Buying a Townhouse to Live in

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  brendanm on 12/12/2019 - 14:28

  +4

  Do you hate living closely with other people and being restricted in what you can do?

• 

  GG57 on 12/12/2019 - 14:37

  Strata:
  As a unit holder, you will have a say in the strata management.

  Space:
  Swings and roundabouts; less for you to maintain, but depends on your lifestyle if you would miss having more private space.

  Economic growth:
  Any increase in the property value might be a bonus, but shouldn't be why you are buying property. I assume you have done the figures on renting vs. buying.
  If/when you sell, and increase in value could be eaten away by similar increases in property values for your next property.

• 

  Archi on 12/12/2019 - 14:41

  +3

  we lived in a town house for many years,

  • group of 7 properties.
  • very friendly neighbours, we knew everyone by first name and never had any trouble.
  • our house was attached to one neighbour only by garage wall.
  • we all had high fences and decent sized yards so very private
  • strata fees were low and never had any issues with other owners claiming for repairs to their homes.

  depends on the area and neighbours I guess you have to be a good neighbour to everyone else as well.
  if you are obnoxious, annoying and loud then you don't suit townhouse living.

• 

  SmiTTy on 12/12/2019 - 15:02

  Doesn't touch your question, but you may also want to consider a duplex/semi. A bit like townhouse without the claustrophobic feel (if that's how you feel) and no strata (usually)

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  scrimshaw on 12/12/2019 - 15:19

  If you buy a townhouse be prepared for strata costs to increase roughly every year. Mine used to be $250-ish but over the years is now $400 per quarter.

  You'll also need to be aware of what your strata management is doing as you will be part of a committee, the ones I had to deal with were terrible and all the owners voted unanimously to fire them.

• 

  Starlight8 on 12/12/2019 - 15:21

  i believe houses grow faster as there is a plot of land.

  Also, i believe some townhouses require you to pay strata.

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  boomramada on 12/12/2019 - 15:29

  Buy a house/townhouse that fits into your budget. Once the circumstance change, get a upgrade.

  any issues with Strata? Sharing space?

  No guarantees on issues, even if you are living in a house, you could have a bad neighbours.
  That's why you need to do some background research before you buy/build to reduce surprises.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 12/12/2019 - 15:33

  +5

  Had townhouse.

  Never again.

  It is the combined restrictions of owning an apartment and the cost of owning a house. Good concept for developers and the perceived freedom of land ownership for some.

  You won't be able to do as you please with the land and you'd still be paying body corporate.

  You may pay slightly more for a proper block and live in a crappier house for a decade or so but once you can subdivide, your networth grows significantly while the townhouse owner can only hope for linear capital growth.

  • 

    saintpotter on 12/12/2019 - 15:38

    Thanks for this.

  • 

    skid on 12/12/2019 - 15:57

    Would you please clarify what you mean by "perceived freedom of land ownership"?

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 12/12/2019 - 16:13

      The best thing about land ownership is knowing at the back of your mind you can practically do whatever you want.

      Seeing as it is practically undivisible and lacks privacy, I am unsure what it is about that land is actually worth having.

      I should correct myself, I owned a unit and not a townhouse.

      • 

        spiff on 12/12/2019 - 17:03

        For my first home I was choosing between a unit in the inner city and a townhouse 5km from CBD (Perth) and ended up choosing a townhouse for the following reasons:

        More space - 100sqm instead of 55-75sqm, 3x2 instead of a 2x1 or 2x2, 50sqm courtyard instead of a 12sqm balcony
        Parking - easy access to car instead of potentially having to go up and down stairs or a lift
        Privacy - inherently more private being in a group of 6 townhouses rather than a block of 20+ units, and the only shared walls were garage or courtyard walls, not the walls of the dwelling itself

        I agree on the capital growth aspect though, seems to be tied more with the capital growth (or in Perth's case, steep capital losses) of apartments rather than houses.

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  onetwothreefour on 12/12/2019 - 16:22

  +2

  $900k for a townhouse? How big and where would it be located? Wouldn't it be better to live a little further out and buy a house?

  • 

    saintpotter on 12/12/2019 - 16:25

    Cherrybrook area

    • 

      onetwothreefour on 12/12/2019 - 16:31

      How high does location rate on your wish list?

      • 

        saintpotter on 12/12/2019 - 16:49

        Umm depends. All family and friends live near Bella Vista so don't want to live outside of a 20 min drive from there - can you suggest other liveable areas around there?

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  tsunamisurfer on 12/12/2019 - 16:38

  +8

  I have lived in a strata complex for more than 12 years. Never again.

  During this time, we have had :

  • A rented meth house and with it a variety of clientele together with a botched cook where they all got out of the house and aerated it to let the fumes out. The owners and their property manager DGAF.
  • Owners who refuse to spend more to put money into the Sinking Fund, often retirees decrying lack of funds.
  • Owners who are investors who want to spend the funds we have on frivolous beautification projects, often coinciding with their place being on the market.
  • Residents who think the common driveay is their car park, and visitors car parks are also their sole properties.
  • Owners who think the bylaws don't apply to them and try and install whatever they want.
  • Owners who think their barking dogs are everyone else's problem not theirs.
  • Residents who think the common driveway is a quarter mile raceway.
  • Residents who think playing hard core p0rn on their huge TV whilst the windows are all open is OK.
  • Residents who thinking dumping big junk items on common property is OK.
  • Owners who complain about services rendered by the strata managers, then CBF looking for another one and expect others to do it.
  • Residents who think revving their bogan cars at night is a gag.
  • Residents who decide they don't like their garden and rip it up and replace with a desert style dry garden.

  The only thing I am missing is a community creep/voyuer.

