Five Disadvantages of Townhome Living

When real estate is at a premium, homeowners have to start considering alternatives. One alternative to the typical stand-alone house is the townhome. You've probably seen them before. They're also known as townhouses or rowhouses, and they are typically multi-story homes with one or more walls adjoining to another building.

Townhomes are prevalent around big cities, where it's important to fit as many people within commuting distance as possible. Since townhomes tend to be narrow, and sit on very small parcels of land, they appeal to zoning boards all over the country. Townhomes often offer more living space than condos or stand-alone houses for the same price. And when you're in the market for a new home - especially in a competitive market - townhomes might seem like the ideal solution. Indeed, there are many advantages to townhome living, but it's important to consider the disadvantages as well.

1. Home Owner Association Fees. With almost every townhome community come the ubiquitous regulations of the accompanying Home Owners Associations. They charge you a big fee. If your Home Owners Association manages community facilities like pools and exercise centers, it might seem like a decent deal. But Home Owners Association fees can add up over time to a staggering fee, and might make the difference between a townhome mortgage that you can afford and one that you can't.

2. Lack of Privacy. When you live in a townhome, it's possible for your neighbors to know all your business. It's nearly impossible to go in or out your front door without running into someone at any time of day or night. Sometimes neighbors sit on the front porch and chat, and that's nice. But you might feel like you're picnicking in a fishbowl when you're on your back patio and your neighbor is ten feet away, waiving from his deck. Townhomes keep people packed tightly together, and sometimes, in an effort to preserve privacy, neighbors actually become less aware of one another. Just as in Japan, townhome dwellers sometimes learn to avert the eyes of their neighbors and deliberately not see or hear what is going on twenty feet away because it's just intrusive. This odd mixture of distance and lack of privacy might be something to consider when purchasing a townhome.

3. A Long Walk Around. Unless you live in an end unit, expect a long walk with the lawnmower from the shed in your backyard, around the building to the front. The same goes for garbage cans, or anything else that you store behind the house and need to move out front. Typically, an easement is left behind each townhome so that each owner can access their belongings and walk around the building, but that doesn't stop some neighbors from complaining. For example, if your patio builder needs to haul 19 tons of stone across your neighbor's back yard to get into yours, your neighbor might get cranky.

4. Small Parcel of Land. If you like to garden or plant trees, you might find the limited land attached to your townhome to be a serious limitation. Moreover, in order to properly grade the building, your yard might be at strange angles. For example, if the builder was trying to make open-air walk-out basements on the back of the townhome unit, the soil may be graded at a sharp slope. This will be obnoxious when it comes time to mow. It might be even more obnoxious when you're trying to plant or lay down paver stones. There are even some townhomes with yards that have been cut at such a steep angle, grass will not grow. Make sure you're comfortable with your lot before you buy a townhome.

5. Lack of Freedom. If you want to build a new patio on your house, better get approval of the Home Owners Association. If you want to keep your garbage can in the front, and your community thinks it belongs in the back, you can expect a nasty letter. The appearance of your townhome's exterior is not entirely up to you. And if you want to throw a raucous party in your townhome at 3am, your neighbors might not be thrilled. Modern townhomes typically have a firewall between each unit so that you can't hear your neighbors at 3am or any other time. But if your townhome is more than five years old, you may be out of luck.