Better Than Blueprints:  The “Jumping-Up-and-Down” Test

One of the issues that can come up for downsizers moving from a single-family home to multi-family housing (condo or townhome) is privacy — specifically, noise.

jumpI don’t know about townhomes (see below), but I do know a surefire, albeit not-so-scientific way to test how quiet a given condo is:  go up a floor, stand in the hallway directly above my client . . . and jump up and down.

Really (note:  it helps if you’re 6’2″, 215 lb.).

If the floor feels like a trampoline and every sound and vibration goes directly through . . . the client may want to keep looking for another condo.

Building Spec’s

By contrast, townhomes typically only have shared walls — not walls, floors, and ceilings; ergo, the concern is who’s on either side of you.

But how do you determine that?

Somehow, I don’t see the neighbors being receptive to a knock on the door (“Um, I’m here showing the next-door townhome, and wanted to know if I could yell through your Master Bedroom wall to my client on the other side . . . ??”).

Instead, Plan B is to obtain construction specifications from the builder, then have them reviewed by a qualified professional like a home inspector.

That’s also preferable to asking the Seller, who invariably will claim they never hear a peep (certainly possible.  Or . . . they just may be used to the noise; or, they don’t have very good hearing).

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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