Condominium
Definition of "Condominium"
So, you’re out and about your homebuying dream and then you stumble upon this question: what is a condominium? Like, you think you know what is a condo home, but it's so hard to explain...
It's ok; it happens to the best of us.
It's not easy defining what is a condominium; condos are one weird body. Keeping up with its weirdness, we could say that condominium is a form of home ownership in which the owner exclusively owns the airspace within the walls but doesn’t own the actual walls, ceilings or floors of the home and anything beyond those.
But enough with the weird. Let’s make this easy and fun. What is a condo home? Let’s put it in a way that anyone can understand. The best way to describe what is a condominium is by defining it as a place within a place. And, while the interest is different from one to the other, you have ownership over both.
Example: an apartment within a condominium building, or a single-family house within a gated community. You accrue ownership of both, but the smaller unit – the apartment or the house - is 100% yours, while the rest – the common areas like gym, pool, lobby, laundry room, elevators…- are collectively owned by all other residents within the condominium and managed by associations such as a Homeowners Association.
Because the ownership is influenced by the neighbors – as you and they share common areas and, sometimes, services – it will vary from condo home to condo home if you can rent your condo to someone else, or if it’s a “owner’s only” type of property.
So, as you can see, it's hard to define what is a condo home. In the end, a condominium is not so much a place, but a form of ownership.
Popular Real Estate Terms
Listing Agreement A.K.A. Listing is basically a contract allowing a real estate agent or broker to list a home for sale and act as the home seller agent representing his/her interests ...
All expenses related to maintaining and operating a household. These expenses include the cost of rent or mortgage payments, taxes, utilities, maintenance and structural improvements. The ...
Complete estimated itemization of all costs in constructing a structure including site acquisition and preparation, material, and labor costs. A quantity survey is necessary for a ...
A closed-end mortgage is a mortgage in which the collateralized property cannot be used as security for another loan. See also open-end mortgage for a better understanding of the ...
Money raised by a syndicate promoter and placed into a fund prior to selecting the specific property in which funds will be invested. ...
A contract between a lessor and a lessee to use property for a specified time period at an agreed to rental charge. Gross lease: A total amount of rental dollars from which the landlord ...
Legal obligation to pay taxes associated with owning property or earning income. For example, a real estate owner must pay property taxes. ...
Also called trust deed. A document that conveys title to a neutral third party during the period in which the mortgage loan is outstanding as collateral for a debt. ...
Latin for through the life of another. A life estate in property is granted to an individual so long as a third person is alive. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.