Townhomes are everywhere in Fairfax, but does anyone like living in them? (Burke: cul-de-sac, apartments)

[Curious Discussion]

My husband and I are thinking of moving into a townhouse in Fairfax County. You sure get lots more house for the price but of course very little land. Before our current stay in an apartment I always lived in a single family house with loads of trees, grass and flowers to look out at. I hated the yard upkeep so we budgeted $200 a month for someone else to do it.

Now to save money we are thinking of a townhouse. But:

Will I hear my neighbors through thin walls?

Will cars and motorcycles make noise in the parking lot outside my townhouse all night?

Will the neighbors be terrible because we are going to live in an area with lower cost homes?

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIVING IN A TOWNHOUSE?

[ffx rez]

Yes, poor people are terrible and they don't have silent electric cars, Curious Discussion.

[LetsRock]

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

My husband and I are thinking of moving into a townhouse in Fairfax County. You sure get lots more house for the price but of course very little land. Before our current stay in an apartment I always lived in a single family house with loads of trees, grass and flowers to look out at. I hated the yard upkeep so we budgeted $200 a month for someone else to do it.

Now to save money we are thinking of a townhouse. But:

Will I hear my neighbors through thin walls?

Will cars and motorcycles make noise in the parking lot outside my townhouse all night?

Will the neighbors be terrible because we are going to live in an area with lower cost homes?

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIVING IN A TOWNHOUSE?

I used to own a 5000sq SF home in Loudoun County and sold it and moved to a 1900sf TH in Annandale and LOVE IT. Townhomes are not the same as apartments. I cannot hear my neighbors and they have never said anything to me about my surround sound TV setup.

[Ffxdata]

It depends on how they are built and that community. We live in a quiet neighborhood with thick walls and brick all around. One neighbor has a penchant for loud bass which we hear sometimes (nothing close to an apartment though). We are in a high income area that happens to have some townhouses (Oakton) so it's not like how it might be in Burke or Merrifield necessarily.

You would need to know whether you are responsible for your yard or if it's managed by the community.

You should also know what the percentage of renters is. More renters is worse.

Just like a single family neighborhood--some have great neighbors and others suck. Are you looking at a particular one?

[Nate_VA]

It's all about the quality of construction. Ask lots of questions, and visit the prospective townhouse in the evening when the neighbors are home so you will have a better chance of hearing any noise that might bother you.

[newgatedenizen]

Previous threads you might find useful:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/north...ing-nva-2.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/north...-prices-4.html

[FireFly2]

I rarely hear my neighbors.

I don't mind not having much of a yard. There is a lot of common green space to make the complex seem more homey.

I do think you have to be careful about not buying a townhouse that is too cheap as you may not like the kind of neighbors you get. What price range are you looking at?

[RusUs]

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

Will I hear my neighbors through thin walls?

Fortunately, we do not hear our neighbor from one side (we do live in end-unit), but our neighbor told us that he does hear his neighbors on the other side (family with children). Also as some people already pointed, check the quality of construction.

Will cars and motorcycles make noise in the parking lot outside my townhouse all night?

I think that noise from cars will be same as in any place else. People come and go, but it is not really that noisy.

Will the neighbors be terrible because we are going to live in an area with lower cost homes?

Lower cost homes? Not always. Some townhouses cost much more than single family houses. For example, some townhouses in Vienna or Fairfax are sold at 650-750k price range, in McLean – at a million plus, while there are plenty of single family houses farther away which are less expensive. But yes, I would be very careful to even consider buying a townhouse in a very cheap area.

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIVING IN A TOWNHOUSE?

I like living in my townhouse and my community. But there are communities which I personally do not like because townhouses are built too close to each other, have almost no green areas around and very limited parking. So it depends.

Do your homework, visit various communities, talk to people there to see what will work for you. Good luck!

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

Will I hear my neighbors through thin walls?

Depends on the quality of the townhouse. I can hear my neighbors if they play their music loudly or if their kids are running through the house. It's mostly the bass that's coming through, and it's not often enough to be a problem.

I came from living in apartment, and the greatest thing was not having someone live above me. So a little noise through the side walls on occasion is bearable.

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

Will cars and motorcycles make noise in the parking lot outside my townhouse all night?

I can hear cars in the parking lot if their music is playing loudly or if it's a motorcycle. They aren't coming and going all night long, so it's a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

Will the neighbors be terrible because we are going to live in an area with lower cost homes?

Not necessarily. Townhomes in my community are selling for around $315k-$330k. I don't notice a lower "quality" of people.

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIVING IN A TOWNHOUSE?

We don't have a problem with living in a townhouse. But we do aspire to living in a single family home, preferably on at least an acre.

We live on a cul-de-sac. The greatest annoyance for my husband and I are the children playing (without adult supervision) in the parking lot.

Children running and screaming in front of the house. The screaming is enough to drive you batty, but it's causes our dog to bark excessively so we have to close the windows, shades, and shut the door even on nice days.

Who knows how many times our cars have been hit with footballs, basketballs, soccer balls, etc. Those balls and skateboards have rolled under our cars unbeknownst to us, and it's quite startling when you run over them.

And finally the safety issue - we have to keep an eagle out for a passel of kids running through the parking lot, weaving between parked cars. They are unmindful of coming traffic and how dangerous it is. And I'm talking about kids as young as 4 years old up to teenagers.

And we have a lot of green space in our community, so there is an option other than playing in the parking lot.

However, these issues more associated with living on a cul-de-sac than living in a townhome.

[acgood]

I can second many of the comments here. There are some great TH communities around Fairfax County, let us know which communities you are looking at and we can provide more specific feedback.

I hear you about the yard...sometimes I can barely keep with with my tiny TH yard responsibilities...can't imagine a large SFH yard at the present moment in life