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Any time you share a common wall, you will hear the neighbors. I lived in a townhouse for years and could hear the neighbors open their bathroom cabinet. Inside, no one will smell your cigar smoke. Outside is different. A friend who was looking for a home several years ago told me that she would never live in a condo or townhouse because you never knew what the neighbors were doing. She was afraid someone would fall asleep with a lighted cigarette and cause a fire.
With the prices of home dropping so significantly, look for a small single family home. You can easily get your garage and have a nice yard for parties. Just remember that home owners associations have rules, so maybe look in an area without one.
There are townhouses and then there are townhouses - meaning you can get a 900 sq ft or a 4000 sq. ft. Examine the level of privacy you need and if you think you are going to live there there for a number of years. Then do some research on acoustic tiles and sound proofing your walls plus ensuring you have a tight seal on all common walls. Also adding additional insulation between walls and/or upgrading to a more dense product.
I agree w/ you. But how much different is living in a townhouse than living in an apartment building. I've lived in a building for 20 yrs and the only complain I had were when residents opened their apt. doors while cooking (the smell stays in the hallways and depending on whose cooking what, it gets annoying). I can only hear the people above when they vacuum but that's about all.
If I can find a decent SFH in my price range, believe me I will consider it first.
How much of a maintenance fee do you have to pay a month? Is there property tax? If so, is it alot if money? My mom and I are going to move and we just want to get am affordable place to live in SI.
The great thing about townhouses is each shared wall helps to cut down on your heating/air conditioning cost.The bad thing is you have NO CONTOL on what happens on the other side of those walls.
One thing no one has mentioned is the floor plan of the unit in regards to noise. If your common wall is a garage, or maybe even the kitchens/baths, etc. you will probably have much less noise than if your living rooms are back to back. Quality of contruction will make a big difference.
I used to live in a townhouse and I only time I heard my neighbor was when their dryer was running, which was on the common wall (my living room was on my side). And that wasn't too bad.
How much of a maintenance fee do you have to pay a month? Is there property tax? If so, is it alot if money? My mom and I are going to move and we just want to get am affordable place to live in SI.
You should ask this question in the NYC forum-
I'm sure you'll get a better response; maybe even from people who live on Staten Island.
We previously lived in two different charming historic SF detached homes - 1 was a 1920's craftsman bungalow, the other a nicely built early 50s charmer....we just traded up to a brand new modern row home.
Personally, I love it! We live in a great area of town, sf homes would cost about 200k-300K more than what we paid for similar sf and finish out.
Gave up a large yard for a small patio adjacent to 170acres of maintained parks, trails, lakes w/ducks and geese to feed. Ask me if I miss yard work...I dare you.
As for noise, ha! I've never heard our neighbors one time. Not once, and my wife has super sensitive hearing...it bothers her when mice fart.
Of course, our neighbors are like us, midlife professionals, well off, no kids at home. Our row homes were built by an extremely reputable local builder who used exacting standards. Sound batting plus double layer of 5/8" Sheetrock on both sides seems to work perfectly.
5 star green and leed gold certified means super low heating/cooling bills.
Loved the craftsman, but man we spent a small fortune heating and cooling that place. Noe our heating/cooling bills combined add up to less than our cable.
I could see myself living in a SF detatched again, but you'd have to first pry me from this place with a crowbar and talk a real good game to convince me.
For exactly a neighbor like you, and I'm sure your a good guy, but I would never buy a town home for fear of the neighbor next to me will want to smoke a cigar on the terrace, on the stoop, any where outside that it will effect my home.,and then I have to smell it when my windows are open.
My BIL smokes cigars too, and I wouldnt even want to have a neighbor like him either.....
I also would not want to hear you and your buddies playing poker at 3am either, and when it is 3am and all is quiet the sound will travel...
You need to have a house with no neighbors on either side, that would be the best thing
cigar smoke is offensive.
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