How is the noise between units? Can you generally hear your neighbors?
Many people on this board seem quite concerned about noise from neighbors. Choose a good building in a good area, and in my experience noise is a non-factor. I've lived in 4 SFHs during my life, 2 before I left high school, and two when I was married. My parents homes were in older, settled neighborhoods, and were quiet. Ditto with one SFH that I rented, it was quiet and in a quiet neighborhood. But today, after the real estate fall, this ~90 year old house just sold for $850,000. So these type places are not cheap. My only owned house was out in the country- and barking dogs, chainsaws, loud music played by teenagers were fairly common.
In many rented apartments in 6 different cities, east and west coasts, I only had one where noise was a factor. I needed to be close in, and needed an inexpensive rental. So I wound up with a place with thin walls and an apartment next door with 4 students-much noise. So I broke the lease, which wound up costing me very little.
However, in 2 years in my present home and first condo I've had one lady with a little barker, who started taking the pooch with her to work when I asked about it, and then moved. Also the guy over me dropped something once. That's it-and most of the people here are young.
I have never heard a conversation from anyone in the building other than someone who is not yet in his or her unit, though late at night I can sometimes hear people walking past on the street coming from clubs. I have never heard a telephone or an alarm clock ringing or a toilet flushing. I can sometimes hear water running in the pipes that go past my unit.
Perhaps someone who is very sensitive to any sounds, or a psychological feeling that he is not all alone, that there is someone above him and below him, might be troubled. Many times you can find units with no apartments adjacent. With town homes here, it appears to me that the major noise is the sound of the neighbors driving out of their level one garages in the am. I would think that this is likely somewhat worse than the typical west coast suburb with small lots and SFHs.
As to town home party walls, you can look at the plans. Before I decided that I wanted condo I visited some town home sales. My price range was not available in the area where I wanted to live, so I eventually quit looking, But before that, I looked at some plans, and I even had one guy let me stay in one unit while he and my friend turned a tv way up next door. No sound at all came through the wall. In the more expensive developments a lot of thought and money is put into low sound transmission between units.
Ha
