Condo Vs Apartment
Many people are not aware of the difference between a condo and an apartment. Often, people call a condo an apartment and a large number of potential property buyers are confused and are not aware of the differences between the two types of homes. So it is natural for property buyers to ask questions about them. Condo Vs apartment, what is the difference between the two types of homes. As you read on you will have a clear understanding about these two forms of homes in Bangkok. Once the confusion about these two terms is cleared it will become much easier for potential buyers to go ahead and rent or book one of these for themselves as an investment opportunity. Both these terms are used very often by people and have often confused potential buyers.
Condo Vs Apartment the difference
Both condominium and apartment look similar, but the feature that makes them different is the way law treats them. The size, architecture, aesthetics, location are all similar in both these types of homes and developers also do not build them as if they are creating a particular type of home.
What law says about Condo?
A condominium is a unit in a high-rise complex where the owners of the units have complete right over their units. The condo owners also have an equivalent share in the common areas of the complex. The condo owners also have a share in the facilities provided in the condo complex, which includes the elevators, fitness centre, swimming pool, sauna, spa and many other such amenities in the complex. Since the owner of a condo has full ownership of his unit in a condominium setup he can do any changes within his unit as and when required. A condo owner has to contribute towards the maintenance expenses of the area. In a condominium setup a group of condo owners will form a home owners association and will be the sole in charge of enforcing the building rules and regulations. They are also in charge of collecting the maintenance fees annually. The owners in the condominium can participate in member meetings and contribute towards the betterment of the condominium. Valuable inputs regarding improving the maintenance, repairs, garbage collection and matters that are affecting the members of the complex can be given by the owners in member meetings. Participation of condo owners is encouraged in a condominium setup. Basically the person who owns the unit has some share in the building because nobody owns the whole building. Condominium according to the Latin word means together ownership, which sums up the whole purpose of a condo.
Condo owners can put their unit on rent provided they are not subject to any particular clause mentioned in the condominium rules that are enforced in the complex. The laws in Thailand allow ownership of 49 percent condos in a complex for foreigners. This is one of the prime reasons why you will find large number of foreigners flocking to the developer’s office to book a condo on the launch date itself. Condominiums are often brought by investors to gain from the growing real estate market. They invest in condos to gain some income from their investment. Thirty percent of the condominiums in Bangkok are set for rent while many others are bought by the owner as an investment or to increase their equity and also use the units for them.
What does an Apartment mean?
Apartments are like hotels as they are generally owned by an individual or a holding company who rents out each individual unit to different people for a different time. It is a block of individual units or apartments that are owned by a family, individual or a company. Apartment on the other hand is a unit like a condo in a high rise building that is rented on a monthly rate or owned for a fixed time. The apartment structure doesn’t have a home owners association and all the amenities that are usually found in a condominium. This also means there is no common ownership in an apartment setup. Apartments are good for those people who want to reside in the city for a short time period or are on a visit on a short time. High end apartments are usually given on rent for a minimum of six months and are a preferred choice of expatriates in Bangkok.
People like staying in both these forms of houses because of the safety feature. Prices of both these types of homes are similar and there is no great difference between the two. The price of a condo or rent in an apartment depends on the location, style, interior design, amenities, age of the building, furniture, size of the unit and the bedroom numbers. For foreigners the Thai law permits the buying of a condo outright, which makes it their preferred choice of investment. The utility bills in a condo come to you and you pay according to the usage while in an apartment there is a minimum charge and surcharge for water and electricity. For a condo there is a maintenance fee for building maintenance, which has to be paid other than the rent. On the other hand, maintenance and service charges are added in the rent in an apartment and you don’t have to pay separately. Apartments have an in-house maintenance team that will look after all the repairs or any service within your apartment. The same goes for a condo, but the quality of service and the maintenance person in this setup will depend on the efficiency of the condo owners and their association. A good efficient guy can get your repairs done in a day.
Most of us have heard the terms condominium and apartments and must have thought both of them to be same. Actually even many property sellers in Bangkok will not differentiate between both. Only when you ask if there is a home owners association in the building and you are interested in knowing, only then you will know whether it is a condominium or an apartment.
