Townhouse vs House

[LVG]

Does anyone live in, or has lived in a townhouse with kids?

We are about a year out from buying a home, and with housing prices being so high, and bidding wars on everything, one thing we are considering is new townhouse in a planned community. It’s about 50-75k or even 100k cheaper than a new single family home (which are also available in this neighborhood).  There is a pool, walking and biking trails, and lakes for paddle boarding and such.  Eventually there will be shops within the community, but all of this is still under development.  The agent wasn’t sure when the amenities would all be completed. 

We have never really considered a townhouse before.  We’ve owned houses in the past and they have all been single family homes in neighborhoods.  We have 3 kids 10 and under and a dog.  We have always had a yard, so I just can’t visualize how a townhouse might be for them, but I wonder if all the amenities may make up for the loss of yard space.  I do enjoy gardening and landscaping, but at the same time it takes a lot of time and money.  

Has anyone here raised kids in a community like this, or a townhouse?  Did you love it or hate it?  Pros and cons?

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We lived in a townhouse when our kids were younger and we just had two of them. At the time, I desperately wanted a back yard for them. We moved into a single family home and honestly, it hasn't been as much of a benefit as I'd expected. At the townhouse, we had a pool, lots of walking trails and parks nearby, as well as a library and a few stores within walking distance. I kind of miss that. The one thing they have used a lot at our house is a basketball hoop in the driveway, and I don't think we could have had that in a townhouse. Townhouses are definitely more economical - but also factor in the monthly association fees. 

[lmrich]

Look into HOA fees with a townhouse - they can be really high!

 

[YaelAldrich]

We live in a condo/townhouse. We don't have any of those amenities. We are lucky to have a deeded parking space! We live in the city of Boston. Obviously the biggest factors are noise and there has to be communal decisions about everything that affects the outside of the buildings. The latter is a bigger deal overall. The former issue can be annoying. The other issue is having to deal intimately with neighbors and they can be crazy.

Edited July 20, 2021 by YaelAldrich

[Katy]

We did when we had only little kids.  It was difficult because we couldn’t have a fenced yard, and there was really no where safe for them to go outside without us. It was a similar situation as you; there just weren’t single family homes less than a 45 minute commute (one way) for DH so it was either townhouse (10-15 minutes) or commute for well over an hour per day. 

I think more than one person was told wrong rules about the HOA and had to get rid of a dog for being too big to comply with the rules, so make sure to check that.  

I think we were the obnoxious neighbors, with little ones that shrieked all the time.  It really turned DH off of HOA’s, though now we’re in one again.  They can be more difficult to sell than a traditional house. It was worth the trade off, and we were able to sell it quickly. 

[mommyoffive]

I grew up in a townhouse.  I think the community spaces make up for the yard you don't really have.  But it will be harder to have a dog, you will have to walk them vs just letting them out in a fenced in yard.   Check and see if there is an HOA and what the costs and rules are.  As with anything your neighbors will make or break this even more so in a townhouse.

[Arcadia]

5 hours ago, LVG said:

We are about a year out from buying a home, and with housing prices being so high, and bidding wars on everything, one thing we are considering is new townhouse in a planned community. It’s about 50-75k or even 100k cheaper than a new single family home (which are also available in this neighborhood).  There is a pool, walking and biking trails, and lakes for paddle boarding and such.  Eventually there will be shops within the community, but all of this is still under development.  The agent wasn’t sure when the amenities would all be completed. 

We bought in a masterplan community in 2006 and part of the attraction was that there would be a neighborhood library being built. That library ended up being completed in 2014. So my kids spent their early childhood days at other cities’ libraries. When we bought our condo, the supermarket and shops were already completed and in business so that was useful for me as I don’t drive. 

During the shelter in place mandate issued by my county, my condo pool, clubhouse and gym were closed. So they were closed from late March 2020 to June 2021. 

