Choosing a townhouse: what you need to pay attention to

According to real estate experts, choosing the right townhouse is a more difficult task than choosing an ordinary apartment in a new building. This type of real estate has a number of features. Our advice site has collected for you expert advice on choosing a townhouse, the main criteria for such a decision.

The portal told you what townhouses are. We also have a separate article devoted to the arrangement of small yards, which are usually adjacent to such houses united in one line with neighbors on the sides. However, this type of property still raises many questions from potential buyers, so expert advice will be useful to you..

1. Infrastructure around.Experts remind that in Russian realities townhouses are almost always out of town. Moreover, such settlements are usually small, we are not talking about complex development. Therefore, first of all, we strongly advise you to make sure that there is a school, kindergarten, supermarket nearby, from which city an ambulance will come to you, if necessary. You should also assess the way to work, whether there are traffic jams at the exit, how far is the train station, how often buses and minibuses run.

2. Layout.Note that, in accordance with Article 49 of the Civil Code of Russia, in relation to low-rise buildings (no more than three floors) with the number of blocks no more than 10, an examination is not carried out. That is, a developer who decides to save money may choose a very strange layout for his row of townhouses. Especially when it comes to economy class real estate. What are the most common problems in townhouses:

• Rooms that are too small or too long.
• Inconvenient location of the stairs.
• Lack of vestibule.
• L-shaped kitchen-living room, which turns out to be cramped and impractical.
• A stuffy attic, which is only suitable for spending the night, you can’t really equip storage places.

Experts advise buying townhouses with more than 10 apartments. They, according to the article of the Urban Planning Code that we have indicated, are already being examined. The risk of bumping into non-professional designers and developers will dramatically decrease.

3. Former unfinished.It so happens that the first developer went bankrupt and another company quickly took up the completion of the townhouse village. As a result, buyers who have been waiting for their apartments for several years receive real estate, built in haste. Often with curved walls, temporary staircases made of boards and communications not carried inside. You must understand that fixing all these shortcomings will require a lot of financial investment.!

Important! Experts advise you to think about whether it is worth buying a townhouse at all, which one company began to build and another one finishes. In this case, it will be difficult to find the culprits of real estate problems, and they will be, especially if the object stood for at least one winter without proper conservation.

4. Is it possible to buy a townhouse without finishing and communications?In general, yes, if you are ready to invest in repairs and do everything yourself. According to experts, pre-finished properties, the White Box, are popular today. But the “bare” walls also have their advantages, making it possible to control the entire process and make repairs for yourself. As for communications, it is important that the developer already has technical specifications for their implementation, contracts with gas workers, a water supply company, an energy supply.

5. Area.Townhouses from 70 to 150 square meters are popular. This is usually a relatively small home for a family with a maximum of two children. It is important to remember that the living area of ​​a townhouse will always be noticeably less than the total! Useful square meters will be “eaten” by the vestibule, but it is needed, a staircase to the second floor and an attic, and, possibly, a boiler room. Specify, by the way, how the house is heated, what type of boiler is used, because the gas wall can be placed directly in the kitchen, which will save space.

6. What is the townhouse built of.Such combined economy-class houses today are often built from aerated concrete. According to experts, this is a good option. But it is better not to buy frame townhouses! Frameworks are an individual building technology. More expensive houses are built from ceramic bricks.

Important! You need to find out what the partitions are made of between the individual apartments in the townhouse complex. The best option would be a blank wall made of cellular or monolithic concrete, moreover, double. So you will definitely not hear the neighbors behind the wall. In addition, there is such a thing as a firewall – a fire wall, going from the basement to the attic. It is designed to prevent the spread of fire from one section to another..

7. Presence of a basement floor, foundation height.If the entrance to the townhouse is located directly on the ground, there are no steps at the porch, it will be convenient only for those who find it difficult to climb into the house. However, the low basement means that passers-by will peep into the windows of the first floor, most likely there is no basement. But additional space would not hurt you, for example, for a boiler room or as a warehouse.

8. Neighbors.Yes, this is very important for low-rise buildings. You will be adjacent not only with side walls, but also with sections. Try to find out who has already settled in the village, if your children will have friends in the neighborhood.

Important! Always check the legal purity of the object, its documentation. Find the townhouse you like in the public cadastral map of Rosreestr, where you can evaluate the building parameters.