Guide for Finding the Perfect Second Home Part 5

There are four types of residential property.
• A single family home is a freestanding structure where you own the land around the home. The lot size can be as small as less than a 1/10 of an acre up to several hundred acres. Normally with a single family home you will be responsible for all the maintenance on the property. That will include snow plowing, landscaping and painting at least.
• A duplex is actually a half of a duplex. Normally each side in individually owned. There will be some land, with the lot line going right through the building. We have a few duplexes where are split between top and bottom, but most are side to side. There will be a recorded document called a party wall agreement which will address the responsibilities of each owner, such as insurance coverage and paint color to name a few. The two owners may go together to arrange for snow plowing and maintenance but it will be the owners expense.
• A town house is attached to more than one other unit. There may be a small piece of land besides the footprint of the building. Most of the land around the building will be common area. With a town home there is usually an owners association and association dues. The dues can cover as little as the insurance on the common area up to building maintenance including painting, snow plowing, landscaping, building insurance and more.
• A condominium will be more like apartment living. You will own the unit plus a share in the common area (hallways, parking lots, clubhouse, lawns, etc). There will be association dues; they usually include the maintenance on the building, snow plowing and shoveling, dumpsters for trash, common utilities and landscaping. At most complexes it also includes water, sewer, insurance on the building, and basic cable TV some include the heat and electricity. Some complexes have a clubhouse with pool and hot tub. The advantage is that you only have to worry about the inside of your unit. The home owners association will hire people or a property management company to do the maintenance on the outside and common areas of the complex.