A house is a house, right? Once you move in it becomes a home. There are numerous types of housing units that bear consideration. The housing unit that most people refer to as a house is actually a single-family home. A single-family home is the gold standard for most people. However, city dwellers and retirees might have a different standard. What about a duplex or triplex? How about a townhouse? Maybe a condo? Each type of housing unit presents its own unique benefits and drawbacks. Deciding which type is for you was including in our fourth lesson in this course – Set Your Goal.
Single-Family Home – Most city dwellers have no idea what a single-family home is. If you’re looking for a housing unit in a major city, you can skip this entire lesson. For suburban and rural living, a single-family home is the gold standard. If you search the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listings online, be sure to find and check the box for single-family homes only. Otherwise you’ll end up with 1000s of listings for housing units and vacant property that you probably don’t have the time to scroll through.
Multi-Family Home – A multi-family home could be a duplex or an apartment building. The biggest benefit would be having the additional income to apply toward the mortgage payment. On the downside you’ll have to deal with deadbeat tenants unless you hire a professional property management service. You’ll also have virtually no privacy compared to a single-family home. The last thing you need is to be woken up at 3:00 in the morning by someone pounding on your door when the person he or she is looking for lives upstairs or in the unit next door. For financial reasons, multi-family homes are a decent investment. If privacy is your concern, skip this type of housing unit.
Duplex or Triplex – All of the caveats of the multi-family home apply to a duplex or triplex because technically they are multi-family homes. Duplexes and triplexes are often side-by-side but not always. They are sometimes two or three-story homes with each floor being a separate unit. If you’re considering this type of housing unit, carefully read our section above on multi-family homes.
Townhouse – Townhouses are single-family homes that are attached to each other on one or more sides. In recent years realtors and real estate developers have pushed the term townhouse to avoid the stigma often associated with duplexes and triplexes. If you’re considering a townhouse, heed our advice. Do not purchase one unless there’s a firewall between the townhouses. Firewalls are thick concrete or brick barriers that help prevent fires from spreading to other adjoining townhouses.
Condo – Condos are the gold standard for most retirees. In most cases you’re responsible for nothing other than paying the monthly or annual condo fee and your monthly mortgage. The condo association will take care of the landscaping, building maintenance, and just about everything else. Condos used to be cheap. Even 20 years ago beach condos were available for under $50,000. Today the same condos are upwards of $500,000. If you’re interested in purchasing a condo, talk with one of the condo owners in the complex. If the management sucks or the landscapers are rude, the current condo owners will be the first to tell you. You certainly won’t find that valuable information in one of the condo marketing company’s brochures!
Manufactured Housing – Not all manufactured houses are trailers. A manufactured house is one that’s built elsewhere and delivered to your lot. In many areas of the country, trailers or mobile homes are either banned or restricted to trailer parks. In the south, trailers are everywhere. We won’t go into mobile homes other than to say that financing one will be a lot easier than obtaining a mortgage for a traditional single-family home.
Manufactured homes other than mobile homes are often built to your specifications. You can choose the kitchen cabinets, flooring, siding, and even the floor plan. The house is then built in sections and delivered to your lot. Once on your property, the sections will be assembled into the final home. Financing for manufactured homes is sometimes offered by the manufacturer and is often easier to obtain than financing for a traditional house.