You may be familiar with the type of housing 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 normally include common areas such as corridors or outdoor patios and services. In this article we will look at the different types of condominiums.

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

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

A staged condo is more or less a standard condo, but instead is developed 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 self-sufficient and complete in order to be sold.

The next subtitle that we will talk about is that of the common elements of the condominium. In this variety there are no units; only common features that are connected to existing parcels of land. Owners of this type of condominium are responsible for maintaining the common features 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, for your community exclusively. Then, this same group of owners must contribute to the maintenance costs of this service.

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

The other main category of condominiums is called “rental” condominiums. 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 actually own this land, but only have a LEASE on it. For this and a few other reasons, this type of condominium is very rare.