Not all homeowners live in single family houses. There are many types of houses and many ways to own them. Before you shop for a home, think about what type of housing is best for your family.
Single Family: A home that is detached (stands alone) or attached to another house. When you buy a single-family house and the land it is on, you can make all the decisions about how you use the house and the land.
Duplex, Triplex, Fourplex: Homes with 2, 3, or 4 houses or units attached on a single lot. This housing is common in cities. If you buy this house, you own the land and all the houses on it. Many people buy these to share the property with parents, married children, or extended families. Others buy them to live in one unit and rent the others to help pay the mortgage.
Planned Unit Development (PUD)*: In a PUD, the homes are part of a subdivision that may have some common areas with parks or other features you share with your neighbors. You own your house and the land it is on, and you also pay a monthly or annual fee to an homeowners’ association to take care of the common areas. There are also usually conditions that set out extra rules about what you may do on your property, such as changing the paint color on the outside or building a patio, etc.
Condominium*: A home that is attached to other homes and shares common areas that everyone in the building or development owns together, such as grounds, hallways, and lobbies. Condos may look like apartments or townhouses. Each owner makes decisions and repairs on the inside of their own condo. A homeowners’ association, made up of the group of home owners, makes decisions and pays to maintain and repair the land and common areas.
Cooperative*: A type of group ownership of a property’s living units, which are often apartments, the land, and the common areas. Residents own shares of stock in the cooperative—a corporation that owns the building, land, and common areas. In some co-ops, all repairs or decisions are made by the group; in others, individual people or families make decisions and repair the apartments they live in. Similar to condos, co-ops have rules and restrictions, and association and maintenance fees.
*Please be aware that planned unit developments, condominiums, and co-ops have monthly or annual homeowners’ association fees that the homeowner is required to pay.
