You are viewing the printer-friendly version of Should you Buy an Attached HouseShould you Buy an Attached HouseIf you're thinking about purchasing a semi detached or an attached home it is important to understand the differences. A semi is a house that is usually 2 or 3 stories and shares an exterior wall with another house. An attached house is a row house where each of its sidewalls is shared or common with another house (except if it's at the end of the row). Attached homes are usually called town homes.You will have to live in close quarters with neighbors in a row home or townhouse. There are advantages to semis and townhouses. First they are less expensive to build because they share a foundation and walls. As a result, you get more home for your dollar. Usually they are the same size as a detached house, and in the same neighborhood will cost somewhat less. The common wall or walls also make semis and townhouses somewhat less expensive to heat and cool. You may be able to get reduced rates on home improvement projects such as roof repairs or attic insulation by getting work done at the same time and by the same contractor as your neighbor. Privacy is a big problem with semi and attached homes. Noise from the neighbors is the biggest concern. Newly built semi and townhouses should be insulated to reduce the sound transmission between the walls, and rooms should be arranged so that they are adjacent on opposite sides of common walls are compatible. Stairwells set against common walls provide the best privacy. A bad layout would be a bedroom in one house that is adjacent to a rec room in the attached house. Good fencing, landscaping and carefully positioned patio doors can make a small garden a pleasant extension of your home. While you're checking out the back yard, look at the fence to be sure its in good repair. If the yard has a pool, you are likely to get noise in the summer. Privacy is usually a lesser concern in the front of the house. A good design maximizes the distance between the front doors of attached homes. It not nice to bump into your neighbors all the time or to have to listen to them say goodbye to their guests at 2 am because your living room or bedroom windows are next to their front door. Lack of windows and natural light is also a drawback with semi and townhouses, because there are usually only windows on two sides. Skylights, sun tubes, well placed mirrors, and light colored paint can reflect whatever natural light is available. Try to look at the home during the day, so that you can see how much natural light it gets. It is said that the location of a home is more important than whether its attached or not. A home in a great location will appreciate more than a detached home in a run down neighborhood. Plus, townhouse developments are preferred to detached houses as more people who like reasonably low prices and low upkeep are moving. The fact that the subdivision developers now tend to buy townhouse component into every project is a sign of growing popularity this style of housing. aa |