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If you're like most people, when thinking about what you're looking for in your first – or next – home, your thoughts soon turn from the community you'd like to live in to a list of features and amenities you'd like to have, ranging from the number of bedrooms and number of baths, to the brand of appliances in your kitchen.
Perhaps just as important a consideration when creating your home buying wish list is the "flavor" of home ownership – typically single-family home, condominium or co-op – that best fits your lifestyle. Each form of ownership has unique characteristics that you, depending on your home ownership goals, may find appealing.
There's nothing like owning a home of your own; this quick overview can help you decide which flavor of home ownership is right for you.
There are three major variations when it comes to the types of home ownership – single-family home, condominiums (condos), and cooperative apartments (co-ops).
Purchasers who opt for traditional home ownership are the sole owners of the building and the land it's built on.
Consider owning a single-family home if you'd like to:
1 Subject to the approval of a homeowner's association if applicable, as well as applicable local and state laws and regulations.
Owners of condominiums own the living space within their unit. Everything else -the outside walls of your unit and the rest of the structure(s) in the complex, the land, and any amenities such as a tennis court or pool - are owned by your condominium association. Like the owners of single-family homes, you can sell your unit when you choose, to any buyer you choose.
Consider owning a condo if you'd like to:
Unlike owners of single- family homes and condos, if you're the owner of a co-op you don't actually own the unit you live in; you own a share in the cooperative organization, which grants you the right to live in your unit, subject to the rules of the cooperative.
Consider owning a co-op if you'd like to:
Note: Co-ops can be highly selective in approving shareowners, more restrictive than condominium associations when it comes to owning pets, sublets and making alterations to your unit.
| Residential Real Estate: Three "Flavors" At-a-Glance | |||
| Personal Option | Single Family | Condominium | Co-op |
| Complete control over exterior aesthetic decisions | X | ||
| Complete control over interior aesthetic decisions | X | X | X |
| Own your interior living space | X | X | |
| Own your exterior living space | X | ||
| Own the land upon which your living space is built | X | ||
| Choose when to make routine and emergency exterior repairs | X | ||
| Expand or alter exterior | X | ||
| Maintain the grounds yourself | X | ||
| Pay monthly maintenance for grounds and routine upkeep | X | X | |
| Management decisions made by elected committee | X | X | |
| Converted loft, industrial and other unique living spaces | X | X | |
| Flexibility to sell when and to whom you'd like | X | X | |
| Buyer and conditions of sale approved by governing board | X | ||
We've just given you a small taste of the flavors of home ownership. Finding a great neighborhood, evaluating condo and co-op management and looking at financing options that meet your needs are just of few of the many details an ERA® team member is ready to talk with you about. Contact your local ERA Affiliated Real Estate professional.
