Condomenium

The kind of building in which a condo is located doesn't matter. what makes a condo a condo is the way its ownership is structured.

When you buy a detached home, an invisible line runs along the border of your property to separate what belongs to you from what belongs to your neighbors. When you purchase a condo, on the other hand, your property line is the interior surfaces (walls, floors, ceilings, windows, and doors) of your unit. In other words, with a condo, you get a deed to the air inside your unit and everything filling it — carpeting, window coverings, and all.

Air and interior improvements aren’t all you own. You and the other condo owners in the condominium complex share ownership of the land upon which the project is located and the high-rise building that contains your individual units. Thus, all of you own a portion of the roof, exterior building walls, and foundation — as well as a chunk of the garage, elevators, lobby, hallways, swimming pool, tennis courts, exercise facilities, and so on. All the parts of the complex beyond the individual units are known as common areas because you own them in common with all the other condo owners.