Buying a townhouse is not a good investment because townhouses don’t appreciate in value and if it does, it would be low. Selling a townhouse after many years will not bring you much money as selling a detached house except you’re buying the townhouse to rent out.
Townhouses are a style of multi-floor home that shares one or two walls with other neighbors but has entrances.
Buying a townhouse will require a lot of things to consider like the purchasing cost, maintenance (HOA fees), outdoor space, and so on.
If you want to buy a townhouse, what’s is your budget? Apart from thinking of the purchasing cost, you also have to think about the resale value of the townhouse. So, Is buying a townhouse a good investment?
Can I Buy a Townhouse
Of course, you can buy a townhouse. A townhouse is in between a condo and a detached house. It is more spacious than a condo but not like a detached house.
The cost of the townhouse is also lesser than a detached house. If as a family, you want to buy a house for the time, you can go for a townhouse.
Each unit in the building has its entrance and garage. Also, there are amenities in the neighborhood you will enjoy like a gym, resort, parks, etc.
You’ll just have to pay HOA fees monthly for the maintenance of those amenities and levies when a need arises.
Is Buying a Townhouse a Good Investment?
The beauty about land or houses is that they appreciate in value years to come. The land or house you bought for $250,000 in 2001 can end up appreciating to $400,000 in 2022. Houses generally are a good investment.
Townhouses can serve as a good investment especially if it’s located in a very lucrative area. It can easily be sold for a large amount of money in the future. The following are reasons why townhouses serve as a good investment
Fewer Maintenance Needs
Townhouses are less costly to maintain since townhouses pay a certain fee to the HOA who is in charge of maintaining the amenities in the neighborhood.
You don’t have to spend much on maintenance, so it saves you your money. When selling the house years later to buy a larger house, you would have more money because you’ve saved the money you could have used on maintenance and home improvements.
Capital Appreciation
Most times townhouses experience growth in capital appreciation with the increase in demand for their properties. Houses appreciate, investing in houses can never go wrong. Capital appreciation will always double up.
Strategic Location
Townhouses are mostly built in strategic areas that can easily get potential buyers. Once a house is located at the right place, renting or reselling will not be an issue.
Protective Insurance
The work of insurance can not be overemphasized. Insurance has saved a lot of investment that should have crashed a long time ago.
Insurance cost is covered by the HOA fees, so you don’t have to worry about paying insurance costs again. This is also a good investment because you will save the house insurance cost and use it to cover other insurance costs.
Benefits of Buying a Townhouse
There are some benefits attached to townhouses that can’t be denied. They are:
1. Safety and Protection
Remember, townhouses are in rows. They have proximity to other buildings. There is a sense of safety due to this.
Everyone gets to know when something is wrong, and when strange faces appear, it can easily be known that such a person is a stranger.
When you make your neighbors your friends, it goes a long way, you can easily drop your kids with them for some minutes. There is this feeling of not being alone since you are surrounded by people.
2. Quality of Life Amenities
Most townhouse communities offer some amenities that are of benefit to the residents. Amenities like swimming pool, gym, play area for kids, tennis or squash court, etc. With this type of amenities put in place, it helps to foster interaction with other neighbors.
3. Less Maintenance Need
Because townhouses have HOA, it helps to spend less on maintenance. The tenant pays a certain fee to HOA and the fee covers the maintenance of the building.
Since maintenance is covered, you have other things to focus on. It allows you to focus less on maintenance since it’s taken care of.
4. Sense of being a part of the community
There is this sense of oneness you get to have with your neighbors since you share walls with them. You get to interact with your neighbors and from there comes a bond.
Having a good relationship with your neighbors goes a long way, it makes the community fun; everyone watching out for one another. You get to know your neighbor’s names, the kids, and the likes.
5. Good Location
Before anyone gets a house, they always look out for the area if it’s favorable or not. Townhouses are known to always be at the right location. Nobody wants to spend hours on the road before getting to their destination.
Question to Ask While Buying a Townhouse
When it comes to property, people tend to research the advantages and the disadvantages. It’s not wise to get a property without researching it.
Before buying a house, it’s wise to ask those that are conversant with townhouses and the area certain questions. The following are the questions to ask before buying a townhouse.
House Association Fee (HOA)
Before you buy a townhouse you should ask for the range of the amount you will be paying for HOA fees and what it covers for the townhouse.
Ask if the fee covers both inside and outside maintenance. Ask for those involved in maintenance; if in case your house needs maintenance who should you call.
Ask how the payment is done. Settle everything that needs to be settled, don’t be shy to ask.
Rules and Regulation
The townhouse has rules and regulations that are enforced by the HOA. You should ask for those rules and check if you and your family can abide by them.
Ask how many cars you are entitled to park. Ask about the activities allowed in the environment. You should know all these before you sign the form to abide by the rules and regulations in the area.
Amenities
Since townhouses have amenities that the community use, it’s best to ask if any rules are governing the use of amenities.
Some rules may say children are not allowed to enter certain places. Ask if all the amenities are functioning well.
Know Your Neighbours
You can ask who your neighbors are. You can try to meet with them and have one on one conversations with them. Likewise, ask them questions about noise pollution in the neighborhood. You can ask them how the maintenance is run.
You don’t have to wait until it gets to a situation where you will be looking for how to make your neighbors move because of noise pollution. Know them earlier on and know what noise pollution is like in the neighborhood.
Rainy season
Ask if the area is always messed up during the rainy season. What are the things to expect during the rainy season? How should you prepare for the rainy season? Some areas are bad during the rainy season, it’s best you know.
Storage space
Ask about storage space. Ask how spacious the storage area is in the house? Getting to know this will help you plan ahead the things to buy and things not to buy. You have to buy the important things that can fill the storage area.
Insurance policy
Ask if the building is covered by an insurance policy. Insurance saves you from spending a lot of money. In case of any damages, insurance will cover up for you.
Do Townhomes Appreciate in Value?
This is dependent on the area the townhome is located. In areas where we have small families, your townhouse will appreciate in value because many small families start with townhomes.
But in many cases, townhomes don’t appreciate in value. This is because home improvements and repairs that make a house appreciate are a no-no in townhomes.
You cannot modify the building, and your designs must not affect the interior and exterior of the building.
Final Thoughts
Townhouses are good houses to buy and start with as a family. When you’ve saved enough money, you can then move up to buying a detached house. A townhouse might appreciate in value in the future but it if doesn’t, you can still make your money by renting it out.
