Editing Condominium (section)

== Overview ==
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The distinction between a complex of residences, such as an apartment building, and a condominium is legal, rather than architectural. There is no way to differentiate a condominium from any other residential building simply by looking at it or visiting it. What defines a condominium is the form of ownership. Identical buildings might be marketed either as condominiums (by the developer selling the individual units) or apartments (by the developer retaining ownership and renting the units). Moreover, a developer may sell some units and retain and rent others, and the owners of condominium units often rent them to tenants as what amount to apartments, meaning the distinction is not ironclad. Indeed, it is possible to convert an apartment building into condominiums (for example through a [[Right to Buy]] program) or vice versa (by one owner buying out all units in a building). 

Where a condominium is in essence an apartment building, as a practical matter, builders tend to build condominiums to higher quality standards than apartment complexes because of the differences between the rental and sale markets. They are typically slightly larger than apartments and are often constructed in a [[Terraced house|townhouse]] style in regions where [[single-family detached home]]s are common.

Technically, a condominium is a collection of individual units and [[common area]]s along with the land upon which they sit. Individual home ownership within a condominium is construed as ownership of only the air space confining the boundaries of the home. The boundaries of that space are specified by a legal document known in the United States as a Declaration, filed on record with the local governing authority. These boundaries may extend to the interior side of the walls surrounding a condo, allowing the homeowner to make some interior modifications without impacting the common area. Anything outside this boundary is held in an undivided ownership interest by a corporation established at the time of the condominium's creation. The corporation holds this property in trust on behalf of the homeowners as a group—it may not have ownership itself.{{CN|date=September 2024}}

Some condominium complexes consist of single-family dwellings. There are also "detached condominiums" where homeowners do not maintain the exteriors of the dwellings or yards, and "site condominiums", where the owner has more control and possibly ownership (as in a "whole lot" or "lot line" condominium) over the exterior appearance. These structures are preferred by some [[planned neighborhood]]s and [[gated community|gated communities]].