We have been looking to buy for years. My husband isn’t interested in a front yard and doesn’t care whether we have a backyard or a patio. He prefers a single family home because of the townhome’s shared walls (us disturbing neighbors). Our main consideration is stairs. A two story townhome or single family home is okay. A split level three storey townhome would be lots of stairs climbing to get from garage to kitchen to bedroom, and would be tiring for me.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Arcadia
Autocorrect

[jrichstad]

We have a house that's really close to a townhouse--the walls aren't shared, but they're about 7 feet apart. Three stories, tiny rocky side yard, a great balcony. Our community is big with two pools, bike paths, trails, and green spaces. We're 1/3 of a mile from our city's beautifully planned and maintained river greenbelt. I LOVE it. We used to have a backyard and hardly used it--we just spent all weekend doing yard work. That was a few years ago and it might be different with the kids older now, but I wouldn't go back.

My kids are 6 and 11. The 11 year old can walk and bike around the neighborhood by herself. We use our alley and have a lot of outdoor stuff inside--hammocks, exercise balls, trampoline. I take them outside for an hour every day and to the park or some sort of natural area almost every day. We also have a dog, who gets walked every day.

Edit, in summary--there are tradeoffs for sure, but they're worth it for our family.

Edited July 20, 2021 by jrichstad

[Laura Corin]

We lived in an apartment that was part of a gated development.  It was great   - all the kids got together in the courtyard and played.

[catz]

My mom lives In a town house complex that has kids.  I would say definitely understand the HOA fees because that can quickly make up the difference in pricing.  Dogs can be hard depending on setup.  

[LVG]

Thanks for all of the great feedback!  HOAs are definitely something to consider so we will have to look at all of the numbers.  I do have concerns about the dog too…he’s not exactly the friendliest…Mini Australian shepherd and very protective, so we would really need to consider that.  

[Carrie12345]

My dog not only barks at every not-his person, he often howls when his people come home.  And also barks (slightly quieter) when he’s playing hard. Houses are hundreds of feet apart, and I’m sure we still irk the neighbors at least a few times a week.  I think he’d probably be more social if he had always been in closer quarters, but I don’t see my little monster adapting this far in.

Actual distance of amenities probably matters. My community has pools, lakes, sports courts, playgrounds, etc., but we don’t use them much. The nearest ones are about 3/4 of a mile away, and it always felt like a huge chore to gather up multiple small kids for a quick trip. To be fair though, they still had a yard, baby pool, sprinklers, bikes, etc. to entertain them without going anywhere, so I didn’t feel obligated.  But I rarely took my oldest one(s) to our nearby amenities when we lived in an apartment, too.

If you are the type to regularly take an hour or two or three out of the day for a trip to the park (or whatever) it could make sense. I’ve never been good about that during the stage between toddlers needing to be within reach and independent kids that can be ignored unless/until there’s a suspicious scream. Keeping careful watch from afar makes me antsy!

[HomeAgain]

10 hours ago, lmrich said:

Look into HOA fees with a townhouse - they can be really high!

 

This.  And the committee can be crazy.  My sister had a wall issue with her town house.  She wasn't allowed to fix it until the board approved.  They would only meet every two months, and then decided to skip a meeting.  It wasn't until she raised holy hell that she was given permission to fix the problem that had now grown much larger than the original issue.

Our own experience: I have decided I don't like having people sharing a wall.  Our one home had to be fumigated because of the hoarder status next door.  Our next townhouse was better, and we had great neighbors.  It isn't a choice I'd willingly make at this point in my life, though, I can see maybe when we're older, if the amenities and location are worth it.

[Spryte]

We lived in a townhouse till DS was 11, and DD was 4.  We also had DSS there from age 8 - 18, but he was mostly out of the house when DD arrived and just home from college type visits.  We always had two dogs - first a huge Aussie and a chihuahua, later a catahoula and a schnoodle.  It worked. And we had wonderful neighbors. Oh!  And DH worked from home, mostly, too!

Our backyard was small, of course, but fenced in so we could let the dogs out.  We had a decent sized deck (think 6 person table, cantilever umbrella, grill, and some play stuff, with room for people to stand and hang out comfortably - not huge, but enough), two small flower garden areas behind it, with a fountain, a raised square foot garden pyramid veggie garden, and a patio that we designed and installed.  The patio was a good size for something like a sectional to seat 8-10 and a firepit, with room to walk and play for kids.  The fence opened to a large common area for more play space, and we had some great kid parties that spilled over with activities happening back there. (I’m thinking of an epic Mythbusters party nostalgically now!)

