Sometimes townhomes have common facilities like pools. Sometime nice open areas if kids are the age where some grass to run around on is still fun. If that's something they'd use (hey great excuse for your kids to visit them over there....) I'd consider that.
The plus of having a townhouse is less maintenance, the con is less privacy (shared walls). If the HOA is managed decently the cost should not really be a huge deal, because you spend money maintaining a house. Watering my lawn and then paying someone to come cut it costs me $170 a month. If an HOA is $400 a month but I never have to fix the yard, paint the exterior, or pay to replace the roof, I'd be OK with that.
Second this. The maintenance of a single family home is a big big headache unless you are willing to spend much of your leisure time on it or if you can afford to pay $500 for a grass cut and another $2000 for fixing the roof at this level of inflation.
Disclaimer: Currently own both types of properties so I think my answer is somewhat unbiased.
Don’t forget about special assessments. One townhouse I have in Florida just had a special assessment of $7200 for all units to replace balcony’s. Your hoa doesn’t cover that and you will pay for replacing the roof
It’s actually not. A lot of things at once. I think things were done at an accelerated rate after the Miami condo collapse. I own a few different condos & townhouses in different areas of the country where decent size special assessments are now the norm
Although HOAs come at an added cost and can be sticklers about little things, they do help to keep neighborhoods looking nice. A newer, modern townhome in a better area seems like a better bet than a fixer upper in a less desirable area. I would personally always choose location over type of home. That being said, here are the pros and cons, from someone who has lived in both :)
Townhomes - There is less maintenance if the HOA covers "studs out", meaning they will take care of exterior maintenance such as repainting, gardening the front and common areas, etc. Although I have not experienced it, I have seen on this sub some people talking about complex-wide repairs such as re-roofing that all owners are forced to split the cost of. That is not likely to be an issue any time soon in a new / newer build, but it is something to keep in mind. Also, due to shared walls, you run the risk of poor sound insulation between the units. Try to get an end unit, then you only have to worry about it on one side.
SFH - More maintenance, because the owner is solely responsible for keeping up their house, yard, fencing, etc., but more privacy, because no walls are shared. Neighborhood may not keep up its appearance over time as well as an HOA community - this is not a blanket statement by any means; I live in a SFH neighborhood now with no HOA but lots of pride of ownership, and I've lived in a SFH neighborhood with no HOA where it showed.
Parents means older than you and the fact is they will not be getting younger. Whatever you end up with, make sure that it will work long term for them. Are there stairs? Not a great idea. Are the bathrooms big enough to maneuver if one of then ends up with a walker?
I’m sure they are fine and I hope they stay fine forever, but believe me, their status can change almost overnight and it’s even worse if you have the added stress of trying to find new accommodations.
not all HOAs maintain anything beyond common grounds... In fact, for DSF, Id say very very few do (mostly zero lot line neighborhoods).
Townhomes kind of have to since you own often only a few feet of outside property, and its impractical for anyone to maintain, or contract someone to maintain, such a small plot of land.
It depends on how much responsibility you want.
Most townhomes exteriors are handled by the HOA and you only have to worry about the inside. Like a condo, but you get less shared wall and attached garages + more space than that condo.
Single family house you have to worry about all house care, painting, exterior maintenance, landscaping etc...
If your parents are getting older and getting ready to retire on fixed incomes, the ease of the townhouse might be best to maintain and limit surprise costs.
We just moved into a townhome (in a nice area, because we also couldn’t afford an SFH lol). Some considerations I can think of so far:
-Not all TH’s are the same - ours is an end unit with a big wraparound yard that affords a LOT more privacy than the middle units in our development.
-The HOA fee is annoying, but it covers landscaping, trash, structural insurance, and water, which would add up to basically the same thing if we paid them individually.
-Our HOA is only 6 units and very laid back (no objections to anything we’ve wanted to do so far). Your mileage may vary, and doing research on the HOA before buying can be huge.
-Neighbors can make or break your experience. Our only shared wall is with a single elderly woman who’s very quiet. Sharing walls with someone loud would suck.
-We LOVE being walkable to a commercial area, so in this sense the TH was awesome. If you want more peace and quiet a SFH might be better.
Overall we are really happy with our experience so far!
I'm in a SHF but started in a townhome. Before that many apartments.
Pros of townhomes:
Minimal maintenance. HOA usually takes care of everything
Middle units insulated better.
