Tell me about owning a TH versus a condo

[Anonymous]

Don't buy a condo, you will regret it. Anything that you don't own the land under your property is a bad investment.

[Anonymous]

In terms of value, TH will be the better investment if you don’t have problems using the stairs or doing some yard/exterior maintenance. Otherwise lean towards a condo. It will allow you to age in place.

[Anonymous]

Fees are much more reasonable in THs. I bought my TH about 20 years ago, and the fees were maybe $110/month then. Now it's around $125/month. So it hasn't gone up much at all, and our reserves are huge. It only covers maintenance of common areas, which I am fine with -- I don't have to do any gardening or shoveling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are disabled I’d think a one floor condo would be the best.

I loved my condo. It felt so luxe having a doorman. There was always tons of parking close by. The HOA fees weren’t insane but were like $550 a month. It included a lot though and my insurance was very cheap. Great construction because it was a high rise. I never heard neighbors ever. I had a nice gym.

Couldn’t stand my townhouse. No one maintained their yard. Mostly because who would own a lawnmower for a tiny patch? So everyone’s yards looked awful and were cut with weed wackers. I heard my neighbor at all hours of the day. Zero parking. My guests had to park like half a mile away or I had to move my car a half mile away so they could park in my driveway. I still have visiting town house people due to the parking situation. Neighbors didn’t maintain anything at all.

$550 per month is a lot to spend on condo fees. A whole lot.

MY one bedroom coop in NYC had $579 a month fee in 1992. Thats cheap for a nice building in a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fees are much more reasonable in THs. I bought my TH about 20 years ago, and the fees were maybe $110/month then. Now it's around $125/month. So it hasn't gone up much at all, and our reserves are huge. It only covers maintenance of common areas, which I am fine with -- I don't have to do any gardening or shoveling.

+1 very similar here

When we have a one time expense it is tree removal from a storm. Not structural issues or roof, plumbing or HVAC. Those things are the homeowner's responsibility. That being said that does mean you will have more maintenance costs that you are responsible for your own home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are disabled I’d think a one floor condo would be the best.

I loved my condo. It felt so luxe having a doorman. There was always tons of parking close by. The HOA fees weren’t insane but were like $550 a month. It included a lot though and my insurance was very cheap. Great construction because it was a high rise. I never heard neighbors ever. I had a nice gym.

Couldn’t stand my townhouse. No one maintained their yard. Mostly because who would own a lawnmower for a tiny patch? So everyone’s yards looked awful and were cut with weed wackers. I heard my neighbor at all hours of the day. Zero parking. My guests had to park like half a mile away or I had to move my car a half mile away so they could park in my driveway. I still have visiting town house people due to the parking situation. Neighbors didn’t maintain anything at all.

None of this applies to my townhouse community in close in DMV. Everyone’s yards look nice and we all use the same affordable professional service for our lawns. Not a single person I know of does their lawn with a weed whacker, lol. The HOA means everything is very well maintained. Parking is easy as the townhomes either have two spots or a garage and there are guest lots.