Being a simple, frugal person with modest aspirations, it's been apartment living my whole adult life pretty much. Moved abroad to live and work in HK and Shanghai in my twenties so apartments were kind of my only option there lol. Loved it when you got everything you need downstairs, never crossed my mind when i was young to want a big house with a garden to tend and whatnot. Moved back to Perth in my late twenties and rented a couple of apartments in the city walking distance to my business. It was nice to have the city and NB right there (love to eat out) but Perth CBD can be a bit unruly at night (druggies shooting up in alleyways), and neighbours were pretty uncivilised (pissing off balconies, leaving trashbags at the doorway of the binroom, shrieking domestic fights in the hallways). Anyway, my wife and i had a kid and we just saved enough for a 20% deposit on a 300k 3x1x1 ground floor apartment in a good suburb 10mins busride from the city (2020). It was cheap (relatively speaking) cos it was built in the 70s and on the highway which i think dampened much of the interest for it, but i think we really scored a diamond in the rough myself. While it isn't flashy, the complex is well built and with plenty of foliage and trees. Being ground floor, the summers are refreshingly cool inside and we also have a sizable backyard. The noise from the highway isn't that bad at all as we're set back a bit. Neighbours are all nice. We spent 20k on a mini reno of the kitchen and bathroom which makes both rooms pretty pleasant to be in, repainted the walls and put in easy maintenance floorboards for the bedrooms and new lighting fixtures, so now it doesn't feel too dated or shabby when you're inside. Because there are no ameneties like a pool or gym, strata fees are reasonable and management has actually been very professional and helpful the few times we needed their assistance. My shop moved to the same suburb i live in now so it's just a 10min (pleasant, downhill) bike ride into work for me. All things considered, I'm pretty happy with what i have. Glad to be done with renting, and to be living in one of the best suburbs in Perth. I have friends who have houses half and hour from the city but i just wouldn't be able to bear the daily commute. Sure I'd love a house but with what i earn, i think that'll only ever be a dream, unless we moved to whoop whoop ourselves. The only thing i cant stand where we are is trying to keep the damn bugs out. All the foliage and a storm drain outside means there are heaps of cockroaches, ants and spiders about and while we're vigiliant with barrier sprays and try to stay as clean as possible, they're bloody hard to keep out!