Do you live in a townhouse? Like/Dislike?

[Anonymous]

My family and I will be living in the DC area temporarily for the next 2-3 years and will be renting. I like the idea of renting a townhouse (lower maintenance, might be able to afford to live closer to the city and in a better school district) but I’m afraid of being so close to neighbors. I rented a shoddy townhouse in the early 90s in Northern Virginia and you could hear the people next door sneeze – it was horrible.

Anyone living in a townhouse now? What has your experience been? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Construction really makes a difference. I lived in a cheap but well-built townhouse in the 90s and never heard a peep out of my neighbor, and she couldn't hear my piano. I live in a $500,000 townhouse now in MoCo, and can hear everything my neighbor does.

Other than that, I like it. Especially with very young kids. I don't want tons of yardwork to do, and digging out a parking space was nicer than digging out a whole driveway when it snowed. We don't have a garage; that would probably be the only upgrade I'd like to have.

[Anonymous]

i live in a townhouse. i like it. sometimes we can hear random things... if someone is immediately on the other side of the wall. but msot times there's no real annoying sounds. the other weird thing is sometimes we get nasty smells from the neighbors wafting through the vents... but again it's rare.

[Anonymous]

We used to live in a rowhouse in Glover Park built in the 1920s. There was a defacto sorority house next door. The only time we ever heard them was if they were going up and down the wood stairs in heels. They would have huge parties and we didn't hear a peep as the walls were pretty thick.

I grew up in a townhouse in Chicago built in the 1950s. We could sometimes hear the bass of the son's stereo and sometimes the two girls arguing. But it really wasn't bad. Wall-to-wall carpeting, so stylish in the '70s, probably helped with that. We were also an end unit, with the stairs on the only shared wall, so that limited the living space adjacent to our neighbors.

hth and good luck with the move!

[Anonymous]

I lived in a townhouse/condominium (we had neighbors above and to the sides of us) for 7 years until I found out I was pregnant with my second son. Overall, I liked it. The complex was built in the 80s and was pretty quiet. Occasionally, I could hear my upstairs neighbor walking around, but it was not too bad. We did have the occasional problem with one of our neighbors to the side blasting their TV which was pretty annoying. My husband went over to talk to them about it once, which helped a little bit. Overall the complex was pretty quiet though. I really think it depends who your neighbors are - even a SFH could have loud neighbors with barking dogs, yelling kids, etc.

[Anonymous]

We're renting a townhouse in Glover Park and they are so solidly constructed that we hear very little of our neighbor (only walking up the stair occasionally).

But, I don't think you'll find that a townhouse in DC (closer to the city) will get you into a better school district. Well, perhaps here in Glover Park but we've found the rentals to be very pricey so we're moving out.

[Anonymous]

I have lived in a townhouse the last six years. Our first, we could hear everything! IT was so annoying. Almost to the point, we were considering moving further out so we would not have to live in one. However, the one we live in now we do not hear anything.

We have a smallish yard which is perfect for us right now. We have a two car garage with a small driveway. DH can shovel it in about 15 minutes depending on the snow storm.

[Anonymous]

People have different tolerances for density. It sounds like yours is very limited. You could certainly look for things like a private back yard and thickish walls, but at the end of the day, you might still be unhappy with shared walls and communal space. If your firm idea of "normal" is a SFH, anything bringing you into closer contact with neighbors will always seem sub-standard to you.

[Anonymous]

For renting, I would go for it. Cheaper, easier. For buying, I want a SF now...

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks for the replies so far. Please keep them coming.

Also, if you are living in a townhouse community in Bethesda or Chevy Chase and you like it, can you share the name of community?

[Anonymous]

We live in a TH in SS area and very rarely hear our neighbors. Sometimes some thuds from one side (w'ere a middle unit) but never anything on the other side. Our neighbors that are on the side of DD's nursery swore they could not hear her when she was a baby (and cried cried cried). So for us, it's fine. We have a play area right in back of us and some open space there. I would not like the new communities where every single inch of the property is paved over so that the back of each TH faces the street/ally and directly looks across that street onto the other TH's back too.

Looking for TH will let you be more likely be to able to afford to live in CC/Bethesda, which are incredibly expensive.

[Anonymous]

We're looking for a house and have the same questions about a townhouse. When we lived in an apartment our neighbors smoked and we could smell it constantly...our bedroom smelled like an ashtray. I think that's my main worry. Also, I do worry about noise...neighbors keeping my kids awake at night and also the noise my kids might make that could disturb the neighbors. We're on the fence about it.

[Anonymous]

Love it!

We just moved into a townhouse in SS ( Longmeade area) a month ago and we have an end unit...it is really, really spacious and I haven't heard anything from my neighbors (which is only on one side of us since we have an end unit).....I am really happy there.

[Anonymous]

I've lived in a townhouse for the past 12 years.

1. Middle unit in Burke VA (built in the early 80s) heard nothing.

2. Middle unit in Centreville, VA (built in the 60s) only heard noise when we were in our bedroom. I think our headboard and the next door neighbors were on the same wall - so we could hear him sneeze. I bit..ahem...unsettling during intimate moments.

3. End unit in Columbia, MD (built in the early/mid 90s.) we hear nothing and lived next door to 3 young children for the first 5 years we lived here.

We are looking to move and would move to a townhouse again if it was one of the highend/luxury ones. And a garage is a must for us.

[Anonymous]

We live in a rowhouse in NWDC, built in the 1920s. There is a group house of 20-somethings next door and we don't hear them through the walls. We can hear their outdoor parties on the deck in summer but we'd be able to hear them from a single-family home on a small lot too. Our neighbor on the other side is a pianist. If we strain to hear him practice, we sometimes can. We really can if both of our front windows are open at once. We consider that one of the bonuses of living here.

I love the low-maintenance factor of row houses. I never want to own another square yard of grass.