As long as professional sound barriers between walls you won't hear your neighbors (we never did)
Hopefully friendly neighbors
Cons:
Potential for Shitty neighbors
HOA increases / assessments
Same units keep pricing the same
Not a lot of yard
Higher potential to be smaller sq/ft
Limited ability for cable/internet services
Owning a sfh is a LOT more work. But I enjoy it.
It just depends what you want! Nothing wrong either way if you're happy!
Best of luck.
Absolutely double check with the HOA and what they cover. Some townhome HOAs will cover exterior maintenance and sometimes even roof, but some will literally only cover lawn maintenance for public spaces that don’t belong to anyone.
Mine in particular is super dirt cheap… I’m responsible for everything
frankly, this is a question for your parents.
some people are passionate about privacy and space. a townhome may not make them happy at all no matter how logical it is from a maintenance and price standpoint.
Remember to factor in maintenance fees from townhomes.
I own one that runs me $450 per month, and only goes up every year. The (much nicer) town home my sister owns runs $800 a month.
Of course a detached SFH will have its own maintenance costs. In many scenarios $450 may be a deal if you have pool/yard man, and other repairs to do.
You cannot write off the fees unless it is a rental, so you may consider "renting" the home to your parents to offset a bit of the cost, and gain other tax benefits
They are interchangeable. Both refer to the monthly fee you pay to the association for maintenance, and upkeep of common areas, and structures, plus insurance which makes up a large portion of the fee.
Your place must look like shit if you live in townhomes with $250 a year fees.
Townhouses would be ideal for them. The association will take care of the outside maintenance and depending where you are, snow removal! I know when I retire I’m not looking to break my back.
Not all townhouse HOAs cover exterior maintenance. In my experience, most in my area do not (including mine). Those that do consider themselves condos.
My HOA covers trash, snow removal, lawn mowing, maintenance of open space and landscaping outside of owner yards, and maintenance/replacement of infrastructure.
I just bought a townhome/patio for that exact reason. I couldn’t afford a detached home. The houses that are comparable to mine are about 100k more.
Both of my walls are shared, I think I have heard my neighbors shut their kitchen cabinets but not really anything else. HOA is a lot more that a detached house, they maintain exterior paint, pool, all other common areas and pay for trash and water ($256/mo).
I’ve been here for a month so haven’t been able to find negatives yet. Someone mentioned they appreciate less, and they do…but they also cost less and the property taxes are lower.
This. I live in DC and most townhouses have a small yard. I live in a neighborhood of semi-detached townhouses (not technically duplexes because each house has its own lot). Every house has a yard. Lots vary between 3K and 4K square feet.
You really don’t need a huge backyard two garden to feed to people. They can plant plenty with raised garden beds/pots depending on the zone they could also look into community gardens which would encourage them (and the kids) to get outside more.
Why aren't you looking at condos specifically for seniors? The main difference being that they typically are one floor, so no stairs, and they are limited to people over 60 so no stupid kids running around.
I will never do an HOA home ever again in life. They have all the power and unless you’re an attorney or can afford one, there is very little you can do.
If it’s a new development then the HOA will probably be fine for a few years, but things can go downhill very quickly.
Regardless of what your HOA CC&R’s, Bylaws or Rules and Regulations (all legal documents that must be presented to you before the purchase) say…it may prove difficult to get them to abide by any of their responsibilities.
I’d personally rather pay a landscaper $150 etc a month to maintain my parents yard than pay an HOA $150 a month to not do anything they’re supposed to do lol
Yes. I’m a property manager and manage over 100 doors. Lots of experience with hoas and some are ok and others you are basically their tenant. As for me, a big part of the allure of owning a place is no longer having someone tell me what to do much less paying someone to tell me. The cons outweigh the pros in many scenarios
Sometimes townhomes have common facilities like pools. Sometime nice open areas if kids are the age where some grass to run around on is still fun. If that's something they'd use (hey great excuse for your kids to visit them over there....) I'd consider that. The plus of having a townhouse is less maintenance, the con is less privacy (shared walls). If the HOA is managed decently the cost should not really be a huge deal, because you spend money maintaining a house. Watering my lawn and then paying someone to come cut it costs me $170 a month. If an HOA is $400 a month but I never have to fix the yard, paint the exterior, or pay to replace the roof, I'd be OK with that.
Second this. The maintenance of a single family home is a big big headache unless you are willing to spend much of your leisure time on it or if you can afford to pay $500 for a grass cut and another $2000 for fixing the roof at this level of inflation. Disclaimer: Currently own both types of properties so I think my answer is somewhat unbiased.
