sit on your front porch while chatting with a passer by. But if well designed, they also provide private indoor and outdoor spaces that give a sense of separateness without a feeling of being enclosed.
Manageable Exterior SpacesAll of us need a connection to the outdoors, but huge green yards are major environmental problem and are difficult and expensive to maintain. By contrast, a small urban lawn or garden can easily be maintained, or it can be turned into an incredible design feature for very little money and effort.
Green LivingUrban living is green living. All the transportation and infrastructure costs of suburban homes make urban homes inherently more efficient. Also, the typical cottage is made from materials with a much lower inherent energy cost then the cement and steel of a high rise. The efficient use of land and of interior space, the lack of common area construction costs, heating and lighting, and the use of high efficiency appliances and insulation makes urban cottage living one of the greenest lifestyles available.
