The terms “townhome” and “condominium” are often used interchangeably, but in fact they describe two totally different types of housing and home ownership.
Many people perceive a townhome to be a two-story property which is often aligned in a row with shared walls. In contrast, a condominium is often perceived to be a high-rise structure or at least multi-level structure similar to an apartment building where the units are owned, verses being rented or leased. While both of these descriptions may be accurate with respect to particular properties, they do not disclose the core difference between the two types of ownership.
To put it in the simplest terms, a townhome represents a structure in which the owner of the property also owns the land upon which the home is built. A townhome can range from one story to multi stories. It may share a wall with another property on one side or both sides. The owner is ultimately responsible for the maintenance of the exterior of the property along with the interior components. The lawn care can be maintained by the owner or there may be homeowners association requirements that a common service be used to maintain the exteriors and dues be accessed to pay for this service.
Technically, a condominium is a collection of individual home units and common areas along with the land upon which they sit. The boundaries of the space a homeowner owns are specified by a legal document known as a Declaration. Typically these boundaries will include the drywall surrounding a room, allowing the homeowner to make some interior modifications without impacting the common area. Anything outside this boundary is held in an undivided ownership interest by a corporation established at the time of the condominium’s creation. The corporation holds this property in trust on behalf of the homeowners as a group < it may not have ownership itself. The interior maintenance of the home is the owner's responsibility. The exterior and common area maintenance is the responsibility of the homeowners association on behalf of the owners.
The condominium communities in our area range from one story tall with private attached garages and no shared walls, to 16 stories tall with common garages and elevators. At the same time, there are townhome communities which range from one to four stories with a variety of parking arrangements.