Just what are the benefits and negatives of a townhouse? If you’ve been wondering what are townhomes – meaning, what defines a townhome – and what are the pluses/minuses of buying one, you’re in the right place! Townhouses are wonderful pieces of architecture. They are built two-to-a-structure or all-in-a-row. They provide all of the amenities of a great single family home, usually with less cost and less land upkeep.
Townhouses are Cost Effective
Townhouses have very little overhead in property upkeep. The price of a townhouse is usually cheaper when compared with a single family home. Furthermore, townhouses generally tend to be in nice, up-kept neighborhoods with on-site or nearby amenities.
Townhouses Save on Heating and Cooling Costs
Oftentimes with townhomes, your heating and cooling bills will be smaller than with a regular house. It depends on what position your home is in (whether you’re on the end of a row or you share two sides with other homes), but sharing at least one wall with another home can help keep your temperature-treated air inside your home for longer. There are also no windows along that one (or several) side of your home, which is a natural exit/entrance point for outside hot or cold air and sunshine.
You Can Raise Your Family in a Townhouse
There are many benefits of raising a family in a townhome, especially in comparison to an apartment. A townhouse provides all of the luxury, comfort, strength, space, and stability needed to raise a family without all of the extra upkeep of a single family home with four outer walls, lots of yard area, and other private property concerns to maintain.
You can own a home that’s not surrounded on all sides with other noisy apartments, without having to spend hundreds of dollars per year on maintaining large yards, overgrown backyards, or major plumbing, electricity or heating and cooling concerns.
Benefits of a Community
Townhomes are often located in neighborhoods managed by associations or in those that have been planned out, meaning they’re close to amenities and include a great sense of community among neighbors. Neighbors in townhome communities are often interested in being friendly with those that live close by or through a shared wall, and it’s great to have them so close by.
Plus, communities are often built with parks in mind, so you’ll probably be close to some green space that you’ll see your neighbors in often.
Very Little Gardening and Upkeep
Upkeep is at a minimum for a townhouse. The focus is on height (two or three stories each) and on internal space. The rest of the planning should be put into money saving and growing, not figuring out how to make your lawn look halfway decent. This is why townhouses are so very convenient, as they usually have only small yards, and those yards are often maintained by an association. If not, it’s a small step to having your own yard, since it probably won’t be a huge amount of upkeep to mow.
More Burglary Resistant
Let’s face it. Thieves do well in places where they can find a corner or a hidden nook to hide in the shadows while they try to break in. If, however, no such corners and nooks exist and there are neighbors with doors and windows nearby to sound the alarm, burglars will tend to want to pick a safer place to do their dirty work.
The advantages of a townhouse are numerous. If you love city living and you’d prefer a step between an apartment and single family home, then the townhouse market may be your best option.
