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I live out of state, where townhouses are of 2 types:
(1) Condo style townhouses that are cheaper to buy but have higher monthly fees that include monthly HOA dues AND condo fees and some have other mandatory dues like clubhouse dues
(2) Residental townhouses which cost more then condo style townhouses and only have a monthly HOA due and build value and equity like a single family house. The land is expensive here so the majority of middle class people live in residential townhouses and fewer people own single family homes.
I noticed that in Irving TX all townhouses are listed as condos
Question: Do the townhouses in Irving, Texas have CONDO fees and HOA fees or just one of the fees? Rockingham Manor and Hunters Ridge are two townhouse complexes in Irving that I found online. The properties for sale only have 1 fee listed in the listing.
I also noticed these townhouses have higher property tax then a single family homes
Second Question: Is that because the townhouses in Irving are classified as condos and condos, by default, have higher property taxes than a single family home? The townhouses in Irving are cheaper to buy but the property taxes are so high compared to a single family house that costs more.
Third Question: This may sound really silly so bear with me. Can I still get a structural engineer to check out the foundation issue in a townhouse in Irving or is that unheard of for a townhouse? I do plan to hire a regular inspector but what about a structural engineer?
I really would appreciate feedback about buying one of these townhouse properties (or another one) or skipping it and going for a single family house. I plan to live in it for 15 years+ and school's matter but not that much since we're most likely going to do private school. And we want to stay in Irving, north or south doesn't matter too much but we we don't want to be right under a power line either and north Irving is preferred of course
A condo is setup more like an apartment building where you own instead of renting. They usually have units on multiple floors. A townhome can be one or two floors, and is basically a house that's connected to another house.
HOA and condo fees will depend on the building or neighborhood.
As for the property tax issue... Property taxes on condos and townhomes are calculated the same as single-family homes. You may be seeing different rates because of the school district. Taxes on condos should actually be cheaper because you do not own the land.
If you are wanting to live in Irving, I'm sure you could find a decent single family house in your price range. I would only consider a condo or townhome when I could not afford a standard house.
Unless the townhome is in a trendy party of Dallas or Fort Worth it will be more difficult to sell too.
Exactly. With all of this land in North Texas, I really see no reason to buy a condo or townhouse. If I'm wanting a place at the beach, sure I'll buy a condo because land is expensive and mostly taken if it's right on the beach. Or if I'm trying to buy a place in a larger city with very little room for a home, I'll gladly buy a condo or townhouse.
Exactly. With all of this land in North Texas, I really see no reason to buy a condo or townhouse. If I'm wanting a place at the beach, sure I'll buy a condo because land is expensive and mostly taken if it's right on the beach. Or if I'm trying to buy a place in a larger city with very little room for a home, I'll gladly buy a condo or townhouse.
I disagree with this. OP, ask your realtor to pull a CMA report to see the CDOM for the particular townhouse subdivision you're interested in. That will give you an idea how fast the homes are moving in a brisk market.
If townhomes "didn't sell" outside urban areas such as uptown, than why are developers building them. There are 5 + new townhouse communities in McKinney being built now, new townhomes in Canals at Grand Park in Frisco that are selling well, and resale townhomes all over Collin County and other suburbs.
What I will concede is that townhouses aren't going to appreciate as quickly in those areas as single family homes, but they can and do sell. A lot of folks don't realize that increasingly diverse types of people such as singles, divorcees, etc are living in suburban areas and those people have varying housing wishes, some of which now includes townhouses.
A lot of people are looking to pay a HOA and have the exterior maintenance handled for them so they can enjoy a lock & leave lifestyle only worrying about the interior of their home. That's a big attraction to some folks.
To answer your question about property taxes.... ALL Property in an area is taxed at the same % whether it is a Single Family or Condo.
In many areas of Irbing you'll see a DCURD tax. You basically need to ignore this and have your Realtor get the info on what the actual tax is. The DCURD amount distorts the actual figures from the tax record.
I live out of state, where townhouses are of 2 types:
(1) Condo style townhouses that are cheaper to buy but have higher monthly fees that include monthly HOA dues AND condo fees and some have other mandatory dues like clubhouse dues
(2) Residental townhouses which cost more then condo style townhouses and only have a monthly HOA due and build value and equity like a single family house. The land is expensive here so the majority of middle class people live in residential townhouses and fewer people own single family homes.
I noticed that in Irving TX all townhouses are listed as condos
Question: Do the townhouses in Irving, Texas have CONDO fees and HOA fees or just one of the fees? Rockingham Manor and Hunters Ridge are two townhouse complexes in Irving that I found online. The properties for sale only have 1 fee listed in the listing.
I also noticed these townhouses have higher property tax then a single family homes
Second Question: Is that because the townhouses in Irving are classified as condos and condos, by default, have higher property taxes than a single family home? The townhouses in Irving are cheaper to buy but the property taxes are so high compared to a single family house that costs more.
Third Question: This may sound really silly so bear with me. Can I still get a structural engineer to check out the foundation issue in a townhouse in Irving or is that unheard of for a townhouse? I do plan to hire a regular inspector but what about a structural engineer?
