Buying Single-Family Home, Condominium or Townhouse?

There are many real estate options available for home buyers, including single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses. Today we’ll discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of each.

SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

If you desire a new home, you can design and build it in the community you want. Even if you are not building new, an existing single-family home is the ideal way to create your own space and is best suited to people who don’t want to be told how their home should look. There are far less restrictions on owners of single-family homes as to how they can manage and improve their property.

But along with that freedom of expression comes responsibilty: you have to do your own home maintenance and repairs or hire someone to do them for you. Mowing the lawn, shovelling the snow and fixing leaky faucets fall on you, the homeowner (or your teenage son). But you can select your own color scheme and design your living space to meet your needs (unless your home is situated in a deed-restricted community, where some colors or options can be taboo).

Advantages of single-family homes include:

• Your home is truly your castle to a greater degree than any other type of housing option. You own the home and can do what you want to the property inside and out, making modifications and improvements as you see fit. Your local government may will usually require building permits and review any modifications and improvements. However, if you live in a deed-restricted community, there may be limits on what you can do to your property, especially on the outside, such as restrictions on colors, etc.
• Resale value is usually highest on single-family detached homes.
• If your needs change and you need more space, you can usually improve the property and build an addition or add a pool to an existing single-family home that you own (as long as you adhere to local rules regarding building codes, setbacks, etc.).
• Usually there are no property management fees or assessments associated with owning a single-family home, as there are with most condominiums and many townhouses (although you may be subject to mandatory community association fees).
• Privacy. You have a home that has no immediate neighbors upstairs, downstairs or to the left or right. You can go out on your lawn and do what you want, when you want, without others impeding on your space.

Disadvantages of single-family homes include:

• You are responsible for all maintenance and repair costs related to the property — inside and out.
• Landscaping, lawn maintenance, exterior and interior paint and other upkeep costs will come out of your pocket.
• A single-family home may lack some of the amenities typically found in other types of housing, such as pools, playgrounds, large green spaces, etc.
• Single-family homes are usually more expensive than similar-sized condominiums or townhouses.

CONDOMINIUMS

A condominium is really an apartment, except you own it instead of just rent it. (All over the country, many condominiums have been converted from apartments in recent years.) However, you only own your interior space and nothing outside of it. In addition, you are a partner with the other owners of the exterior of the building — a concept known as common ownership — including all common areas and physical plant operations (including the lobby, exercise room, roof, parking lot, air conditioning system, pool, clubhouse, tennis courts, etc.).

Condominium ownership requires the payment of monthly fees to support the common areas, which covers ongoing maintenance and repairs as well as (ideally) building reserves for future maintenance and repairs. The condominium association is responsible for and manages these issues. In addition, condominium associations can impose one-time special assessments on all owners within the condominium to cover unusual or unanticipated expenses, such as a new roof or a leaky pool. But if you need a new carpet or refrigerator inside your unit, it is your responsibility. Condominiums are generally more affordable and come with fewer responsibilities than single-family homes because you don’t really own any unimproved land, but you’ll also have less privacy, so you will have to negotiate when you can set up a croquet game so that it doesn’t impede your fellow condo owners.

Advantages of condominiums include:

• You will not personally have to perform any exterior maintenance or repairs (although you are charged for it).
• Amenities such as a well-appointed hotel-style lobby, large pool, fitness center and/or tennis courts, etc.
• Prime views from higher floors and often desirable locations with proximity to employment and shopping centers.
• Competitive prices that are often less expensive than nearby single-family homes with comparable interior space.

Disadvantages of condominiums include:

• You only own the inside of your condominium, not the outside or common areas. The rest of the property is collectively owned by the condominium association, of which you are one member of many.
• In addition to your initial acqusition cost, you will be responsible for an additional monthly maintenance fee as well as occasional special assessments (which can be hefty amounts).
• You sacrifice some privacy, in that you will have neighbors on the left or right or upstairs or downstairs (or all of the above).
• Condominiums often take longer to sell than single-family homes.

TOWNHOUSES

A townhouse is a home that is is attached to one or more other homes (townhomes), but it is situated on its own independent parcel of land that the townhouse owner also owns (if you don’t own the land outside your living space but own your home, you live in a condominium).

Townhouses are often considered a viable alternative to both single-family homes and condominiums because they are a middle ground that often offer many of the desirable benefits of both. Townhouses can range from simple duplexes (two townhomes) or triplexes (three townhomes) to large multiplexes that include 100 or more townhomes, often subdivided into several large large buildings.

Townhouses appeal to people who want their own small exterior space, but do not want the hassle of dealing with most exterior maintenance. A small back yard or a deck out back is sufficient for these people. Owners of townhouses also aren’t put off by the fact that their neighbors may be immediately next door (on the other side of the wall or just above or below, but not all of the above).

Legally, townhouses can be structured in many ways, from fee simple ownership (the same as most single-family homes, which is often the case with most duplexes and triplexes and in which the town home is considerd to sit on its own piece of land, separate from the adjoining structure — even though they share a common wall) to shared ownership situations that include common community amenities such as swimming pools, park areas and/or clubhouses (with more complex ownership agreements in which all owners in the development share ownership of common areas).

Townhouses (especially large townhouse communities) often require membership in a homeowners association, which can dictate many of your property rights.

Advantages of townhouses include:

• Townhouses are usually less expensive than single-family homes of the same size.
• Townhouse sometimes require less maintenance and repairs than single-family homes and some maintenance tasks are often handled collectively.
• Security concerns sometimes are less because of shared ownership of the entire structure and grounds.
• Townhouses often include community amenities such as swimming pools, playgrounds, tennis courts, etc.

Disadvantages of townhouses include:

• Owner of townhouses are often required to pay association fees that pay for maintenance and repairs to common areas.
• Townhouses have less privacy than single-family homes.
• Option for changing the appearance of the exterior are limited because changes involve collaborative decisions between you and your neighbors.

Taking the time to honestly evaluate your options ahead of time will help you narrow your choices and save time when you’re ready to start your new home search.  If you know what will best meet your needs, your buyer’s agent can prepare a short list of the best new homes in your target neighborhood.  Be it single-family homes, condominums, or townhouses…to each home buyer his own! 

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