$400K to spend: Townhouse or 1950s style Single Family Detached home? (Fairfax: HOA fees, condo) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

Curious Discussion · 10-23-2015, 06:45 AM

If YOU had only $400K to spend for a single family home in Fairfax County would you prefer:

A Townhouse with no yard or trees but more modern appliances, larger rooms, and more storage, etc. (Fancier inside) but no space outside with your car in a parking lot.

Or a detached single family home built in the 1950s with smaller rooms and less modern touches. But with a nice yard, beautiful trees, flowers and a garage and driveway.

Please take my poll!

NOVA_guy · 10-23-2015, 07:14 AM

Townhouse. I work long hours and commute, while a SFH would be nice... the little bit of free time I do have I would prefer not to spend it in my yard all day.

I'm also still young and don't have a family yet so the townhouse works.

HokieFan · 10-23-2015, 07:37 AM

I wish I could take your poll but I need more details. There are particulars of a home that would be deal breakers for me.

Comparison of commutes? The condition of the SFH? Does it have any upgrades? Does it have central AC & heat? Off street parking? Is there enough room in the driveway for two vehicles? Is either home on a high traffic road? What's the community like? What are the HOA fees? What are the amenities within the HOA?

If you have a couple of homes you're considering, can you post the link to the listings? Then I can give you an honest opinion.

FWIW, my husband and I were in a similar situation 5 years ago when we were house hunting. We ultimately chose the TH, and we haven't regretted the decision. However, I consider it our starter home. We plan to live in our house for another 7-10 years, sell it, and take the proceeds to buy a SFH - preferably outside of NoVA.

LynchburgLover · 10-23-2015, 08:08 AM

I agree with Hokie Fan -- need more details. Especially important would be location and distance to work.

spencgr · 10-23-2015, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HokieFan

I wish I could take your poll but I need more details. There are particulars of a home that would be deal breakers for me.

Comparison of commutes? The condition of the SFH? Does it have any upgrades? Does it have central AC & heat? Off street parking? Is there enough room in the driveway for two vehicles? Is either home on a high traffic road? What's the community like? What are the HOA fees? What are the amenities within the HOA?

If you have a couple of homes you're considering, can you post the link to the listings? Then I can give you an honest opinion.

this^^^.

I wouldn't rule out a townhouse; I lived in one for over 10 years.

gomason · 10-23-2015, 09:40 AM

Both are so bad, I would want less house and live in a condo so I can actually walk and bike places.

ChristineVA · 10-23-2015, 09:59 AM

Depends.

In general, I'd say get the house. But ONLY do that if you will have the cash flow to do maintenance and upgrades. There were several times, early on, that I was faced with the same choice. Both purchases were going to leave me "house poor" so I knew that I had to buy something that would be relatively maintenance-free for awhile. In the long run, I would have preferred the older home. I have many friends/coworkers that live in Fairfax County in these 1950s-era homes and the neighborhoods are great.

So if you want a yard, a little more privacy, peace and quiet, I would go for the house, but only if you will have the means to maintain things that could already need repair due to age.

SandyJet · 10-23-2015, 12:46 PM

what is maint and property taxes on town home vs what is property taxes on single famly home.

boyd888 · 10-23-2015, 12:54 PM

While there are some time machine homes lurking in FFX county, many of the SFHs in the area built in the 50/60s have additions and/or updated to the point that you would have no idea they are 50 years old. The only give away is they are 3br/2ba vs. the 5br/5ba modern Mcmansions. Even if it 30 year old appliances it doesn't that much to update them...I assume we aren't talking about homes that still have fuse boxes here.

At the same price point I don't see a major difference between the two other than the TH will be a little bigger (2200+ sq ft) vs. the SFH from that era around 1500 sq ft. So the trade off is yard (and maybe garage/carport) vs. interior space, but no land.

Curious Discussion · 10-25-2015, 04:34 AM

The single family detached home built in the 1950s and 1960s still have very small rooms, which are problamatic. The ones that have been updated and enlarged are not selling at townhome prices. I have seen lots of single family homes from that era that made me think I had gone back in a time machine, nothing had changed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by boyd888

While there are some time machine homes lurking in FFX county, many of the SFHs in the area built in the 50/60s have additions and/or updated to the point that you would have no idea they are 50 years old. The only give away is they are 3br/2ba vs. the 5br/5ba modern Mcmansions. Even if it 30 year old appliances it doesn't that much to update them...I assume we aren't talking about homes that still have fuse boxes here.

At the same price point I don't see a major difference between the two other than the TH will be a little bigger (2200+ sq ft) vs. the SFH from that era around 1500 sq ft. So the trade off is yard (and maybe garage/carport) vs. interior space, but no land.