Single-Family New York City Townhomes
“Single-family townhomes also often offer other benefits: residents can have a garden; they can own a dog without asking anyone’s permission. Many of these houses are in picturesque neighborhoods with an embracing sense of community.”
–“Townhouse Turnaround“; The New York Times (11/8/2013)
This week’s New York Times real estate section has an article noting the trend to convert single family townhomes in Manhattan back to their original function: housing single families.
Since their construction in the 19th century, many of these townhomes have been subdivided into apartments or even single room dwellings (something similar happened to the 
housing stock in Minneapolis’ Kenwood neighborhood in the ’70’s and ’80’s).
Now that the economy’s upper echelons have recovered (and then some, at least in Manhattan), suddenly there’s demand for $5 million to $10 million townhomes.
In fact, more, if they need rehab or updating.
Make That “Or” — Not “And”
What caught my eye — besides those jaw-dropping prices, that is — was the buyers’ motivation: to have a garden and/or a dog, in a nice neighborhood, without having to answer to a condo association.
Gee, I wonder if it’s possible to have a garden and/or a dog in a nice neighborhood for less than that? 🙂
Like, maybe $9.8 million less.
Here in the Twin Cities, the average $200k single-family home comes with (or allows) just those things, give or take a couple thousand square feet.
What a deal, huh?
P.S.: As the owner of a golden retriever — as well as a home with a yard in a nice Minneapolis neighborhood — I can tell you from experience that it’s a dog OR a garden . . . but not both.
