4 Major Differences Between Condo And Apartment

Difference Between Condo And Apartment: The basic needs of man are food, water, and shelter. Everyone deserves a place to rest, a roof over his/her head, a place to call home. 

The major distinction between a condo and an apartment are evident in the structure/living space, community amenities, ownership, liability, and maintenance.

Condo and apartments are both used for residential purposes and these names are used interchangeably depending on what culture and people. Apartments and condominiums (called condos in short) are dwelling units meant for this function.

What Is A Condo?

A condominium is a large property complex where individual housing units are owned by individuals whereas common property such as stairs, elevators, gardens, swimming pools, halls, etc are shared by all owners and owned by an association of owners.

In general, though, the word condominium is used for the dwelling unit that is otherwise called an apartment in many parts of the world. Condos are owned and not rented as is the case with apartments. The word condo is typically used mostly in the US and Canada.

In the case of a condominium, there is a board comprising of owners of independent units that is responsible for looking after the common features used by all owners. This board also looks after the problems such as maintaining the gardens and lawns and removing snow during winters.

What Is An Apartment?

An apartment is simply a room or a group of related rooms, among similar sets in one building, designed for use as a dwelling. It is a housing unit contained in a housing complex made up of many more such units.

Each unit is self-contained and used for residential purposes by people living in these apartments. There could be owners as well as tenants living in these dwelling units. While the individual units are owned by the owners, there are certain common features used by all the residents such as stairs, balconies, halls, elevators, etc.

How does an apartment compare with a condo?

Apartments and condos have many similarities, with often the same type of amenities such as manicured green spaces and shared walls. Condos are units within buildings that are owned by individuals instead of being leased.

Owners of condos must pay for the maintenance of the unit through annual assessment fees, both inside and out, and also pay property taxes. A condo owner often has the option of renting out the unit to a tenant and earns equity by making monthly mortgage payments.

An apartment renter isn’t generally responsible for much of the major maintenance of their units, such as replacing blinds or carpeting. The property manager of the apartment building typically is responsible for scheduling maintenance and repairs to units during the lease period and when a renter moves out.

Difference Between Condo And Apartment

1. To a casual onlooker, there is no or very little difference between an apartment and a condo.

2. However, apartments are in general smaller than condos and also provide fewer features. For example, the provision of a tennis court is very uncommon in apartments while it is common in condominiums.

3. While condos are mostly owned, apartments can be owned as well as rent.

4. The developer of the property sells individual units called condos while the owner rents out apartments to individual dwellers.

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CSN Team.