  Of course we have had some fantastic people live in the complex but living in a large medium density complex, in particular when many are rented out, means you have to deal with a lot of people over that time. Many will be great neighbours, and many others will be absolute dills that have no concept of living closely with others and requires some consideration.

  • 

    DemocracyManifest on 12/12/2019 - 17:08

    I rent in amongst a sea of granny flats it’s practically the same shit, but a townhouse would be so much worse

    • 

      tsunamisurfer on 12/12/2019 - 17:10

      +1

      Townhouses would likely have people with binoculars which satisfies my last requirement for a community creep.

  • 

    H E B on 12/12/2019 - 18:14

    +1

    +1 for tsunamisurfer.

    What a list!

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  Queen Muffin on 12/12/2019 - 18:19

  +1

  I would say buy a duplex is better than a townhouse. Duplex is torrens title which means you don't have to pay strata fees like townhouse. Duplex is like a semi, you have a small courtyard and one common wall only. If you buy a town house that means you have to live under the 'by-laws. If you want to have pets, then it is determined by the strata if they allow pets. Duplex is cheaper than a full house. Pay it off quicker then upgrade to a house. If you and your partner can afford to pay $800-$900K, that means you can buy a duplex, then use the spare borrowed money to invest in shares or an investment property, then you can enjoy negative gearing/tax reduction (if you and your partner are in high income tax bracket). If you buy a big house now which is only for you and your partner, ask yourself do you have time to clean a big house and mow lawn ? Also no negative gearing for your own house.

• 

  lainey13 on 12/12/2019 - 21:36

  If you aren't fussed with where you live, and how you live (crappy house) then definitely you can make more money subdividing a decent plot of land in a good location. It will take time and pain and the stress of building but in the future you will gain more.
  Personally I don't like living in a crap hole, with no intention of moving for a long time, don't like stress and location in a good school zone was more important so I bought a fancy townhouse. In VIC a two unit block does not require a body corporate/strata setup. Only the garage is joined. We would have had to pay 150k+ more for a larger block of land with a crap house, then borrow 800+ in the future to subdivide, then move out god knows where… Not for us. Maybe for you?

• 

  OzFrugie on 12/12/2019 - 22:18

  When u buy a townhouse, who owns the land? You or strata?
  Be careful some duplexes have strata title too..not all torrens title.
  Not sure what criteria makes it strata or torrens.
  Maybe someone more knowledgeable can shed some light.

• 

  87percent on 13/12/2019 - 04:39

  Used to live in a townhouse, no strata though (was in an estate). One thing that annoyed the crap out of me, was that the garage only held one car so someone had to park on the street. Every house had 2 cars, so parking was at a premium. It was an unspoken rule amongst the neighbours, that you park in front of your house, but if one person broke that rule, it was a free for all

  Sharing walls didn’t bother me, got along with my neighbours. But even getting tinted windows which had street frontage, caused some concern as it “ruined the street aesthetics”, so had to pick a particular tint

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  oscargamer on 13/12/2019 - 06:56

  Buy in the location you want to live in.

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  Lastchancetosee on 13/12/2019 - 08:13

  Depends on the number of townhouses in the group, the way in which they are arranged on the block, the strata rules, and the solidity of the build (e.g. in SA to be classed as a house and land package, each townhouse needs to be 'free-standing', so there are double-thickness walls with your neighbours). Also, depends on the profile and location of the area (low-density, with older homes nearby, c.f. High density, high-rise), and the level of private iwnership.

  In other words, each case is unique. Good luck.

• 

  HeWhoKnows on 13/12/2019 - 08:17

  Biggest problem with townhouses is that they are mostly brick Veneer and so sugject to termite attacks!

  Worst still even thouygh Strata might be liable for making good the damage its always an agument as to who is to blame and who is liable and for what.
  I can tell you from bitter experience
  We ended up selling out.
  Too much of a headache.

  If you can find some that are SOLID brick and concrete then go for them!

• 

  brad1-8tsi on 13/12/2019 - 08:19

  I bought in a group of 8 townhouses in April 2018. It's pretty good.

  I spent the same money as a house in the area but the difference was the houses were "fixer-uppers" and I didn't want to spend my weekends renovating. They also didn't quite tick all my boxes.

  good things:
  *My 7 neighbours are all great. 7 of the 8 units are owner/occupiers. They are reasonably quiet, friendly but not intrusive. I think I got lucky.
  *Minimal maintenance
  *A small block means an unobtrusive body corporate and your vote really does count.

  not so good:
  *strata fees are around $5k/pa and we run a really tight budget. The building is 15 years old and I can see those fees increasing by 10%pa over the next 3 years.
  *Capital appreciaion is not as good as a house
  *anything you do externally needs BC approval. This isn't hard where i am but elsewhere…

  NB: My best mate had a townhouse in a 3 unit complex. One neigbour was on an aged pension and had no money for common property repairs and wouldn't approve any strata fee increases. The other neigbour had tennants in his property and wanted to squeeze blood from a stone so he didn't even pay his strata. The place was a wreck. Make sure you investigate the strata finances and AGM minutes (although these say almost nothing usually).

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  ilikeradiohead on 13/12/2019 - 12:27

  Move to Perth and buy a house 5km from the CBD :D

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  DardyMate on 13/12/2019 - 23:21

  I bought an apartment/unit and still living on it, which would be the same if you're looking for town houses (close neighbours, common area, strata).

  It's not the best. Strata council wants this and that for beautification, always think they are "smarter" - but for maintenance, they have no say and keep on saying yes to what ever quote is provided by the strata manager and never challenges back. Painful neighbours, claiming the visitor bays are theirs. When throwing boxes on the yellow bin, they don't even flatten it. The list goes on.

  But hey, it depends. You might get good neighbours.