Anybody live in a townhouse?

[postjack]

Good Morning Head Case! Figured I'd tap into the collective experience of all you fine people to see if anyone has any thoughts on this.

Melody and I are considering selling our 2 bedroom/1 bathroom 1200 sq. ft. house and purchasing a 2 bedroom/2.5 bathroom 2500 sq. ft. townhouse.

Here are the facts:

-My parents are currently living in this townhouse, and are looking to move, so I'd be buying it from them. I have no idea how much they'd sell it for, we haven't gotten that far, but I know we'd be able to get it for well under market, which is really why we are even considering it. Added bonus is buying from my Dad will be easy.

-It's in a great part of Mobile, arguably the best. We could not afford a home in this area under normal circumstances. Super safe, lots of sidewalks, walkable/bikable to many places. It's close to grocery stores, rec centers, parks, all the stuff we care about.

-Plenty of room for us, and we don't anticipate having any kids.

-I've crunched the numbers on the monthly HOA fee, and it's reasonable. I think the expenses it covers makes it worth it, although I know the fee will likely increase in the future.

-Not having to keep up a yard or the home's exterior is a big plus.

-The most obvious downside is we have a massively powerful home theater with a subwoofer that shakes the whole goddamn house. We love it and I know if we are in a townhouse listening at high volumes/high bass can no longer happen.

Anyway I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience living in a townhouse? Good points/bad points? Thanks.

[grawk]

I live in an older townhouse, and have lived in a few others.  Sound isolation should be fine, but it depends on what the firewalls are like between them.  Perhaps you should (since it's your parents place) take your setup over, and try it out, and ask the neighbors if it bothers them?

 

Otherwise, if you don't want the yard, it's a pretty good option.

[Dusty Chalk]

I lived in a townhouse for years, from 1988 to 1993, IIRC.  It's exactly as you say -- I really liked the lack of lawn care (HOA took care of the front, I used a weed wacker on the back forty...square inches), but occasionally the neighbor liked to listen to things loud -- I suspect I was the bigger problem.  Also, parking can be a problem, depending how things are set up.  (We didn't have reserved spots, so it was last come, walk far.)  Some units are really well built, though, I've been in one where I've never heard them.

Downside you may not have realized is in the DC area, there's a big temperature differential between the upstairs and the downstairs.  We ended up having to get a window unit for the master (topmost floor).  At 2500 sq. ft., you might consider multiple units.  I suspect if this is in the South, you'll have the same problem.

Also, talk to your dad!  He'll give you honest answers, won't he?  Tell you whether he can hear the neighbors and how much.

Also, if you both trust each other, you can save a lot of money by not getting a realtor.  Single biggest expense when real estate is sold directly.  You still need everyone else, just not the realtor.

[postjack]

26 minutes ago, grawk said:

I live in an older townhouse, and have lived in a few others.  Sound isolation should be fine, but it depends on what the firewalls are like between them.  Perhaps you should (since it's your parents place) take your setup over, and try it out, and ask the neighbors if it bothers them?

 

Otherwise, if you don't want the yard, it's a pretty good option.

Good point about the firewalls. And my dad did say we could come over and stay for a weekend when they are out of town just to see how we liked it. Very unique opportunity. I could then bring the speakers over and try them out, having said that they are those big ass SVS Ultra Towers, and I'd need to bring my big ass XPA-2 power amp, so it'd be a hassle, but worth it to determine if we'd bother neighbors at adequate listening volumes. I did ask my parents if they ever get any noise complaints or if their neighbors ever make too much noise and he said no. 

 

25 minutes ago, Dusty Chalk said:

I lived in a townhouse for years, from 1988 to 1993, IIRC.  It's exactly as you say -- I really liked the lack of lawn care (HOA took care of the front, I used a weed wacker on the back forty...square inches), but occasionally the neighbor liked to listen to things loud -- I suspect I was the bigger problem.  Also, parking can be a problem, depending how things are set up.  (We didn't have reserved spots, so it was last come, walk far.)  Some units are really well built, though, I've been in one where I've never heard them.

Downside you may not have realized is in the DC area, there's a big temperature differential between the upstairs and the downstairs.  We ended up having to get a window unit for the master (topmost floor).  At 2500 sq. ft., you might consider multiple units.  I suspect if this is in the South, you'll have the same problem.

Also, talk to your dad!  He'll give you honest answers, won't he?  Tell you whether he can hear the neighbors and how much.

Also, if you both trust each other, you can save a lot of money by not getting a realtor.  Single biggest expense when real estate is sold directly.  You still need everyone else, just not the realtor.

