He should find out what the owner occupancy rate is. (Obviously you want more owners than tenants living there)

End units are always more desireable than middle units.(for resale) Find out if it is truly a townhouse or a townhouse styled condo. (A true townhouse and you could be cutting your own grass and shoveling your own driveway, if you're in a snow area).

Find out what the HOA fees are and how decent the company is that services the complex. (ask some of the people that own there how the maintenance company is, (do they fix things in a timely manner etc).

Also, I would call the HOA company and find out if there are any special assessments going on right now or any plans for any in the near future.. (Ex. Complex is re roofing the entire community and they have raised everyones HOA fees another $150 per month for five years). I would also find out what is the owners responsibility, what is the maintenance companies. (Each place is different. Some places the roof and windows are the owners responsibility, some places its from the sheetrock in)

I would also find out what is included in the HOA fees. (Some places include heat/hot water, some its just road and grass maintenance.) He needs to know all the fees upfront so he knows what is within his budget.

As far as resale. It might be an area thing but in my area, there is no negative for resales on townhouses or condos. Its personal preference.

All good points above. Fee simple is better than a condo townhouse because fees are lower and they are easier to resell in many areas (including mine). End units are preferable. Garage townhouses are nice, but if they garage is under the house, it's likely the downstairs family room/rec room is very small.

What part of the country is he looking in?
Resale would be my biggest concern, as was mentioned, they are desirable in some areas; while others can't sell them and have been on the market over a year. This is in NJ, PA & Georgia from what I've read.

I live in a townhouse in SW, PA (suburb of Pgh). I have 3bd 2.5bath end unit with about 2,000 SF and a 1 car garage. We have a high owner occpancy rate and there is a limit on how many units can be used as rentals. We have a HOA but the property is managed by an outside property management firm.

Our monthly fee is $125 and that covers, landscaping which includes grass cutting, shrub and tree triming, mulching, leaf collection and lawn treatment, roof and gutter repair and replacement, outside painting, stucco repair and replacement, window washing twice per year.

We have rules as to what can be done to the outside of the units and if you want to make any changes it must be approved by the HOA.

You son should try to get a copy of the rules for the association and the by-laws. Living in a townhouse is not for everyone because of the close proximity to neighbors and the rules. We love where we live (been here 10 years) but we want more privacy and a better lay-out. It is not easy to reconfigure a townhouse, so we will move next year.

I would highly advise him to get an end unit. The end units in our complex are never empty long (none have been available for more than 2 years now). Also, in my community the end units are often times sold to people who are living in the interior units.

Townhouses do not appreciate as well as single family houses in most markets.

The biggest complaint I hear is poor sound isolation from the common walls.

Older units often had block walls (sometime even sand filled) to decrease the sound transmission.
Newer places often have gypsum fire walls between units and lower sound isolation.

Try to visit during the evening when the adjacent unit(s) have someone home.