Townhouse or Single Family Home? (Chicago, Roscoe: HOA fees, insurance, condo) - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

tylermane74 · 11-29-2010, 11:52 PM

I live in a condo right now. I am looking to get a bigger place for myself and my family. My wife would like the garage to be attached. Not many areas of Chicago offer that in a single family. I open to either. However, I am a little tired of sharing a wall, ceiling, and floor with a neighbor. One area of the city we are looking to move in is Galewood which I already have a thread on. The townhouse gives me more options on where we can live in the city. What do you think?

tonythetuna · 11-30-2010, 12:56 AM

There are not many townhouses in the city compared to the burbs. You will have to be open to living in the burbs otherwise you will have a hard time finding a townhouse with an attached garage in the city.

chet everett · 11-30-2010, 06:36 AM

...the fact that town homes generally come with an HOA and the hassles that go along with that (from unpredictable assessments to difficulty selling / refinancing, to potential for overly noisy neighbors ) strongly cause me to prefer single family detached.

If the rest of your clan primarily wants the benefits of an attached garage I would think about the burbs or maybe even constricted a covered walk way. The 30 feet or so from a back porch to a garage on a typical city lot is not going to be that big a deal...

Jandur · 11-30-2010, 08:16 AM

The issue with finding a single-family home with a garage attached is obviously space for it in the city, but on top of that homes like that simply weren't built in the city to begin with. The whole phenomenon with a garage attached to the side of your house is primarily a product of the suburbs. Even in less dense areas like Beverly the garages are all detached and in the back of the home for the most part.

My friend lives in Roscoe and he has a garage behind his house and it's literally probably 10 feet from his back door. It probably takes 15 seconds, if even to get into his garage so I don't see the huge need for an attached garage personally.

nikitakolata · 11-30-2010, 11:13 AM

I live in a detached home with a detached garage and while it is quite close to the back door, I understand wanting an attached garage. But, as other have said, those are just hard to come by in the city. What we ended up doing was adding roofing to the underside of our second story balcony, making the first floor deck covered. That deck is 80% of our walk to the garage, so now most of the path is covered from rain/snow. An attached garage is nice, but it's not nice enough that I'd be willing to live in a townhouse for one. I have already had enough with homeowners associations and the other associated BS that comes with sharing walls with others. No thanks. IMO, single family is the way to go, hands down.

tylermane74 · 11-30-2010, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikitakolata

I live in a detached home with a detached garage and while it is quite close to the back door, I understand wanting an attached garage. But, as other have said, those are just hard to come by in the city. What we ended up doing was adding roofing to the underside of our second story balcony, making the first floor deck covered. That deck is 80% of our walk to the garage, so now most of the path is covered from rain/snow. An attached garage is nice, but it's not nice enough that I'd be willing to live in a townhouse for one. I have already had enough with homeowners associations and the other associated BS that comes with sharing walls with others. No thanks. IMO, single family is the way to go, hands down.

You are so right. HOA fees and associations do suck donkey butt. Were going single family home.

nikitakolata · 12-01-2010, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylermane74

You are so right. HOA fees and associations do suck donkey butt. Were going single family home.

Yeah, I hate association fees so much and in my experience, they are ridiculously high on townhouses. Sure, they cover lawn care, snow removal and insurance on the exterior structure... but, for $200 a month, I could more than cover those costs myself! Plus, it's not like those fees really cover you if, for example, the building needs a new roof. That just recently happened to my friend, the buildings are just about 20 years old now and they need new roofs put on. Did that come out of the association's funds? Nope. He had to cough up $6,000 for the repairs! Where exactly all the money paid in assessments goes is a mystery to me. I think most goes to pay management companies that do little or no work, but since no one in the association wants to take it on them self, people pay those ridiculous fees.

Can you tell I've been burned by an association or two in my time? Yuck! Never again...