Hi all
Can someone please tell me what they are? I don’t think they are the same as houses.
Hi Dandan
A townhouse shares one or two lateral walls with other townhouses, perhaps connected by garages. Usually you find townhouses in a row in medium density zoned areas. They normally have a small rear courtyard. They have two (or more) floors.
A house stands alone in a residential zoned area and shares no walls with other dwellings.
I also think that houses are usually torrens titled and townhouses strata titled.
Not sure on this one though.Maybe others can add to this?
Also, you don’t actually own the land on a townhouse. It’s split up between you all- but because there’s no seperate title, units don;t really have land value as such. Same rules apply though for views and stuff. Depending on how big your townhouse is, dandan, you get “units of entitlement. So they add up all the square metres of space, and then they divide that up. Generally, if you have a 50sq metre apartment, and someone else has 100 square metres, then that person might pay double what you pay- or at least a bit more.
As Celivia said, you don’t have your own separate title. Hencew, you pay body corporate fees. These will pay to fix up any common areas- be it roof, grounds, pipes etc. Some people don’t like paying this BC fee- I don’t mind, because it means problems get fixed, and everyone contributes. Beware buying into a place where you have to pay “special levies” though- you might have to pay 5-15k for repairs or for new gym equipment for the gym or whatever [glum] Get a Body Corporate minutes check done before you purchase to check for special levies or any building problems etc.
In addition to paying BC fees, you’ll also be subject to water rates, and council rates. In some areas, council rates on units are capped.
I won’t pay BC fees over 1200 per annum, but they can go up to 4500 per annum for the cost of maintaining a pool, gym etc etc that a lot of the new complexes have- too much for me
kay henry
The “town house” was a cheap city house, close to the central city station, for the country folks that came in the train to the city for buisness and needed to stay in town for some brief period of time. The true blue town houses are today relics and cost a mint, and look like s**t despite the hundred of thousnads thrown at them by the caffe-latte generation that inhabits them today in Newtown, Balmain and similar places.
By extension today any two storey house sitting on a narrow parcel of land with or without adjoining walls, (adjoining walls are a no no for most councils unless it is the garage wall) is called a town house.Yet if you have two townhouses separated by a garage it is a “duplex”(?)… There is no hard definition for them realy, and it varies from council to council anyway.
May God prosper you always.[biggrin]
MarcSo what’s generally a better buy. Unit or townhouse?
dandan,
a townhouse is a unit- just a tall one. A townhouse is over two floors, a unit is “lowset” or on one level. A townhouse has its own (small) front and back yard or courtyard perhaps, whereas a unit probably just has a common recreational space. Units can go up 20 floors or whatever. Really, you’d be looking at the needs of tenants if it’s an IP. Many people would want their own space and yard etc- others don’t. Families might want a townhouse, urban folk might be happy with a balcony- depends. Really, you’d be looking at size more than anything. Studio units can be tiny. Banks have an issue with them and want 30% deposit generally, same goes for 1-bedroom units under 50sq metres, or some city units.
Just depends on what you want and what you think is good value. If you have any more specific questions, it might be easier to answer.
kay henry
Hi,
I don’t agree with the other’s definition of a townhouse. I currently live in (and own) a place classed as a townhouse. It is only a single storey place with no adjoining walls. The only thing that is true to what has already been said is that it does have a small block of land and we do pay body corporate fees. I think it is basically classed as a townhouse as not all of the houses have street frontages.
Thanks,
LuckyoneThanks,
LuckyoneOK Luckyone, I didn’t know this was categorised as townhouses. I thought these kind of developments were cluster housing developments, since they are unattached and don’t form a row.
luckyone,
Probably depends on which state you live in. A townhouse in NSW is a two-story place. In nsw, a one-story place like yours would probably be termed a “villa”.
kay henry
“units don;t really have land value as such”
Land value is incorporated into the value of a townhouse/unit at time of purchase and sale.
“A townhouse is over two floors, a unit is “lowset” or on one level.”
A unit is not necessarily a single level dwelling. Townhouses are often designed as a duplex – where units generally define a multi-dwelling comprehensive [attached] design.
“Unit” is often used to define any dwelling associated with a multi-family development.
“It is only a single storey place with no adjoining walls.”
Developers can position this type of dwelling as a townhouse or villa if built alongside similar dwellings on a common site.
— Michael
Hi Guys,
not always, i like to share… really good information… but on this occasion, i just want to point out some main good points about townhouses.
In the last few years, and in the last few months, most of us, would have seen a booming market… prices went up, and buyers were popping up everywhere…
… due to this happening, in some but in many areas… the prices of houses are, well over the reach for many new home or first home buyers…
now thinking laterally, if you cant afford a house as your first home, you tend to purchase, a property that is, similar to a house… which infact, would be the townhouses… everything is there, like a normal house, except for some minor differences, that have been described in above posts.
… this is not a guideline or a suggestion, but if houses are unaffordable in an area, and townhouses are… watch the prices of townhouses increase and steadily incline, due to being the “markets affordable homes” – you will find that townhouses, arent as riduclously priced as single homes…
Cheers,
sis
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