Good article, but can someone explain the difference between a condo and a townhouse as it pertains to Manhattan? Thanks.
condo=1 story
town house= two stories
In a condo you own the interior and its elements but not the building structure itself. You share common ownership in exterior elements and amenities. Usually a one hour separation wall is required because a condominium is not considered a separate single family residential unit for code purposes. You also do not own the land your unit sits on. In a townhouse you own all elements of your structure and the wall is a two hour fire separation wall. There could be an HOA where you also agree to ownership in common elements of the development. You also own the land the unit it situated on. But as many urban dwellers discover parking spaces are usually extra.
Townhouse can also refer to an architectural style. The narrow two-three story structure with multiple attached dwelling units. So you can have a legal condo that is built in the style of a townhouse. You can have a townhouse style building that is legally a condo. So it gets confusing.
A townhouse is generally speaking a single-family house attached to others in a row along the street, generally with no front yard and seldom a back yard. They are usually narrow but very deep, with two to four stories. You can own a townhouse outright, and you are responsible for all upkeep of it.
A condo is a dwelling that is partially yours, but subject to the fees and easements of a condo association. A condo can be an attached rowhouse or an apartment in a building or a detached house. It is partially maintained by a condo association and you pay substantial monthly fees for those services, restrictions or amenities—on top of your mortgage. A condo association might perform maintenance on central heating or air, outside window cleaning, community parking or shrubbery, a pool or a gym, for instance, or may give residents the ability to vote on who gets to live among them, etc. For a price.