Would you buy a TOWNHOUSE if the prices for nice single family homes were cheap? (Arlington: townhouses, buying)

[I'm Retired Now]

When we have relatives and friends visiting us in Northern VA everyone talks about all the TOWNHOUSES all over the place. Most of them wonder why anyone would live in a townhouse when there are single family detached homes with GRASS, FLOWERS, BUSHES AND TREES next to them. I tell them that Townhouses make more money for developers because they are able to put hundreds of them in a small area, after clear-cutting the forest that used to be on the site. Also developers like Townhouses because they can purchase building materials at a discount because everyone looks the same.

I went on to say that some people like living in a Townhouse because they don't want to take care of a yard, rake leaves, garden and take care of trees. Few of my relatives from low cost towns could understand why anyone would want to live in a townhouse. If they didn't like yard maintenance they could hire it out. The beauty of a yard, trees and flowers outside your window would make up for the cost of maintenance. I said many Townhouse owners would disagree because people around here like living in a more urban environment. My relatives just shook their heads in bewilderment.

So, if you could buy a real nice modern home with a yard, trees, and flowers on a 1/4 to 1/2 acre lot for the same price as a townhouse, would you? Is the main reason you live in a Townhouse the price, or less hassle with yard work?

[FCNova]

Because it's cheaper, although having no yard work at all is pretty sweet

[ChristineVA]

I'm no longer a townhouse owner, but my first home was townhouse.

At the time I purchased it (1990) the cost of a three level, all brick, end unit brand new townhome was $109,000. I had a bit of a yard with enough areas that I could also plant shrubs and flowers.

I also looked at single family homes and for $109,000 (barely), I was looking at a 30 year old home that needed a LOT of work.

Being 30 years old with not very much discretionary income, I could not afford to take on the money pit of an older home.

Now, my parents sold their home of 30 years and did buy a townhouse. One reason was that they got a little bit more for their money with the house itself than they would with a SFH, and they did not want the worries of yard maintenance in their advancing age. Nor did they want to shell out money for lawn maintenance. That's not necessarily cheap and when you are on a fixed income, you have to think of these things.

[I'm Retired Now]

If you lived in a community where housing was cheap, would you buy a townhouse or a detached single family home if both homes were modern?

[Forehead]

My wife and I are still in our starter townhouse, mostly because we're underwater from our 2006 purchase. It was what we could afford at the time; I'd much prefer a single family home. As it is, we have a small fenced back yard, and we did put in a flower garden.

I'm not planning to move until we can afford a single family place. I like having neighbors but I like having a bit of space between us, and I'd like to have a bigger yard for the dogs and kids.

[Caladium]

We had the large house with a large garden in the back and beautiful lawn out front for years and loved it. Now that we've retired I no longer want to do the maintenance, so we prefer living in a townhouse. It has space between the units so we get light on all four sides (and don't hear the neighbors quite as much), and there's a small bit of garden space--just enough to satisfy my need to plant a few things.

I can see advantages to both ways of living (house on large lot vs townhouse on small/nonexistent lot). On the one hand having a garden was fun, the grandkids loved playing in the yard, and I enjoyed the "breathing space" between me and my neighbors. On the other hand, it sure was nice to not worry about shovelling sidewalks this year.

[boyd888]

Originally Posted by Forehead

starter townhouse

Which is exactly why they keep building them. People want to own, but they can't afford SFHs, so they buy townhouses. "I don't want to do yard work" just sounds like a lame excuse to justify not buying what they really wanted because they couldn't afford it. You would really rather share walls with other people 100% of the time than do a little yard work eight months a year?

There are areas (much of DC, parts Arlington), where land is at such a premium that even townhouses command high prices, because there just aren't any SFHs around.

Don' get me wrong I don't think TH are terrible places to live or anything. I'm sure people living in SFHs wouldn't mind a move up to a larger house, three car garage, etc. You buy what you can afford.

[NOVA_guy]

Lately I've been seeing more and more of builders building townhouses on top of each other opposed to on the side of each other (Opitz Blvd) I've been considering buying something like that but I'm not really sure, it seems like it would take some getting used to and I'm getting different opinions from people on what the resale value is like on them.

[Vectorhead]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

If you lived in a community where housing was cheap, would you buy a townhouse or a detached single family home if both homes were modern?

Even if you live in a community with cheap housing, townhouses are almost universally going to cost less than houses of a similar size/age (I'm assuming you're in a community that offers both, unlike some of the local communities). So for most people it's not really a matter of saying "Oh, I'd much prefer a townhouse to a single family home with a lovely yard that I hire people to take care of." You're going to pay more for a house to begin with, and then you have the added cost of yard maintenance, etc. It's a matter of economics.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

If you lived in a community where housing was cheap, would you buy a townhouse or a detached single family home if both homes were modern?

If I lived in a low-cost housing area and both homes were modern, I would take the single family home.

However, I'm not sure if this in anyway relates back to your family members' disgust with townhomes in this area. I'm not sure why they were bewildered? In this area, townhomes and single family homes ARE NOT standard in price so it should be very easy for them to see why people would choose the townhome option here. It should also be very easy to understand why an "aging" person might choose a townhome: because they don't feel they can keep up with the maintenance on the land portion of the property.

I guess I don't understand your relatives' bewilderment given all things are not equal here.