Walking distance to library, grocery and drug stores, PO, “old town” area with restaurants and fun shops, art stuff, and outdoor music. We were also walking distance to the allergist (made weekly shots easy), and pediatrician.

Our neighborhood had a few playground options and a lovely creek for exploring.

There we’re nearby dog parks, and lots of things to do.  

Our HOA was easy, really.  We never had any issues at all.  When we needed to make a repair, we just did it.  The only time approval was needed was if we were changing the appearance of something like siding.  

The cons, for me:

- Parking. Always a pain in the neck, and our garage was always full of on-going projects. We solved this by becoming a one car family, which worked for us.  Any time we needed an extra we could Uber or rent for less than a second car.  

- I’d have preferred an end unit, as I like to garden.  And one less shared wall, though we never heard a peep anyway.

- Our roof.  Neighbor had hers replaced, and ours started leaking.  We needed to replace ours anyway though.

- The biggest drawback, to me, was looking out the back window and seeing more townhouses across the common area.  I would have liked to be on the outside of the community, I think.

It was a good choice for us, when we bought it, and for years after.

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Most housing here is multi-family due to growth boundary restrictions. When we first moved here, we were in an apartment. We actually quite loved it. No outside maintenance. Our weekends were so free. The property was built with good quality soundproofing, so we rarely heard our neighbors. We had a private garage with remote. I would totally do it again.

Townhomes do sell more slowly than single family. If possible, get an end unit. It will have a higher price than a middle but you have one set of walls without neighbors. Also know that if you own you can retrofit soundproofing. 🙂 

[Spryte]

16 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Most housing here is multi-family due to growth boundary restrictions. When we first moved here, we were in an apartment. We actually quite loved it. No outside maintenance. Our weekends were so free. The property was built with good quality soundproofing, so we rarely heard our neighbors. We had a private garage with remote. I would totally do it again.

Townhomes do sell more slowly than single family. If possible, get an end unit. It will have a higher price than a middle but you have one set of walls without neighbors. Also know that if you own you can retrofit soundproofing. 🙂 

Oh yes!  Free weekends!  We were looking at photos recently and marveling at the amount of weekend outings we did.  Every single weekend was a field trip! Whew.  Now we are consumed with yard work (and pandemic, of course).  But that no maintenance other than a few flowers or ornamental plants … huge bonus.

[ktgrok]

Big issues to me would be sound traveling through the walls...would I constantly be telling kids to be quiet? Would dog be barking whenever he heard someone on the other side of the wall? 

And if there was a fenced area to let dog out to potty...I hate having to walk a dog on a leash every time they need to go out. 

[Farrar]

I lived with my mom in a townhouse as a teen for a little while. I raised my kids in a rowhouse, so similar in some ways, but different in others - no HOA here, that's for sure.

In terms of the yard and noise from the neighbors issues... we made do just fine without a proper yard. We have a little courtyard space in the back and a postage stamp front yard. It's been fine. We have lots of playgrounds nearby so that made up for it. I think yards are overrated. I did feel glad that we weren't parenting small kids during the pandemic though, so I guess that's something to consider. Our neighbors with small kids left. Like, they packed up and went away for most of the pandemic. They came back only to leave again. 

As for the shared walls and the noise... I mean, yeah, it can be annoying. But it has rarely been a real issue for us. And I say that having kids who screamed as babies and having heard both sides raise kids who also screamed as babies. And having had neighbors with a band. That was a mildly annoying year, but we all lived through it. It was so much better when they stopped the band and had kids instead.

[freesia]

We lived in an end unit townhouse until the older kids were 7, 4 and 2.  We didn't have trouble with noise.  The hardest thing was my oldest always wanted to be out playing with some older boys who were a bit wild and it was harder to handle as he could stand at the dining room window and see them playing.  We had a playground in the community and parks nearby.  I could walk to shopping. 

[SKL]

I lived in an old "townhouse" pre-kids, and my only issue was that I liked to play piano, and I always felt like my piano was probably bothering others.

Especially with kids, I would rather not have to worry about the noises all the time.  Other than ages 21-27, I've always lived in a separate house.