Condominium Or Townhouse?

[Pat Butler]

Ask the owner and/or call the association management or homeowner's association. Here in Illinois, townhouses are generally considered to be similar to condos expect that you also own some land. That portion of land might only be the footprint under the unit. "Condominium" is the only recognized form of legal ownership so townhouses will still have a declaration of condominium that will also explain the fact that each unit owner owns a certain amount of land.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

In 1973 when I worked for a Retirement Village of 22,000 acres, we were building townhouses - PUD, land was the property footprint, common area was maintained by the Village and HOA fees paid to them. 10 years later those were called Condos, but were not one whit different from what they started out to be. They were called townhouses whether they were 1, 2 or 3 levels, whether there were 2, 3, or 4 attached. One was even a single residence that looked like 3...a VP that did not want to mow a lawn but wanted 4000 SF of house.

 

[Don Clark]

B) Just for the record. I know how confusing all this can be, I own a townhouse in Kitty Hawk, North carolina(second home, resort area) We actually own just the land that is the footprint of the house. The HOA owns the rest. When we bought it through a broker there who had built the complex. he took great care to describe it as a townhouse. The is a pool in the middle of the complex, and 15 townhouses. The town of Kitty Hawk made sure we had documentation to show that it was a townhouse, and ownership is not a condo. However, when we received a letter from the broker, who also manages the association, the letter said.................you guessed it. "Congratulations on the purchase of your condo". And, some at the town hall in Kitty Hawk still refer to it as a condo. It is not a condo.



Don

 

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

To follow up on Jo Ann's last post.....If you are in Maricopa County, go to the recorder.maricopa.gov website, click on the left most drop-down menu (under Ms. Purcell's smiling face) and click on plat maps. you have a choice of tif and pdf versions. The tif version is better for zooming in. type in the MCR number (map and page). You may get several choices of maps. The first one is usually the recorded plat for the entire subdivision. If it was recorded as a condominium, it should say so somewhere on the map. If the word condominium doesn't appear, it's probably a PUD. Even of you're not in Maricopa County, you can go to the recorder's office or website, if they have one, and check the recorded plat. Do NOT go by the assessor's plat. Also, if the legal description itself includes the word "condominium, that's a pretty safe bet.

Dave McReynolds
Smoldering Stump, AZ

 

[bradellis]

Dave!!!!

I LOVE the photo.

BUT, given the subject matter of the photo, you may have to change it if you want anyone to BELIEVE what you are saying.

Brad Ellis, IFA, RAA

 

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Brad.....

Are you suggesting some might think I lack credibility????


Dave

 

[Compass Rose]

Okay, well everyone says it's a townhouse, realtors, sellers, title company. There is no mention of condo anywhere, no horizontal property regime clause anywhere... So I am comfortable calling it a townhouse and as in Dave's case, the land is owned by the HOA and only the land under the dwelling (footprint) is owned.

Now here is the (new) problem.... The underwriter is insisting I give a land value. Groan! What's it worth??? I don't have any comparable sales/listings of land under other houses If it were vacant, it would be a 495 sf landlocked piece of land.... What is the value of that? Maybe $100 to an abutter???

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Since the title company is using the term townhouse--it sounds like you have a PUD, townhouse is an architectural style only, not a form of ownership. So the PUD box would be checked. As for the land value that is difficult, it would be a very minimal amount for only 465 square feet. The main value is in the amenities of the complex and the location of the complex. Dave Mc might have an idea, but I would think the value would be in the very low thousands--or are you at the top of Camelback Mountain? Or in the Central Corridor?

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

Jo Ann....I just found out my step brother is building again in your area. A new high rise condo project with units for a mere $2,500,000. Wonder what the land cost was for that????

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

I think that was the article I mentioned several months ago, wondering if that was your relative. The website for The Arizona Republic is azcentral.com
Do a search for his name and see if you can find the article about those condos. I think his complex was in the area of Camelback and 24th Street--very expensive land there. If Linda's PUD is anywhere near that location--her 465 square foot lot might be worth a couple of gold mines!