Hey folks, happy summer. I hope you’re doing well I want to teach you something today that you may or may not know about and that is the difference between condos condominiums and townhomes Aka puds plan unit developments been a lot of confusion lately.
As different properties come onto the market what what they are and kind of how they differ and they all kind of get lumped into the same thing But there is a pretty big difference between a condominium and a PUD slash townhome and I want to teach you that real quick So condominiums as we know they’re usually a little bit less expensive than single-family homes. Um, they can be more or sometimes less than a townhome.
So, there’s advantages of those. There’s also less maintenance with a condominium because you know you, the HOA handles, uh, you know, the exterior maintenance, the landscaping, you know, snow removal, all this stuff.
That can also be the case with attached townhomes Um, not all the time, but generally that is, uh, depending on the HOA.
Amenities you’re You’re usually going to have a lot more with a condo, obviously not a townhome. Usually more security with a condo versus a townhome.
I mean, we all sort of get that, but let’s see what the real difference is and kind of the point of this video.
Um, a planned unit development, a condominium and a townhome, there are different types of housing with varying ownership and maintenance responsibilities.
Uh, a PUD, um, the owners typically own the land. So when you have a townhome here, um, the land comes with it, whereas in a condo it doesn’t.
So in a condo the owners only own the interior of their unit and the association owns the land, the actual building, and all the common areas.
Townhomes can be either PUDs or condos and that’s where the confusion comes in with the primary difference being who owns the land.
So people often refer to PUDs, planned unit developments, as townhomes, but again, a townhome is, is just a style of, basically a style of a building and not a formal, uh, form of ownership or zoning designation.
So, um, with the PUDs again, uh, or townhomes, the owner owns the land or the ground underneath of it. With a condo, the owner owns, uh, an equal and undivided interest in the whole project.
So when you’re looking around around on the MLS, here’s an example of a listing of a townhome, this is what you’ll see, shows your bill, et cetera, et cetera.
And, um, the thing is looking at this, you, you honestly, you don’t know if it’s a townhome, um, well, if it’s a condo or a PUD is the point. And this makes a difference because when it’s a condo, they’re treated differently and there’s different requirements, a lot more reporting, you need the budget, minutes, all that kind of stuff. Um, and the insurance has to be looked at in a different way. If it’s a townhome slash PUD and not condominium. The requirements are much easier.
For example, it doesn’t need to be approved by the FHA. You can just do these and finance them. They’re just a lot easier.
But the point is, is when something comes up like this and somebody goes under contract, we really don’t know, uh, what it is until we actually pull the legal description and read what it says because it’ll say that it’s either a planned unit development or a condominium.
And that all kind of happened in the mid-80s about the time that this one was built was when this new form of ownership of planned unit development came out.
So, anyway, I hope that’s helpful. If you’re still with me so far, thank you so much for watching. If you have questions on this or anything else, please reach out to me anytime Thanks again, and we’ll talk to you soon.
Take care.
