What's the difference between a house and a condominium?

Answer 1

It is the construction type and the actual property you own. A house doesn't share walls with other constructions and usually you buy the land on which it stands as well as the construction.Thus you don't have to pay homeowner dues and you can do whatever you like with your land and construction. A townhome resembles a house, but it really shares walls with other constructions (there are no constructions below or above itself like a condo or apartment would have) and you don't own the land where it stands but rather all the owners of the townhomes in your community own a part of the land. Thus you incurr in home owner dues that help mantain the commnity grounds and you have to sk for permition to modify or alter your construction.

A condo also shares walls with other constructions and usually there are more condos above and below it. You and the other condo owners each own their construction but only a part of the land where all the condos stand. Each owner incurrs in homeowner dues in order to mantain the comon areas and you must ask for permission to the Home Owner's Association if you wanted to modify any exterior parts of the building even if it would only affect your condo.

A condo and an apartment are pretty much the same in terms of construction type and ownership, except that condos tend to be more prestigous and also don't tend to be that numerous (i.e. usually you would only have one or two condos above yours unlike apartments where you can have 10 or more apartments above yours and 10 more in front of you.)

In order for a construction to be called a condo rather than an apartment, most of the people who inhabit the constructions must own their places. Thus if you have 20 constructions sharing walls and the land and 18 of them have their own owners living in them, then each individual property would be called a condo. If you live in constructions that share walls where most of the people that live there are renters, then those are called apartments.

Hope that helped!

Answer 2

A Condominium refers,
The absolute ownership of an apartment or a commercial unit, generally in a multi unit building, by a legal description of the airspace(the right to use the open space above the physical surface of the land) that the unit actually occupies, plus an undivided interest in the ownership of the common elements, which are owned by jointly with the other condominium unit owners.

Where as a House,
may be an independent or joined residential unit used for the purpose of living with or with out legal ownership. But in several case there is no need for any registration or legal ownership on the property or house where they are living.

Example. 1. a rental house, 2. a leased house etc...

Answer 3

A house is on it's own property and you are buying it and can do what you wish to it with out any restrictions. In most condos they are connected, although some are not. There is normally a committee who oversees the maintenance and other dues every month from each owner of a condo. The dues can go towards many things just depending on what is on site such as a pool, cable, water, etc. When you are buying a condo the insurance works differently than when you are buying a home and have home owner's insurance. Everything inside the walls is covered by your insurance company if the damage is caused by you or you were to cause damage to another condo say underneath you such as having a leaking pipe but everything outside the walls the owners of the property have insurance and they are responsible for any damage not only outside those for walls but also damage due to anything caused directly linked to the building except from nature, of course. An example would be if the roof was leaking. They would be responsible for paying for damages and repairs. Not you. The most important thing to consider when buying a condo versus a house is that most condos are eventually rented out. If at least thirty three percent of the condos are rented out when and if you decide to sell it or try for a loan you would not be able to get it because the banks do not consider there to be enough equity put into the property as in a house. You can normally ask what the average percentage has been over the past five to ten years to get an idea for your future planning though. Lastly, laws pertaining to condos are MUCH different from laws when you own a house and what rights you have as far as an owner and the amount of insurance you are aloud to take out is usually MUCH lower even if the value is equal to a house. A condo is great for many and I lived in one for many years. There are pros and cons to everything of course it just depends on what your future plans are in the long run and what fits you best.

Answer 4

Well a house is usually a single family unit. You own the entire thing, yard and all.

A condominium is a portion of a larger building, wherein you buy one portion of the building, you have shared walls/floors/ceilings and lawn areas. Usually a home owners association is formed to provide for the lawn care/snow removal and perhaps roof and exterior maintenance. Certain rules that the association agrees to abide by come into play.
Where as when you own your own house you don't have to worry about whether or not the people upstairs/downstairs/next door can hear you. Unless you play your music so loud that the neighbors complain. ;-)

Answer 5

I am no expert but i think this is how it goes: A condo is just like a house only smaller. You get to buy it ( not sure if you can lease it or rent), and it becomes yours, and then you can sell it. At least i think thats how it goes.........

Answer 6

A condo is an apartment that you buy.Nothing more.