Readers respond to column about differences between condos and town houses

Q: I appreciate it when readers respond to these columns, even when they don’t agree with what I’ve said. My Sept. 21 column about the differences between a condo and a town house is a case in point. For whatever reason, this generated more response than usual from readers.

In September, Joseph from Boulder City asked: “What constitutes your residence as a condominium? (During) my first six years at my residence at Boulder Court, my insurance was based on it being a condo. Now the rate doubled because it was said to be a town house. I would appreciate any clarification on this.”

I urged Joseph to contact his insurance company and perhaps his homeowner association. I explained a few basic differences between a condominium and a town house.

“In general, condos can have adjoining units upstairs or downstairs, while town houses do not. Think of a high-rise condo tower, for instance. On the other hand, town houses may share side or back walls with neighboring units. They often have garages and small exterior yards, individual courtyards or similar spaces for the private use of the unit owner, who is then responsible for maintaining these spaces.”

In a condo, if there’s a fire or flood that damages your property, you’re generally only responsible for the drywall and everything inside the unit.

In a condo, your HOA fees generally cover insurance for the exterior of the building, whereas in a town house, you’re responsible for insuring the entire unit, inside and out.

Your HOA’s covenants, conditions and restrictions will tell you what areas are the responsibility of your HOA. You can ask your HOA for a copy of these documents if you do not have one. In a town house, owners are usually responsible for the outside walls and almost any sort of damage to their individual unit.

I told Joseph that I needed specific information to say for sure, but that it’s possible that his insurance rates may have gone up because his property may have been misclassified as a condo when it really should have been considered a town house.

This prompted longtime real estate broker Bob Greene to contact me in hopes of clarifying this question.

“In fact, the term condominium describes the form of legal ownership and could be applied to residential condominiums, office and professional buildings, industrial plants, medical clinics, warehouses, recreational developments and combined apartment and office buildings, and not specifically the design or outward appearance of the building,” he wrote. “As you know, many town house developments are structured under the condominium form of ownership. There are many other differences between town houses, with or without condominium form.”

I also heard from a reader named Rose who suggested I should have simply said, “The distinction between a condo and a town house is as follows: When you own a town house you own the land, but when you own a condo, you own from the inside walls in.”

Good points, Bob and Rose.

Please send your real estate questions to me at ask@glvar.org.

Dave Tina is the 2013 president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. GLVAR has more than 11,000 members. Email questions to ask@glvar.org. For more information, visit www.lasvegasrealtor.com.