Condo Vs. Townhouse

VS.

I have had several clients recently have questions regarding the differences between a condo and a townhouse.  There are a few main differences and sometimes it is hard to tell the differences apart.  I recently sold a brand new townhouse and I will call it that because it seems to have more townhouse qualities than condo but the builder actually refers to them as condos.

The main differences are the number of adjoining walls with another home.  Typically a townhouse will only have an adjoining wall with one or two other units versus a condo will usually share walls with 3 or more units. It is not uncommon for townhouses to only share one adjoining wall on the garage only.

A second difference is a yard.  Condos typically do not have front or back yards at all and require little if any exterior care by the owner.  A townhouse usually will have a small front or rear yard if not both. 

Lastly, condos usually do not have attached garages and townhouses do. 

A lot of newer townhouses have separate adjoining walls so they are essentially built like a single family home but simply have walls that touch each other.  Roof and exterior walls are blended to look like one building.