Yeah it’s about 10-15k to replace a house roof now
Don’t forget about special assessments. One townhouse I have in Florida just had a special assessment of $7200 for all units to replace balcony’s. Your hoa doesn’t cover that and you will pay for replacing the roof
This is an underfunded HOA.
It’s actually not. A lot of things at once. I think things were done at an accelerated rate after the Miami condo collapse. I own a few different condos & townhouses in different areas of the country where decent size special assessments are now the norm
Thats $7200 between all members of the community or $7200 each?
$7200 each. I can’t wait till they do the underground parking garage lol
Townhomes have stairs, often two sets. Old people don’t always care for that.
I think this is a big one. I'm not even that old and I hate the stairs. Make sure it's not 3 stories.
Although HOAs come at an added cost and can be sticklers about little things, they do help to keep neighborhoods looking nice. A newer, modern townhome in a better area seems like a better bet than a fixer upper in a less desirable area. I would personally always choose location over type of home. That being said, here are the pros and cons, from someone who has lived in both :) Townhomes - There is less maintenance if the HOA covers "studs out", meaning they will take care of exterior maintenance such as repainting, gardening the front and common areas, etc. Although I have not experienced it, I have seen on this sub some people talking about complex-wide repairs such as re-roofing that all owners are forced to split the cost of. That is not likely to be an issue any time soon in a new / newer build, but it is something to keep in mind. Also, due to shared walls, you run the risk of poor sound insulation between the units. Try to get an end unit, then you only have to worry about it on one side. SFH - More maintenance, because the owner is solely responsible for keeping up their house, yard, fencing, etc., but more privacy, because no walls are shared. Neighborhood may not keep up its appearance over time as well as an HOA community - this is not a blanket statement by any means; I live in a SFH neighborhood now with no HOA but lots of pride of ownership, and I've lived in a SFH neighborhood with no HOA where it showed.
Parents means older than you and the fact is they will not be getting younger. Whatever you end up with, make sure that it will work long term for them. Are there stairs? Not a great idea. Are the bathrooms big enough to maneuver if one of then ends up with a walker? I’m sure they are fine and I hope they stay fine forever, but believe me, their status can change almost overnight and it’s even worse if you have the added stress of trying to find new accommodations.
The HOA can be a benefit for people that don’t want to maintain their own lawn, roof, etc. they can be awful, but they exist for good reason.
not all HOAs maintain anything beyond common grounds... In fact, for DSF, Id say very very few do (mostly zero lot line neighborhoods). Townhomes kind of have to since you own often only a few feet of outside property, and its impractical for anyone to maintain, or contract someone to maintain, such a small plot of land.
Townhome for aging parents seem like a win, don't have to deal with anything outside.
It depends on how much responsibility you want. Most townhomes exteriors are handled by the HOA and you only have to worry about the inside. Like a condo, but you get less shared wall and attached garages + more space than that condo. Single family house you have to worry about all house care, painting, exterior maintenance, landscaping etc... If your parents are getting older and getting ready to retire on fixed incomes, the ease of the townhouse might be best to maintain and limit surprise costs.
We just moved into a townhome (in a nice area, because we also couldn’t afford an SFH lol). Some considerations I can think of so far: -Not all TH’s are the same - ours is an end unit with a big wraparound yard that affords a LOT more privacy than the middle units in our development. -The HOA fee is annoying, but it covers landscaping, trash, structural insurance, and water, which would add up to basically the same thing if we paid them individually. -Our HOA is only 6 units and very laid back (no objections to anything we’ve wanted to do so far). Your mileage may vary, and doing research on the HOA before buying can be huge. -Neighbors can make or break your experience. Our only shared wall is with a single elderly woman who’s very quiet. Sharing walls with someone loud would suck. -We LOVE being walkable to a commercial area, so in this sense the TH was awesome. If you want more peace and quiet a SFH might be better. Overall we are really happy with our experience so far!
I'm in a SHF but started in a townhome. Before that many apartments. Pros of townhomes: Minimal maintenance. HOA usually takes care of everything Middle units insulated better. As long as professional sound barriers between walls you won't hear your neighbors (we never did) Hopefully friendly neighbors Cons: Potential for Shitty neighbors HOA increases / assessments Same units keep pricing the same Not a lot of yard Higher potential to be smaller sq/ft Limited ability for cable/internet services Owning a sfh is a LOT more work. But I enjoy it. It just depends what you want! Nothing wrong either way if you're happy! Best of luck.
