Tag: condos

From an outward appearance, it can be hard to tell the difference between an apartment and a condo. As such, when looking for a home, you might be considering either living in a condo or an apartment. These two housing units are distinguished by their mode of ownership and how they are managed. Before looking at the striking differences between these homes, here is a close description of what they are.

What is a condo?

Also known as a condominium, condos are shared properties where different owners own each housing unit. As such, it can be an office building or an apartment provided the houses are sold to different buyers. Individual owners jointly own all amenities in these properties. However, the usage of these amenities and anything done on the building is defined by the association’s rules.

What is an apartment?

Structural wise, an apartment is more or less same as a condo. However, a single person or company owns the building. Persons living here are known as tenants. Unlike condos, living in an apartment does not come with extra benefits. Moreover, since they do not have a homeowners association, people living there do not make monthly contributions.

Striking differences between condos and apartments

Costs

When it comes to cost, the cost of buying or living in a condo is higher than renting an apartment. Residing in an apartment only requires you to pay a deposit and your monthly rent. However, with condos, you are not a tenant but an owner, which comes with self-gratification.

Capital gains

One significant difference between owning a condo and renting an apartment you enjoy the increasing market values on property. Moreover, you can always sell or rent your condo. With apartments, you can not enjoy this benefits considering that the space you are living in has only been rented to you.

Maintenance

Owning a condo comes with some responsibility. In this regard, it comes as some form of a fee paid to the homeowners association to cater for the maintenance of the property. When it comes to an apartment, you also pay some maintenance fee, which is often included in the rent the tenant pays.

There are many other differences between these housing units. In case you prefer in living in a carefree house, an apartment is probably a good choice. If you want a profitable real estate investment, then Condo buildings around Yonge and Sheppard might be what you have been looking for.