What's the difference between an Apartment, a Condo, and a Townhouse?
Question:I live in a "Condo" and they are building "Townhouses" right across the street so, now I'm interested in what the difference is!! Thanks!!
Answers:
An apartment is rented from a company that owns the property. Apartment buildings are usually multistory with people over, under and beside each other with common hallways or walk ways.
A condo is owned and the owners share in the ownership of the common areas such as grounds and hallways. Condominiums may be apartment style buildings or town house type buildings, but condo do not usually own the land.
A Townhouse is a kind of structure that could be owned as a condominium (but usually isn't) where the individual properties are flush against each other with tiny front and back "yards" if at all and shared walls between them. Almost always they are multistory single family. In one sense it is side-by-side duplexes carried on down the block. Usually townhouse owners own the property under their townhouse.
Zero lot line homes are each free standing and have only a very narrow passage along the side (3 feet) and do not share common walls. Typically they do not have much yard, but have some.
an apartment is usually a few rooms of a larger building which has all the requirements to live in as a seperate residence. a condo is just the same but the apartments are owned seperately by either the resident or another person who may also rent it to someone. unlike an apartment, there are additional amenities, doorman, cocierge services, etc that are not provided for apartment dwellers. townhouses are homes but which do not usually have all the same amenities as a seperate house has, such as garage, yards etc. it will also normally have two stories with bedrooms upstairs and living, dining, and kitchens on the first floor.
a condo is a form of ownership that can be an apartment OR a townhouse. owning a condo means you own the unit you live in plus a portion of the common area the other condo owners share with you (like common hallways, foyers, yards, etc) you pay for your unit (plus a share of the common areas thru your condo fees.)
a definition of a townhouse is generally, a rectangular (narrow and long) house in town that is generally on two or more floors. you can own this townhouse in a condo form, or fee-simple (meaning you own it and the land yourself - no condo association fees, etc)
a fee-simple townhouse is the least restrictive because there is no association and you manage everthing yourself. the condo, on the other hand, has a vested interest in who lives in your unit and will try to control things to their best interests at all times..
Apartment - rented housing in a building with other apartments; generally one level per unit (can be multiple) and multiple levels per building.
Condo - apartment that is owned rather than rented
Townhouse - can be owned or leased. Units are side-by-side; can be multiple levels, but no neighboring units above or below.
Main difference between condo and townhouse is that condos have neighboring units above and/or below, townhouses do not. Both townhouses and condos have neighboring units on one or both sides.
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