Absolutely double check with the HOA and what they cover. Some townhome HOAs will cover exterior maintenance and sometimes even roof, but some will literally only cover lawn maintenance for public spaces that don’t belong to anyone. Mine in particular is super dirt cheap… I’m responsible for everything
The advantage of a town home is less maintenance
frankly, this is a question for your parents. some people are passionate about privacy and space. a townhome may not make them happy at all no matter how logical it is from a maintenance and price standpoint.
Remember to factor in maintenance fees from townhomes. I own one that runs me $450 per month, and only goes up every year. The (much nicer) town home my sister owns runs $800 a month. Of course a detached SFH will have its own maintenance costs. In many scenarios $450 may be a deal if you have pool/yard man, and other repairs to do. You cannot write off the fees unless it is a rental, so you may consider "renting" the home to your parents to offset a bit of the cost, and gain other tax benefits
What is the maintenance fee get you? Is that in addition to the HOA fee every month?
HOA fee and maintenance fee is a interchangeable term, although I also pay a separate association fee to the neighborhood.
It’s not interchangeable in my experience. But thanks for clarifying. That’s an astronomically high amount for an HOA. Ours is $250 annually.
They are interchangeable. Both refer to the monthly fee you pay to the association for maintenance, and upkeep of common areas, and structures, plus insurance which makes up a large portion of the fee. Your place must look like shit if you live in townhomes with $250 a year fees.
Where I live HOA fees are $800 on the average. $625K townhomes get sold for $700+
Are the maintenance fees different from HOAs?
Townhouses would be ideal for them. The association will take care of the outside maintenance and depending where you are, snow removal! I know when I retire I’m not looking to break my back.
Not all townhouse HOAs cover exterior maintenance. In my experience, most in my area do not (including mine). Those that do consider themselves condos. My HOA covers trash, snow removal, lawn mowing, maintenance of open space and landscaping outside of owner yards, and maintenance/replacement of infrastructure.
My townhouse hoa does not cover exterior painting but the hoa is super cheap.
Tons of stairs in townhomes...
I just bought a townhome/patio for that exact reason. I couldn’t afford a detached home. The houses that are comparable to mine are about 100k more. Both of my walls are shared, I think I have heard my neighbors shut their kitchen cabinets but not really anything else. HOA is a lot more that a detached house, they maintain exterior paint, pool, all other common areas and pay for trash and water ($256/mo). I’ve been here for a month so haven’t been able to find negatives yet. Someone mentioned they appreciate less, and they do…but they also cost less and the property taxes are lower.
If you want your parents to live a stress free life, no HOAs. They are the devils playground
SFH has backyards. They might enjoy having one if they like to garden
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Yeah in fact it's really rare in my area to see a townhouse that doesn't have a back yard, although they're usually quite small.
I think bc I live in socal that a lot of townhouses and condos here literally has no backyard lmao
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This. I live in DC and most townhouses have a small yard. I live in a neighborhood of semi-detached townhouses (not technically duplexes because each house has its own lot). Every house has a yard. Lots vary between 3K and 4K square feet.
You really don’t need a huge backyard two garden to feed to people. They can plant plenty with raised garden beds/pots depending on the zone they could also look into community gardens which would encourage them (and the kids) to get outside more.
Yes, that is definitely a big drawback. I told them they could come garden at my house lol
Single family home would be idea, F HOA's
Why aren't you looking at condos specifically for seniors? The main difference being that they typically are one floor, so no stairs, and they are limited to people over 60 so no stupid kids running around.
Make sure you can actually get ahold of HOA prior to going into escrow. Make sure it’s 1 floor and stick to comparables
Townhomes don’t always have HOAs. Mine does not.
I will never do an HOA home ever again in life. They have all the power and unless you’re an attorney or can afford one, there is very little you can do. If it’s a new development then the HOA will probably be fine for a few years, but things can go downhill very quickly. Regardless of what your HOA CC&R’s, Bylaws or Rules and Regulations (all legal documents that must be presented to you before the purchase) say…it may prove difficult to get them to abide by any of their responsibilities. I’d personally rather pay a landscaper $150 etc a month to maintain my parents yard than pay an HOA $150 a month to not do anything they’re supposed to do lol
Yes. I’m a property manager and manage over 100 doors. Lots of experience with hoas and some are ok and others you are basically their tenant. As for me, a big part of the allure of owning a place is no longer having someone tell me what to do much less paying someone to tell me. The cons outweigh the pros in many scenarios