Regarding neighbors, all the tenants are senior citizens. They seem perfectly lovely when I go over there to pick up mail or packages or walk my parents dog. It's a small facility, just ten townhouses, so the parking is adequate. 

You make an excellent point about the A/C, I hadn't considered that, and certainly a factor in the South. I'll have to ask my dad, but I'm pretty sure the upstairs and downstairs have separate temperature control (he asked me to "go upstairs and turn down the temperature" once when I was driving by and they weren't home). But this is a good thing to check out. The third floor is just a storage closet and an unfinished room which they use as an exercise room, we'd use it for the same. 

And yeah this is such an ideal situation in terms of access to information, since I can go over there whenever I want and get honest answers from my parents about it. We trust each other, so no need for a realtor. 

The reasons they want out are pretty much not applicable to our situation. They don't want to walk up and down stairs, the lack of windows on the sides of the townhouse drives my mom crazy, and my mom feels like she doesn't have privacy (talking to neighbors when coming and going etc.) 

Thanks guys for giving me stuff to think and inquire about.

[skullguise]

Other things, maybe even ask your dad.  How old is the community, and how bad are the monthly condo fees?  This can play into maintenance costs, one-time assessments for large projects if they are about to come due, etc.

Also, the board/group that governs (forgot the dang name), are there politics going on that suck?  I've seen some unhappy people in a condo complex where I lived, because they couldn't stand someone on the committee.  It influenced a couple decisions, though ti couldn't really be proven.

[postjack]

3 hours ago, skullguise said:

Other things, maybe even ask your dad.  How old is the community, and how bad are the monthly condo fees?  This can play into maintenance costs, one-time assessments for large projects if they are about to come due, etc.

Also, the board/group that governs (forgot the dang name), are there politics going on that suck?  I've seen some unhappy people in a condo complex where I lived, because they couldn't stand someone on the committee.  It influenced a couple decisions, though ti couldn't really be proven.

All good questions. The HOA is $500/month, which startled me at first, but after crunching the numbers it's actually reasonable. The HOA covers water, termite policy, and of course maintenance of the grounds and the building's exterior/roof. After calculating what I'm currently paying for water, termite policy, lawncare, and homeowners insurance (the portion that covers the domicile, not personal possessions), the extra per month is about $108. I view that $108 as the money I'd be putting aside anyway for eventual repairs on the home's exterior.

The HOA board I am curious about. I intend to ask my dad about it this weekend. Not sure what if any exposure he's had to them. But if we do end up living there I fully intend to be active on the board if possible. I'm also curious if I could get my hands on their financial statements to check the financial health of the HOA, see what there cash reserves are, that kind of stuff. I imagine it's fine given the part of town it's in and how long these townhouses have been there, but I'd like to know for sure.

[Aura]

Bought a 2 bed/1.5 bath in September. 5 unit building from 1940, full brick exterior. Half our basement is finished and that's where the rig is at. Next door neighbor said she has never heard us, apparently these walls are some kind of magic because we've never heard anyone else either. 

Most unique thing for us - there's no association at all. Typical HOA would've been $5-700 around here, nice to pocket that instead to use it for what we need it for. The general agreement seems to be that for all our shared spaces, we try to stick together. All of us are using the same landscaper in front, $10 per unit a week and we all pay separately. Two of the units got their roof sections done late fall last year, so we'll just go with the same roofer when it's our turn. One neighbor seems keen on getting everyone involved when doing things like windows to get us all discounts. So overall we have more risk with the big fixes but everyone has been great and we'll just go with the flow.

I don't have much negative to say on the building overall. Our only issues are within our space, particularly a crap kitchen but we've plans to remodel within a year or so. Had to drop the coin for all brand new HVAC and washer/dryer but it's been worth it. 

Best of luck posty, it sounds like a good move!

Edited June 17, 2017 by Aura

[ironbut]

This is a timely thread for me too so thanks Posty!

I've just sold my duplex in San Jose and I'm heading up to Oregon.

I don't have a ton of money (it was a 50/50 split with my sister for the duplex) but I will have enough to buy a small house or plenty for a condo/townhouse. Just like Posty, I was wondering about the noise from and to the neighbors and other "hidden" issues of living one of these.

So thanks to all who've posted. These first hand account are fantastic!

[jp11801]

Do you still have the Maggies? I still recall those sounding stunning in your set up! 

[ironbut]

Yup.

They're all tucked away in boxes and waiting for a new home.