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.

Do you feel like the Trivalley housing market is continually going down with homes not selling and prices dropping?  Do you feel like you see the same old homes on the market forever on your Internet home searches?  Do you feel confused that when you look at the stats that the market is actually doing well and home are selling compared to your reality?  Do you know why you are confused and your perception is off? I do.I couldn’t figure out why many of the Trivalley buyers that I am working with kept telling me that they are seeing home prices drop on the listings that I email them, while I myself am experience a much different market.  My open houses today are much busier, the phone is ring again, and I am having to deal with multiple offers again.  Why does my research show many Trivalley homes pending and selling everyday, while my buyers see prices drop on homes in their search? 

And then it hit me…I guess it depends where we are looking.  Let me explain. 

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Gone are the days when your home would sell over the weekend. Gone are the days when everyone would be looking for investment property in Las Vegas, Arizona and Idaho because that was the next best thing. Gone are the days when you had to pull your hair out as a buyer because no matter how much you paid or were willing to put up with for that Pleasanton home, your offer was just not the best one. Fast forward two years. Here are the days that nothing seems like a value…except bank owned homes, right?If you are a buyer in the Trivalley, and have spoken to me in the past 12 months, at one point you have said to me, “I would like to look at foreclosures.” (You know who you are!) The reality is that you do not want foreclosures–where you go to the court steps and buy the home in cash without getting to perform inspection or even see the interior at times. What you want is a home which has already gone through the foreclosure process, didn’t sell, and is now banked owned. Bank owned homes, more commonly known as REOs (Real Estate Owned) are now the buzz word for buyers as they are believed to be the real value out in the market.

This shift of the buyer’s attention from the entire market to just REO listings has created an interesting phenomenon in my view. As buyers zoom in only on REO listings, it has created an artificial higher demand thus defeating the primary reason why people are looking into buying REO homes. Not enough people take advantage of supply and demand. I want what you want, and you want what he wants. We as consumers don’t take advantage of going against the grain and seizing the opportunity. We all want REOs, and I am warning you to look outside of the box, as there are some great deals out there from the traditional seller.

Don’t believe what I have to say? Continue Reading

Until recently, it was very difficult for Trivalley home buyers with little cash to get into the housing market due to the strict loan guidelines. I remember about 18 months ago, when home buyers COULD easily attain a 95%-100% loan program to buy a house if they wanted to, but were deciding to wait on the sidelines due to the market conditions. Well, that all changed when the banks had to tighten up the loan guidelines. At that point, the sides were switched with buyers who were ready to move forward, but COULD NOT qualify for a loan based on the new programs and requirements.The combination of qualified buyers who wanted to wait, along with willing buyers who couldn’t qualify had been a leading factor to our current housing inventory in the Trivalley…no one was buying! So what’s changed since? Continue Reading