Home Styles:  Contrast and Comparison

Each home style has its own particular advantages and disadvantages.  This chart is designed to help you determine which style best meets your particular needs and circumstances.

Home Styles Defined

Single Family Residence:  any free-standing home, designed to house a single family, that does not share walls with another building.

Townhome:  rather than being a legal term, “townhome” actually refers to a style of home, which may or may not be a condominium.  Townhomes typically share one or more walls with neighboring units, but do not have other units above or below them.  Townhome complexes, as the term is most commonly used today, do not have Homeowners’ Associations, nor any Homeowner dues.  They may, however, have a limited set of CC &R’s (Covenants, Codes and Restrictions) set up by the builder.

Condominium:  a building in which owners purchase individual units and jointly own common areas such as a parking garage and courtyard.  Owners pay dues to a Homeowners Association, which then pays for the maintenance and upkeep of the building and grounds.  Condo owners are obliged to abide by the particular CC & R’s enacted by the owners themselves and enforced by the Homeowners’ Association.  Condominium owners may or may not own the land underneath their unit.

Co-op (cooperative housing project):  occupants own shares in a corporation, rather than the actual living units.  Members share the costs of maintaining the building and grounds, including property taxes and insurance.