I really would appreciate feedback about buying one of these townhouse properties (or another one) or skipping it and going for a single family house. I plan to live in it for 15 years+ and school's matter but not that much since we're most likely going to do private school. And we want to stay in Irving, north or south doesn't matter too much but we we don't want to be right under a power line either and north Irving is preferred of course
Thanks for your help in advance
You are free to hire a Structural Engineer (SE) to inspect the foundation if you so choose. It will not be an inexpensive endeavor but if it gives you peace of mind by all means do it. You may want to have an SE lined up (selected) but wait until the general inspection is performed. If you have a good Inspector you might find sufficient issues that you don't want to deal with and if so obviously not call in the SE and pay them.
One thing you need to keep in mind with both the Inspector and SE is to ask if they will be inspecting the entire structure's foundation, and other applicable exterior items related to foundation movement, or just your unit's foundation? With a multi-family structure foundation issues might be present in other locations but not at yours. However those issues elsewhere might be of concern for your unit.
Thanks for the information. I appreciate everything you wrote.
For clarification:
The 2 types of townhouses that exist where I currently live are not stacked units but side by side, attached houses with garages and yards. Some are classified as condos (condo fee, HOA, with or without clubhouse fees) and some are classified as residential townhouses (only HOA). They both look exactly the same but the residential townhouses cost more and sell very well. When we were looking to buy here we told our realtor we want a residential townhouse, not a condo one (even though they look the same) because we wanted to avoid the monthly high fees and low resale value.
That’s good to hear that property taxes in Texas are relatively the same for townhouses and single family homes. I was afraid that townhouses would incur higher taxes because they are somewhat cheaper to buy.
And today I just found out that the residential townhouses (side by side attached houses) in Texas do not have condo fees. They only have HOA. Yay!
I agree about a single family home being a better buy in the long run then a townhouse. We’re definitely going to look into that too. With the townhouses, they are newer and look nicer and cost much less. We’ll see what happens. Thanks for your advice.
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SouthernBelleinUtah
Thank you! That’s why we are going to look for a single family house over a townhouse. Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate it.
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Tcualum
Thank you! We uploaded a google street view of some of the single family complexes and townhouse complexes we were interested in. The images were updated in August 2016. We looked around and noticed how the townhouses were around all the major stores and restaurants. But one single family home subdivision in Central Irving that we were interested in, homes that were built in the last 3-5 years, were in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing but houses, patches of undeveloped land, and some power lines. Maybe that’s why they were priced so low. We plan to visit later this year and drive all over Irving and see what’s going on. I appreciate your advice. It made a difference in our home search.
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lepoisson
Thank you! You’re absolutely right. Where I live the majority of people own townhouses. That’s all you see when you drive around, tons and tons of townhouses and condos and apartments. Very few single family neighborhoods here. I think I need to think long term and invest in a house in Texas. It seems better in the long run.
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CMC_TX
Thank you! Someone understands. The townhouses in Texas seem to be built very well, are newer, with relatively similar square feet, taxes, and over all cost less per unit (not including HOA) then single family homes in the same area. So it seems like I can get more for my money, at least initially if not in the long run.
Its exactly what you said - my husband hates exterior maintenance and would rather not do it at all. And some of these new townhouse properties are exactly where we want to be - central to places of worship and private schools. Yes, you have to compromise privacy, higher HOA, and lesser resale value. It’s tough. They look amazing inside.
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Rakin*

Thank you! I am going to keep that in mind. I had no idea single family homes and townhouses are taxed the same until I read all the responses. What realtor website gives the most accurate information on property taxes for homes currently on sale? I know some of them are deceptive and yearly taxes are actually much higher then what they show.
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escanlan
Thank you. You provided very good information. I will certainly discuss that with the structural engineer. That’s good to know. I appreciate your feedback.
It's tough to tell which are condos and which are townhomes.
It depends on how they were set up in the beginning.
They can look almost identical.
One of the main differences is with a townhome you own the land.
With a condo you own a % of the total land of the development.
Likely you will see more of the newer places set up as condos.
It has to do with impact fees to the city.....they might like one water meter for example and one bill, vs 200 bills to 200 people and having to turn off and on meters......they'd rather the assoc take care of that.
So typically you will have one HOA fee, but in some places in Irving and maybe other areas you could have more than one fee. For example if it is in the Las Colinas area, you could have a condo fee and a Las Colinas fee.
Property taxes are the same for single family, condo, or townhouse. It's based on the value....not the property type.
Now you can see different property taxes in Irving depending on the school district. At least 3 different school districts in Irving with 3 different taxes...depending on which district you live in.
Unfortunately many of the answers you've obtained here are wrong I notice. Rentals for example have nothing to do with condos or townhomes.
Actually in many areas we've seen more appreciation in condos and townhomes in DFW than on single family the past 2-3 years. There's some reasons for this, probably has to do with price points.
Potentially you can have a structural engineer look at foundation and structure. In the areas you are considering I would certainly do that. At least one of the two places you mention I think is prime for foundation issues.
Don't let any realtor fool you either that the HOA will take care of foundation issues. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won't. Remember you are the HOA....it's not some distant unrelated 3rd party. I think in most cases the HOA dues are not anticipating paying for expensive foundation issues. So if there are issues, they could decide to let each homeowner repair, they could decide to have special assessments, or they could try to figure out a way to budget and repair. Unfortunately you may not have a way to know this future outcome until it happens and IF it ever happens.
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