I think it has a lot to do with definition and design. My last rental was a townhome and it was cleverly designed. For the most part the shared walls were the garage walls, the actually living areas were behind and not shared, in the backyard you has side yards on both sides and most the windows went to the rear which didn’t have another unit there, the complex was long and skinny as opposed to a square so most of the units had a view. I was told that the minimal wall share on the second floor above the garage was actually two seperate walls stucco’d over to look like a single wall because I never heard that neighbor and thought that the unit was empty or they were dead. When I finally met them, they said they never heard me, not even a thump or anything.
For the landlords, it had it’s conveneiences in that the association cleaned all the common areas, gardners there every weekday so all landscaping was handled and sprinklers repaired, maintenance handled on the exterior, painting, pest control, pool guy, etc. From a landlord standpoint, there were less hassles and the rents were comparable to single family and rarely vacant. It also was a strict Hoa and had limited parking beyond the garage and driveway so it had a way of self screening tennants that intended on expressing their individuality, moving a bunch of big dogs (it had a weight limit on dogs) or lots of roommates. While I was there I never saw anyone unruly or monster truck rally headquarters, so to buy one as a rental compared to an sfr it had it’s disadvantages and advantages but I’d do it because it’s rent multiplier was lower than sfr’s in the area. Cheaper or smaller places often pencil out better as rentals, things can vary so you have to do the math in each scenario.
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