A recent trend in Seattle and other parts of the country is the advent of Townhouses. Builders are able to get more units installed on a property that might have originally only had one home. The four unit Townhouse set-up is very common. The City of Seattle has recently come under considerable pressure to review its policies regarding Townhouses due to some people's belief that the structures are a form of urban blight. The Seattle PI did an article recently about the problem.
As an inspector I would say that some are and some aren't. As a way to achieve density while maintaining a sense of privacy and a sense of actually owning something, it seems like a stage somewhere between the single detached structure and the condo.
On a recent inspection of a new Townhouse, I noted that the access to the back units was less than desirable. To achieve greater coverage, often times, the driveway to the back units goes under the second floor of the front units. These driveways are often very narrow with low clearances. The front units are often damaged or subject to damage from automobiles.
There is absolutely no way to get large vehicles, like moving vans into the back units, and all large belongings and appliances would have to be moved by hand to the back units (anything that is, that would not fit in a small pick-up truck lying down). This picture was taken from under the front unit while walking up the driveway to the back units.
The headroom clearance at the end of the beam is 81-3/4" (Translated for those of you in the trades-----6 feet, 9-3/4 inches). The ladder on my Jeep Cherokee cleared by 8 inches.
While these conditions most likely meet jurisdictional requirements, they may represent restrictions to desired use by the buyer.
My buddy Steve's rig with the pop-up camper 
would definitely not fit under this beam.
Charles Buell
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PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
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