Condos and freehold homes

Condominium describes a form of ownership, not a building style. This page compares typical condominium units with non-condominium freehold homes.

Freehold home: In this comparison, this means a home where you own the house and its land outside a condominium unit structure. You generally arrange and pay for maintenance, home insurance and property taxes. Some properties also have shared facilities, agreements or common elements condominium fees, so check the title and property documents.

Condominium (condo): In a typical standard condominium, you own your unit and an interest in the common elements, such as hallways, grounds and shared amenities. The condominium corporation manages the common elements through its board. The declaration and applicable law determine unit boundaries and repair and maintenance responsibilities.

Owners pay common expense fees toward the corporation's operating costs and reserve fund. The reserve fund pays for major repairs and replacements of the common elements and corporation assets.

If funding is insufficient, the corporation may increase common expense fees or levy a special assessment. Special assessments may also cover other unexpected expenses.

A status certificate shows the condo corporation's finances and rules: the budget, the latest financial statements, the state of the reserve fund, the unit's fees and whether they're paid, disclosed fee increases, special assessments and circumstances that may lead to increased common expenses, and the declaration, by-laws and rules.

Anyone can request a status certificate. The corporation may charge up to $100, including applicable taxes, and must provide it within 10 days of receiving the request and required payment.

Buyers should discuss including a condition for satisfactory legal review of the status certificate and supporting documents. This is a contractual protection, not a statutory requirement. The rules can cover pets, renovations, parking and renting out a unit, so read them before you commit.

A townhouse can be either. In a condo townhouse, you own your unit and share the common elements, as in any condo.

Some freehold townhouses share a private road or other features through a common elements condominium. You own your house and land (a “parcel of tied land”), and contribute to common expenses, typically through monthly fees for the shared parts.

So “freehold” alone doesn't tell you whether there's a monthly fee: check the listing and the documents.

• What do the monthly fees cover, and have they gone up recently?
• How healthy is the reserve fund? Are major repairs or a special assessment planned?
• What do the rules say about pets, renovations, parking, storage and renting out?
• For a freehold home: how old are the roof, windows, furnace and other systems?

Setareh helps you compare condos and freehold homes side by side, asks for the status certificate when you buy a resale condo, and works with your lawyer and home inspector on the conditions in your offer.

Buying a condo that isn't built yet? Read how pre-construction works.

This page is general information, not legal or financial advice.