What To Consider When Picking Between Three Types Of Properties
Posted on: 11 August 2021
Are you finally looking to stop renting and buy a property to call your own? If so, you need to start the shopping process by narrowing down what kind of property you want. Here are some tips for deciding between a single-family home, condo, and townhome.
The HOA Fees
One of the biggest differences between the three types of properties is if you pay HOA fees, which are monthly dues that you pay as part of living in a shared community. With a condo or townhome, you can expect to pay HOA fees since you are often sharing a roof, walls, and other parts of the structure with other residents that own property attached to yours. With a single-family home, you do not typically pay HOA fees. The exception to this is if the home is located in a community that has an HOA fee to help maintain the surrounding neighborhood or community areas.
One thing to keep in mind is that an HOA fee is going to cover pretty much all of the ongoing maintenance costs as part of owning property. With a single-family home, you'll need to set aside money to pay for those maintenance items in full when they come up.
The Location
You should think about the location of the property you want to invest in since you may not be able to purchase each type in every location. If you want to live in the heart of a downtown area, you are going to be limited to condos in most situations. Meanwhile, the suburbs are going to be filled with single-family homes to pick from. Townhomes can be found in either location, but you'll typically need to seek out a community where they are located together.
The Shared Walls
A big deal-breaker for selecting a property is how you feel about shared walls. When you live in a single-family home, you will not be sharing walls with any of your surrounding neighbors. You can make as much noise as you want and not worry about upsetting other people. A townhome often shares one or two walls, which are the main ones on the side of the unit. You are not going to share floors or ceilings, so you don't have to worry about others disturbing you with footsteps. However, condos often have neighbors on all sides of you, which results in sharing the walls, floors, and ceilings.
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