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
Real estate sales contract where possession and use is provided to the buyer, but the deed is kept by the seller until the full purchase price is met whereupon the title is placed in the ...
Reducing real estate investment risk by acquiring diversified holdings. ...
Generally, the definition of a deposition means a pre-trial and out-of-court testimony that is given under oath. A deposition is integral to the discovery process to establish a ...
When someone owns a house that is an abutting property, it means that the property is sharing a boundary with the property next to it. The two abutting properties are adjoining properties ...
Type of material or substance typically made for railings around the outdoor front patio and for both sides of the stairs in the front and rear of house. Other examples are chairs and ...
Vendee refers to a person to whom something is sold. The meaning of vendee is a buyer of goods and services. A more common term for vendee is a purchaser. While a vendor is a seller, the ...
Roof constructed on a storage tank designed to expand and contract directly with the level of stored materials (usually liquid). Its design prevents the loss through vaporization of the ...
People often bump into the question: "What is the statute of limitations?" So, let's shed light on the statute of limitation definition in simple words! A statute of limitations is like a ...
Local regulation on how real property may be used in a particular locality. The county may establish different zoning classifications and restrictions. If the ordinance is violated, ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.