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
A clearly stated notice that an owner or operator will not assume responsibility for an inherent risk. For example, at a parking garage, a large notice of nonresponsability clearly states ...
Reward for investing. The real estate investor must compare the anticipated return for an investment with the associated risk. The return includes: Appreciation (or depreciation) in ...
Right to an item belongs to the public at large so anyone can use it. An example is a real estate software program that is publicly available by an electronic bulletin board service. ...
Rights, interest, and benefits inherent in the ownership of real estate, as distinguished from personal property ...
Apartment building in which each resident owns a percentage share of the corporation that owns the building. ...
A narrow passageway between buildings providing secondary rear access. ...
Stiff pipe used to cover electrical wiring for safety purposes. ...
Fan with an opening to the outside air that lets stale or hot air exit the structure; usually used in a kitchen when cooking or in a bathroom that does not have a window. It is used for ...
If buyers are considering a home with an assumable mortgage at a fair interest rate or if the sellers have already paid their mortgage, remember to consider seller financing. With seller ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.