What is the difference between an apartment and a Condo?

Question

We were looking into different places and some apartment complex's have condo's too.

Answer 1

A condominium, or condo for short, is a form of housing tenure. It is the legal term used in the United States and in most provinces of Canada for a type of joint ownership of real property in which portions of the property are commonly owned and other portions are individually owned. In Australia and the Canadian province of British Columbia, the legal term for this is known as strata title. In Québec, it is known as syndicates of co-ownership. Colloquially, the term "condo" is often used to refer to the apartment unit itself in place of the term "apartment". This clearly signifies ownership of the property.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condominium

An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartment

Answer 2

It used to be that Condos were better built, but now days apartments are turned into condos so there the same except the person who lives in a condo owns the unit where the person who lives in an apartment rents the unit. Of course if someone owns a condo they can rent it, so to the person who rents it there is no difference.

Answer 3

You rent an apartment,but own a condo. I live in an apartment style condo that I bought when condos were dirt cheap. Now people rent out their units for about 3 times what my mortgage is. It is a good investment, whereas with a rental you end up with nothing at the end.

Answer 4

I thought that an apartment was one on top of the other as in apartment building being made up of several levels, but a condo was side by side connected to other condos and each condo had an upstairs and a downstairs and its own entrance.

Answer 5

An apartment you pay rent and the rent goes to the landlord for the property, lanscaping, etc. If you pay rent for whatever time it may be, you have nothing to show after all those year(s) that you pay.

Whereas a condo, you have a monthly payment, which is called a mortgage payment. You pay this every month along with a condo fee. This condo fee goes to lanscaping, using the clubhouse, etc. You dont have to cut the grass, but you can put out flowers, whatever (within reason). After paying your mortgage for so long, you have 'something to show for', which is opposite of what you do when you rent. (You may actually get money back at the end of the year!)

Answer 6

It is a classification put on a structure for tax purposes. Usually the qualifying marker is an apartment is inside a structure, meaning you have to go into to building, up an elevator or stairs, and down a hall to get to the front door of an apartment. With a condo, the front door usually has outside access, even if it is a couple stories up. These are general rules, and can vary somewhat.

You can rent either one or own either one, it all depends on what the owner wants to do....sell or rent.

Answer 7

An apartment you lease as rental and a condo you actual purchase like a house. Usually condo complexes will resemble apartment complexes as well.

Answer 8

You own a condo. If the person that owned your apartment complex wanted to make them condos he could sell you your unit for slightly less than what comparable houses in your area were going for.

Answer 9

A condo is a kind of an apartment that is owned. There are several types of apartments, such as rentals, leases, condominium, and cooperative. In the first two, you do not own. In a condo, you own the actual unit and pay common charges to maintain the building. In a cooperative, you own shares in the building and a long term lease on your unit, and also pay common charges.

Answer 10

you own a condo, but rent an apartment. So when you move from a condo you have to sell it like a house.

Answer 11

You lease, or rent an apartment. And when you finally move out, you get none of your rent back.

You buy a condo, and your rent becomes a mortgage payment, and you end up owning property and the home. You sell the condo when you move out and make a few bucks (unless the property depreciated in value).