I used to live in an apartment then decided to buy a house for reasons such as wanting to have a yard / outdoor space (wanted to buy a big dog among others), leave city life for suburban life for peace & quiet, family-proof (place where I’d want hypothetical kids to grow up in), etc. After experiencing both I prefer house over apartment.
Definitely house, preferably owned. I rented my previous apartment and had to run a lot of jobs through the landlord. Now, if something goes wrong or if I want to hang something with screws, I can just go ahead. And I love having a back yard. Front yard meh, just work, no joy.
Downside is that my house is not exactly well maintained and it was built in the sixties. So I’ll need to invest in some stuff in the next 5 to 10 years.
For me the downside is that it feels a bit empty at times. In hindsight I went a bit overboard, given it’s just girlfriend & me + pets. For that reason I like having my family & friends stay over often. Apartment felt more compact.
Ah well my house is not that big. It’s my wife and me and three cats but we have rather large furniture so it kinda feels cramped.