I seem to get this question a lot when I am showing homes to individuals looking to buy a condo or townhouse.
"What Is The Difference Between A Condo and Townhouse?
The answer to the question comes down to legal ownership. A more general, yet inaccurate way of describing the difference between the two is that in a condo, you may have a neighbor living above or below you, while a townhouse is a two story dwelling where you have neighbors to the side, but never above or below. While this notion holds true for many examples, there are the exceptions.
Like the example of a townhouse style condo…confusing? Let me simplify and explain!
A buyer of a condo owns the "airspace" in their unit plus a percentage ownership in the remainder of the development such as the common grounds and amenities. The owner does not technically own the specific plot of land below their home as they may be "sharing" the land beneath them as there may be a direct neighbor above or below them.
A buyer of a townhouse buys the subject home plus the land beneath the home. As a result, if you live in a townhome, you will not have any neighbors above or below you as you are the exclusive owner of the land. You may also notice that it is much more common for a townhome development to have attached garages, when compared to condo developments.
And what about the exception, a townhouse style condo. This is where the home is mapped as a condo, meaning that you do not exclusively own the land beneath the unit, however, there are no above or below neighbors. So from the "naked eye" the home appears to be a townhome, but if you look at the way the home is mapped, it is technically a condo.
So what is the advantage or disadvantage to buying a condo versus a townhome? From my experience…not much. There are certain banks which will charge a bit more if the purchase is a condo rather than a townhome while others banks don’t make a differentiation at all. The real advantages from my view have to do with the layout of the unit, regardless of if it is a townhome or condo.
Townhome Style Advantage: No above or below neighbors. You don’t have to worry about big foot making a bunch of noise upstairs and you don’t have to tippy toe around during evening hours if you are on the second floor…the whole place is yours to run around in.
Condo Style Advantage: You have all of your living space on one single floor. If you cannot go up and down stairs due to health issues, a bottom floor unit of a condo development is the solution to your problem. Additionally, heating and cooling your unit is much easier and affordable when everything is on one level.
As you can see, both condos and townhomes have their advantages and disadvantages, the real question to ask yourself is what is most important to you.
Chris Kamali is a TriValley Real Estate Agent , helping clients buy and sell homes in Dublin, Pleasanton, San Ramon and Livermore.
