You may be familiar with the type of dwelling known as a condo or “condo,” but do you know what the term really means? It is a particular piece of real estate that is owned by an individual and is usually a converted apartment. These typically include common areas such as hallways or patios and outdoor amenities. In this article we will look at the different types of condos.

One particular type is called a freehold condominium. That means that the land on which the condo complex is built is owned by the developer. Because of this, potential buyers of the units can transfer the deeds to them directly. The buildings for these types of condominiums can be row condos or low-rise condos or even high-rise condos. The different subcategories of freehold condos are: tiered condos, standard condos, commons condos, and vacant land condos.

A standard condominium is made up of buildings subdivided into individual units and also includes common features such as amenities and outdoor areas. With this type of condominium, the owners must contribute with the costs of repair and maintenance of these common characteristics.

A condo in phases is more or less a standard condo, but instead develops in phases. This allows buyers to purchase individual units from the developer before the project is actually finished; even if the project takes years longer to complete. Individual units MUST have everything they need to be complete self-sufficient in order to be sold.

The next subtitle we will discuss is the commons condominium. In this variety there are no units; only common features that are connected to existing parcels of land. The owners of this type of condominium are responsible for maintaining the common characteristics of the complex. An example of this can be: when a group of owners wants to create a park; or perhaps a small beach if you are near the water, exclusively for your community. Then, this same group of owners must contribute to the maintenance costs of this service.

The last subcategory of condos is a vacant lot condominium. This is a bare and undeveloped parcel of land at the time of registration. Parts of this land can be sold as units and can therefore be built by the new owner. With this type, the combination of the house AND the lot is considered the condo unit.

The other main category of condos is called “rental” condos. This was established in order to give more options on land use to institutions such as hospitals or universities. With this, the owner of the land leases the parcel of land corresponding to the declarant and establishes the condominium. In this case, the duration of the lease CANNOT be less than 40 years OR greater than 99. In addition; the buyers do NOT own this land, instead they only have a LEASE. For this and a few other reasons, this type of condo is very rare.