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I almost bought a townhome and then I talked to a neighbor who mentioned hearing a piano from next door and somebody walking up and down wooden stairs. The main reason I have for wanting to move from where I am is noise through the walls. So at that time, I decided on balance my rental was a better bet for the time being because at least here there is a turnover of renters and noisy neighbors often move on. It I buy a townhome, I am more likely to be stuck with my noisy neighbors indefinitely. An end unit might be better, but probably there is still one shared wall. I have friends who have quiet neighbors in their townhomes but it is a gamble. So I keep coming back to wanting a house.
Everything in life has pros and cons. And to some, the cons may be pros and pros could be cons.
I would only buy a townhome where there is assigned parking. I live in a townhome and can rely on my spaces being available in front of my house whenever I come home. Means a lot to me.
I almost bought a townhome and then I talked to a neighbor who mentioned hearing a piano from next door and somebody walking up and down wooden stairs.
This is where an HOA helps. The first time they disturb you by playing the piano during your sleep hours (10pm to 8am) they get a warning. The second time they're fined $500. Few are willing to pay $500/week to disturb your sleep.
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An end unit might be better, but probably there is still one shared wall.
Townhomes generally have thick walls and they're connected common-sensically. Eg, master bedrooms share walls with master bedrooms and living rooms share walls with living rooms. So, you can usually play the piano without bugging your neighbors.
This is where an HOA helps. The first time they disturb you by playing the piano during your sleep hours (10pm to 8am) they get a warning. The second time they're fined $500. Few are willing to pay $500/week to disturb your sleep.
Townhomes generally have thick walls and they're connected common-sensically. Eg, master bedrooms share walls with master bedrooms and living rooms share walls with living rooms. So, you can usually play the piano without bugging your neighbors.
I didn't know that HOAs fined their owners for noise. That is good news. But bedrooms can also have noise. I have had very loud TV noise through my wall from the bedroom next door in my apartment and then there is other noises too , which can be very sleep-disturbing. Do townhomes have thick walls? I'd love to know which ones in Houston do.
Well, here's a photo of my investment property that is a townhouse.... HOA is $70 per month and includes front yard care including lawn weed/insect control, landscaping with quarterly flower change out, watering and sprinkler maintenance. Also painting the houses every 8 years. Tenant and neighbor say they never hear each other. All triplexes. Can't imagine better!
This is where an HOA helps. The first time they disturb you by playing the piano during your sleep hours (10pm to 8am) they get a warning. The second time they're fined $500. Few are willing to pay $500/week to disturb your sleep.
Couple of comments on this. First, the poster did not say the noise was late at night. They just said hearing the noise.
Second, you can't just throw out numbers like you did for fines as if every HOA in the country uses the same set schedule. You have no clue how that individual HOA would handle the situation. Maybe they wouldn't even handle it at all.
Well, here's a photo of my investment property that is a townhouse.... HOA is $70 per month and includes front yard care including lawn weed/insect control, landscaping with quarterly flower change out, watering and sprinkler maintenance. Also painting the houses every 8 years. Tenant and neighbor say they never hear each other. All triplexes. Can't imagine better!
You must own in a fairly new complex if the HOA fees are only $70. Just wait until the units are 20 years old and they begin to need roof repairs, wood rot repairs, electrical repairs to the outdoor lighting, and so forth. I would guess there is no swimming pool there either. A pool is expensive to maintain!
Very low fees can be deceptive in the sense that if there is no reserve fund to speak of, any "surprise" need for major maintenance will require an assessment. HOA boards must continually balance the desire for low fees with the need to maintain prudent reserves. Whenever board members vote to increase fees, they are increasing their own as well. But if the maintenance of the property begins to suffer because the fees are too low, then everyone's property values also suffer.
Also, there is the issue of what is included in the fees. The more items that are included (water, trash pick-up) and the more amenities that are included (community room, pool) the more the fees will be, even in very well managed complexes.
We had a townhouse (~15 units), we liked it a lot. When we moved in the 1/2 bath stunk like cat pee, but i was planning on gutting it. My neighbrs said they were glad, because they had to tell the previous owner a few times to change the cat box because they could smell it in their bathroom...so gross.
Also, I did most of the remodeling, so I was doing it after work...my other neighbor came down to complain due to saw noise, but i said I would end each night by 10PM per the rules. Annoying to him I am sure, but I needed to get it done. It lasted about 2 weeks, every week night. In the end, my work raised the value of their townhomes, because I sold before they did and we sold for the most of any of the townhomes in the complex...raising comps.
We needed a special assessment, as the homes were built in the 70's and there were big repairs that weren't properly budgeted for as well as things that still needed to be done. We also organized a complex wide fix up day a couple of times to do painting and minor repairs to the property, followed by beer and BBQ by the pool. We saved the HOA a lot of money, but we were an active, fun, relatively young group. I'm not even sure if what we did was legal. Anyway, there was good and bad.
Thick walls-- not all are built the same. So unless you can physically go into the abutting units and scream, play a piano, rock a bass, bark, etc. you won't know which kind of wall-- soundproof or useless-- you've got.
As for sleep hours. That's all well and good. At what time of "waking hours" would you not find yippee dogs, thrumming bass, etc. disturbing? If you're lucky, the piano player next door has the same taste in music as you do, and at least some talent. What if they play old fashioned church hymns all day with fingers made out of wet noodles? What if it's a kid taking lessons. What if the dog is a puppy being crated for the first time, whining and barking ALL DAY.
Seriously. I listened to church hymns through a wall for a year. It didn't kill me, but it wasn't my first choice. After I bought a house, if my neighbor behind me was cranking Jethro Tull instead of Iggy Pop, I could just go inside. And the drum circle next door-- for real-- was a very distant beat (which was lucky because the guy hosting was still learning and during the week when he practiced, he couldn't have hit the beat if he had a metronome surgically implanted in his face).
If I'm over the top on this, now you know why.
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HOA fees
