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Investment question
Hi ladies! My husband and I are in the market for a home. We know we will be moving away from this property eventually, and our plans are to turn it into an investment property after that time. As such, we're trying to shop for a home with the eyes of both residents and investors. I want a house that suits our needs, but will also be desirable to future tenants. We've narrowed down the town and neighborhood we want to live in based on desirability, closeness to amenities and schools. My final question is this - should we choose a single family home or a townhouse. There are some really nice end-unit town homes available in the neighborhood and because they offer more updates for the money (e.g. most of them have hardwood floors, granite counter tops, etc.) I'm tempted to go that route because those may be things that draw in future renters; and obviously, I'm a fan of hardwood floors myself so I wouldn't mind living with those items either lol. But I also know that single family homes retain their value better and there's the privacy that a single family home offers that you can't necessarily get with a town home (though we have decided that we won't do the town home thing unless we can get an end unit for the very reason that it at least offers more privacy than a center unit). What are your thoughts and opinions? I'd love any advice you can give, especially those of you that are already landlords. Thanks a million 
Re: Investment question
Every market is different, but in our area (current and soon to be) I would go with a townhouse if you want to rent it in the future.
Any time I've seen a single family for rent, the rent has been astronomical and it's been far more economical to buy. We live in a suburb within commutable distance to NYC and Philadelphia that has a great school system and townhouses and condos here are very easy to rent.
H's mom has a single family home that she bought with intent to use as a rental property. She moved in for awhile to fix things up, but now that she rents it there seems to be a bit of a money pit issue going on. With all of the repairs she's had to make, I don't think she's made much on it at all. I think townhouses provide more in the way of maintenance and take some of the burden off of you.
As for the floors - are they real hardwood or are they a laminate or engineered hardwood? I can't believe how many listings have "hardwood throughout" and end up being the $.50 per sq foot laminate that looks nothing like wood. Laminate and hardwood are fine for a rental, but if it's engineered hardwood, I would be concerned since you can only refinish it so many times and tenants are hard on wear and tear.
Check out the rentals in your area.
Our area is a similar market to Kaylie's. Townhouses are rented out within weeks if not days. SFH's have a tendency to sit for awhile until a renter is found. My brother is renting out a house and it sat vacant for a year because he couldn't anyone to pay that much in rent.
We aren't near cities like NYC or Philly. But I am in PA as well. We're close to the capital and a crap-ton of other smaller towns and moderately sized cities, the public school districts are very good and there are private education options as well. It's a desirable area to live in and townhouses and condos go fast. SFH... not so much.
http://pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi#general
What's the price difference between the SFHs and the townhomes? If there isn't much, definitely go with the SFH. You can always add upgrades later.
Townhomes usually come with HOAs, which can greatly restrict rental use. When you look at a townhome, make sure you investigate any regulations on rentals.
If the sales price of the townhome is significantly lower, and the HOA is acceptable, you just need to figure out which would be in higher demand in your area.
Signed,
Landlord of a condo and SFH
Agreed.
Also make sure you consider any HOA fees associated with a townhome. Will you be able to rent the townhome for enough to cover the mortgage and those fees? If not, a SFH might be the way to go.
In my market, both would rent easily due to the high number of students with the different colleges and universities.
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It would be nice if it were that simple. We're a military family, so we are guaranteed to move away at some point and we will become landlords - which is what we've discussed and planned for extensively. And in the area we'll be living in HOAs are pretty much everywhere whether it is a condo, TH, or SFH - so there's really no way out of having an HOA in this particular area. We followed your advice and the advice of the other posters though and looked up some stats on the market and it does look like SFHs sit a lot longer to get rented and all the rents for those are at least $2000 or higher - so it looks like a town home may be the smartest decision. We'd be able to purchase a nice town home and cover the mortgage and HOA fees with a monthly rent below that price for sure. Thanks for all the help
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