Buying A Home
blair6211
member
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Single Family or Townhouse
Need advice. I currently live in single family home & I am unsure if I should move into another single family or a townhouse (we need more square footage). I have a husband and 2 young children. We like single family homes but everything in my county is colonial style and I prefer open concept. Does anyone have any advice on what would be best for young families? And it is unheard of to move from a single family to a townhouse??
Re: Single Family or Townhouse
Ultimately, you have to decide what is best for your family/budget.
I may be wrong but it is farly uncommon to move from a SFH to a TH. But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.
Just be clear about the cons of a TH...shared walls, nosey, noisy, close neighbors, not much out door space for children to run and play safely, etc. THs are often closer to highly-populated shopping areas and restaurants, which can be nice but often means extra noise and traffic. The will most likely have and HOA. Again this can be good, but those HOA fees do tend to rise annually.
If you do not like traditionial floorplans why not build you own home or find a traditional floor plan that you can make into what you want it to be over time with some DIY or hiring a professional remodeler?
This is really personal preference - we live in a single family home currently and I would actually like a townhome. DH and I both hate yard work, and most townhomes include things like yard work, outside maintenance, etc in their HOA fees (which are usually considerably higher than SFHs). However, we have two dogs and really need a fenced yard for them, so we will continue to live in SFHs for the foreseeable future. Outdoor space is also nice for children to be able to play outside safely.
Plus the things PPs mentioned - privacy, noise, etc. If you like to entertain, it may be more challenging in a townhome where you have less room, maybe more difficult parking situation, things like that.
If your main reason for wanting a townhome is layout, that can often be worked around or changed over time. I would put a higher premium on things like location, privacy, and other things that can't be changed than floor plan.
I own a townhome and we love our house. A lot of newer townhomes as larger (ours is just under 2000 sq ft.) and have large firewalls, keeping noise down. We never hear our neighbors.
Pros - We don't have to worry about landscaping except the fenced courtyard between our house and garage, exterior maintenance is taken care of by the HOA (we pay a monthly due), and we only have to insure "walls in", meaning just the interior structure and our belonging, so insurance is cheap. Our neighbors are great.
Cons - we're dependent on the HOA for maintenance, so we have little choice on when and who they use for painting, roofing, etc. Monthly HOA fees are in addition to annual dues for the community amenities because we're part of a larger neighborhood of single family homes. The lack of a yard is fine for us, but I wouldn't like it with kids. It's also common for owners to "move up" to a SF and rent out their townhome, so you may have revolving neighbors.
BFP 11.8.12 * EDD 7.17.13 * MC 12.20.12
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!
We are renting a TH, but under contract on SFH. We have two small children. I constantly worry whether the kids or dog is being too loud. Our friends however live in a TH and can turn their TV/radio/video games to the highest level and the neighbors say they can't hear a thing. So that aspect definitely depends on how the TH is built.
I dislike having to walk the dogs and am looking forward to a fenced in yard. Also, we don't have assigned parking and I get really frustrated when someone (generally who doesn't live in our building) parks in front of our unit (end unit) because it can be really hard to get two kids under 2 and groceries/diaper bag/work bag, etc into the house when I have to park a mile away. I also dislike hearing the neighbors tv/music.
I love that I don't have to do any lawn/exterior maintenance, our parking lot is plowed if it snows, I feel safe (i.e. if I scream for help someone might hear me), we have a dumpster that we can take trash to as needed (i.e. it doesn't pile up in trash can in garage).
Square footage usually decreases as you move from SFH to TH, but, if you find the right location, it could be opposite and less expensive.
I'm buying a PUD: planned unit development. It's a single family unit in a condo complex, we love it. All the maintenance outside is included yet we still have a yard, deck and great open concept modern house with parking and a great neighborhood (we would've paid triple the asking price for comparable SFH in the area).