What is Considered a Single-Family Home?

You’re looking for a new home. The perfect home for one family can feel very wrong to another. While someone loves big city living and a small loft is ideal, another person needs wide open space and a house in the country is the only way to feel at home. What about you? 

You think you’re interested in a single-family home in DeBary, FL, but you’re not quite sure. What is considered a single-family home? Answering this question is the first step to deciding whether this housing option is right for you, so we’re so glad you asked!

What is Considered a Single-Family Home?

Actually, there’s no one single answer to this question. Different professionals within the industry have different answers. Some use this term to refer only to single-family “detached” homes, meaning the structure of the house itself doesn’t share any walls or the roof with any other residences. Some industry professionals point out the need for a single kitchen. This kind of home has one kitchen and one kitchen only. Adding a kitchen to an in-law suite or other small residence on your property will alter a home’s zoning classification and therefore mean it no longer qualifies as a single-family home. When you picture driving through the suburbs and seeing house after house, all behind a white picket fence, this is what you’re imagining.

A few examples of multifamily residences that are not single-family homes would be a duplex, which means two residential dwellings can exist on the property, apartments, and condominiums. None of these options are single-family homes.

What about a townhome, though? This is where things get a bit tricky. It meets some people’s definitions, but not others. The U.S. Census Bureau, for example, includes certain attached dwellings, including townhouses, in its definition of “single-family houses.” As long as the townhomes are separated by a ground-to-roof wall, the federal government considers it a single-family home.

Whether detached or not, a single-family home is typically defined by two elements: 

#1 Who owns what

#2 The property’s ability to function as its own unit

Let’s break these two elements down a little further. With a single-family home in DeBary, FL, the owner of the home owns both the building and the land it sits on. This would be as opposed to say condo ownership, where the owner only has claim to the interior of their individual unit. The common areas are jointly owned with other members of their association in their building.

As well, in order to be considered a single-family home, the house must not share any utility, heating, or air conditioning systems with any other dwellings. They have their own private doors to enter and exit. They have direct access to the street, without hallways or a lobby.

Is a Single-Family Home Right for You?

The type of home you should ultimately buy depends on your budget and your needs. Are you looking for peace and quiet? Do you want to let your kids play in the yard while you watch from the porch? Perhaps you’d like to make use of extra storage space in an attic or garage.  All of these sound like you’re looking for a single-family home in DeBary, FL. A house like this will suit a home buyer who’s seeking privacy. Since it is built on its own small parcel of land, you’ll have some distance from your neighbors. Multi-family homes have shared common space, meaning less privacy and areas of your own.

Single-Family Homes at Rivington

Is this what “home” looks like to you, four walls, a roof, and a yard of your own? Rivington has both townhomes and single-family homes in DeBary, FL. Our neighborhood has homes for every season of life, ranging from two to six bedrooms, two to six bathrooms, one to three-car garages, and 1,276 to 3,833 square feet. With such a wide variety, there is sure to be the perfect home for you within our community!