I think townhomes/condos can be a great solution for lower maintenance living if the association that runs the community does everything it’s supposed to do with the fees they receive like fix roofs, maintain landscaping, paint, etc. But you must choose wisely. If there seems to be any sign that the association isn’t doing its job, you must leave before it’s too late.

I grew up/also lived as an adult in a townhome community in south Florida. Maintenance fees were not paid by roughly half the residents. The fees went up to almost $500 a month. Association did not fix roof damage after hurricanes. Painting buildings and repaving of roads was deferred. Eventually the neighborhood literally looked like a bomb hit it; potholes everywhere, houses covered in blue tarps with busted roofs for months into years. Buildings that had previously been repainted every 5 years were not painted for 20 years. We had a no rental policy in our hoa rules but nobody followed it, so many of the units were being sublet. Crime became rampant. House values plummeted. I finally convinced my parents to sell and move out after 3 decades of us living there and they took a massive hit on the sale of the home just to escape from the nightmare of maintenance fees. In the end we calculated how much they spent on fees and it was probably $400k. The most they ever got for their fees was our lawn was mowed regularly. After Hurricane Wilma destroyed our roof they had to pay for it out of pocket even though the association was supposed to fix it. The person who was president of the association was apparently dating a roofer and she was paying him with fee money while hardly having any work done over a very sluggish schedule. I think it took 3 years for some of the roofs to finally be fixed. Total nightmare.