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1. i dont have anything to worry about if anything happens, being in the hoa takes care of it.
2. dont have a yard i have to mow. driveway is shoveled for me and i just dont have the hassles of having a yard.
3. better bang for your buck. i can get more square feet and a better deal with a townhome.
to me its a no brainer.
1. The HOA doesn't usually take care of stuff inside your townhome. So yes, you still have stuff to worry about.
2. That is great unless you want a yard. And a lot of people do. Although sometimes there is common area that can be like a yard without the hassle of upkeep.
3. You are sharing a wall. So loud neighbors will suck. That is certainly one of the reason you getter a better bang for your buck.
I actually came very close to buying a townhouse a few years back. Only reason I didn't was my buyers fell through on the house I owned. But there are certainly some cons to go along with the pros.
Pianos. Loud sex. Yippy dogs. Stereos blasting bass. Etc. Etc. Etc. Are you going to be the one who has them and gets complaints or the one who lives next door and complains.
HOA's are only as good as their financial managers. I contributed to two where the vetted professional who was to manage the money took off with it.
Special assessments vs. owners who are already tapped out and can only afford their mortgage and regular fees.
Want to upgrade something? Building need a makeover? Not before a vote.
Do you like Martha Stewart? Good. She may be the head of the HOA. Like Oscar Madison? Even better, he, too may be the head of the HOA.
Last but not least, renters.
Townhomes are very appealing, for all the reasons you stated. But it's a bit of a crapshoot. Really got to look before you leap. And in this market, make sure half the "owners" aren't getting foreclosure notices. Your association fees go waaaaaay up if a third of the units in the building are no longer paying their share.
I bought and moved into my townhouse nine years ago, and I am quite pleased with it. When I travel the only arrangements are for the mail and the newspaper delivery, then I lock the door and head out. But yes, there are drawbacks. One is the sometimes cumbersome nature of the HOA board decision-making process. If I have a roof leak, the board has to call the repair people and schedule them; if I do it myself then I will probably have to pay for it myself and I don't like that idea because I have essentially already paid for it through my monthly fees. I do not find the rules and restrictions overly strict, but some people probably would. Why they would buy here then complain about the rules I cannot figure; I made sure to read the rules carefully before I made my offer.
Edited to add about the shared walls and the potential for noise. I guess I am lucky, but the shared walls I have are very well insulated against noise and that's something everybody here comments favorably on. But it confirms what others said above that there are a lot of things to check out very carefully before purchasing a townhouse.
There are pros & cons. Hope you like your neighbors cause they are going to be sharing a tight space. Hopefully the HOA maintains the units without a lawsuit, losing your money and getting some Hitler Jerk as president.
When you have walls that connect, sometimes the smells coming from your neighbors cooking or smoking can be overwhelming. I've seen some becoming overwhelmingly Middle Eastern / Indian and the smell of Curry can hit you from multiple sides. Oh yeah, don't forget the family who has 14 relatives living next to you and taking all the parking spots.
As a landlord I own condo, townhouse and single family house. My favorite is the townhouse. It is an end unit so only shares a single wall; the backyard is rather large b/c its an end unit and the backyard has a side gate. The HOA fee is lower than the condo, too. Why? Condo community has more amenities.
Currently condominiums and town homes are being foreclosed at rates far higher than single detached homes.
HOAs dues are going unpaid at many developments.
Financing is unavailable for condominiums and townhouses that have too many foreclosed units.
Unlike single family homes, that can be rehabilitated one-by-one after foreclosure, a derelict town home development will likely transition in much less predictable ways.
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