A condominium or condo is a type of housing where each property owner owns his/her unit, as well as jointly owns the common areas with all other property owners in the condominium complex.

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The main difference is that an owner of a condominium owns the unit and has joint ownership of the entire land occupied by the condominium complex. Whereas an owner of a detached single family home owns the home, as well as the entire parcel of land. The condominium owners pay monthly Homeowners' Association dues for maintaining the common areas. Additionally, condominiums are strictly governed by the CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions) that control what the owner can or can not do.

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Condominium conversion is a process by which the ownership of an existing rental building is changed to the condominium form of ownership.

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PUD or Townhouse Complex is a type of housing development that has five or more homes/ townhouses that are owned by individual property owners and common areas that are owned jointly by all the property owners. The individual property owner owns the structure, as well as land underneath. The individual owners pay monthly Homeowners' Association dues for maintaining the common areas.

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Home Owner's association is a nonprofit association where the members are the property owners who own properties in a condominium complex or a planned unit development. This association usually collects dues from each property owner and maintains the common areas in the complex. It holds ownership of the common areas in a planned unit development. But in a condominium complex it does not hold ownership of common areas.

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In regards to real estate, bylaws are the rules and regulations that are adopted by a homeowners' association to govern activities.

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Homeowners' Association Dues are the fees, usually paid monthly, by property owners in a planned unit development or condominium complex for maintenance of common areas.

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Typically, homeowners' association dues pay for maintenance of various parts of common areas, such as swimming pools, club house, landscaping, walkways, lobby, fences etc. It sometimes pays for security petrol, garbage, common area gas & electricity, exterior painting, roof maintenance, common area insurance, etc. Usually, there is a reserve maintained for emergency repairs. If you are buying a property that is under the management of a homeowners' association, you need to carefully review the homeowners' association documents to understand what is covered and what is not.

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A special assessment is an additional fee charged to the property owners by the homeowners' association to pay for unforeseen repairs or major improvements in a common interest sub-division like a townhouse complex or a condominium complex. For example, there could be a special assessment to replace all old fences. In most cases, the special assessment is added onto the regular Homeowners' Association dues.

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CC&Rs are Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions that regulate the design, use, and maintenance of a property. Although almost all the residential tracts have some forms of CC&Rs, the condominium complexes have the CC&Rs that are most closely adhered to. For example, any pet restrictions or restrictions like no wall air conditioners would be mentioned in the CC&Rs. If you are buying a condominium, please study the CC&Rs closely when your real estate agent gives you a copy.

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Common areas are those parts (building and land) of a condominium complex or a townhouse complex (PUD), that are used by all the property owners, who also share the cost of their maintenance. Examples of common areas are parking areas, swimming pool, club house, tennis court, children's play area, picnic area, etc. that are located in the complex.

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A cooperative is a multi-unit housing complex owned by a corporation, in which the residents of the complex are the shareholders. The residents do not own the unit they occupy but own stocks in the corporation and therefore have the right to occupy the unit.

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