Condos vs. Town Homes A


Ownership makes the difference


n old and trusted proverb cautions that you can’t judge a book by its cover. A similar attitude should prevail when trying to determine whether a dwelling should


be considered to be a condominium or a town home. The difference is not in how the property looks but in how it is owned.


“By definition, ownership of a condominium is everything inside the walls,” Stephen Carroll, a broker with Blanchard and Calhoun


BY BRIAN SHERMAN


Commercial Corp.-Charleston, ex- plained. “The owner doesn’t own the exterior of the building, the structure of the building or the land it sits on.” He added that sometimes the roof of the building is maintained by the association that owns and operates the condominium complex and some- times it isn’t. On the other hand, a town home, though it might be attached to other similar units, has more in common from an ownership standpoint to a single-family home. Residents own the building and the land surrounding the home and might even have a small front and back yard. And, as with any single-family home in any neighbor- hood in the Lowcountry, when things go wrong, the owner must come up with the money to foot the bill. “You are responsible for the main- tenance of your home,” Carroll said. “If a pipe bursts inside a wall, you are responsible for it. If you live in a condo, you would call the manage- ment company, and they would take care of it.” Carroll pointed out another big difference between condos and town


homes that you should seriously consider before deciding to purchase one or the other. An association that owns a condominium complex must pay to build and maintain ameni- ties such as swimming pools, ten- nis courts, playgrounds and fitness centers; to landscape and maintain the grounds and other common areas; to insure the property against damage from natural disasters and man-made destruction; and to provide regular maintenance such as painting and pressure washing. The association also must keep funds in reserve to replace roofs and take care of other structural issues that might arise. Because a condominium asso-


ciation is responsible for just about everything outside the inner walls of each unit, condo residents sometimes pay higher regime fees than people who live in town homes. This might be a critical factor if you are deciding between a condo and a town home. “A town home, by definition, is


owned like a single-family home,” Carroll commented. “If you live in a town home, you are responsible for taking care of it. If you live in a condo, you pay someone else to take care of it. A condominium is really a definition of ownership. The con- struction can look like a town home, but you can own it as a condo.”


Carroll added that potential home-


owners might find it more difficult to obtain a loan for a condo than for a town home, mostly because lending requirements are stricter than they once were. Carroll made one more interesting


observation about town homes and condominiums in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, a rapidly growing suburb of Charleston located be- tween the Holy City and the Atlantic Ocean. He said most projects built in Mount Pleasant since 2001, when the city began limiting residential development, are permitted as condos rather than as town homes.


www.CoastalCondoLiving.com | www.FloridaCondoLiving.net | www.OceanfrontCondominiums.com


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