They're apples and oranges. Two different things.

A condo (condominium) describes a type of ownership. Generally, it means you own everything inside the walls of your property (apartment, townhouse, even sometimes a single-family home). A coop (cooperative) means you own shares in the corporation that collectively owns the entire building or group of buildings. And fee simple means you own the inside, the outside, everything.

A townhouse is a structure. It's generally a property with other properties connected on one or two sides. Other structures can be single-family homes or multi-unit buildings. A townhouse might or might not be a condo.

If you're talking about the relative merits of buying a townhouse versus buying a unit in a multi-unit building, it really depends on what you like. It also depends on location, price, and amenities. All things being equal (which they never are) I'd recommend the townhouse. That way, though you might have neighbors on one or two sides of you, you don't have them above and below you. That doesn't bother some people, but drives others crazy. It can also make your property more difficult to sell.

If you're talking about a condo versus non-condo, go non-condo. Some condo associations are fine. But all too many turn out to by tyrannical. And even if you can tolerate it, the very concept of a condo association will turn off a lot of buyers.

Which one is a better investment? Neither. If you're interested in an investment, that's a whole other issue. An investment is something you buy cheap and make good money on when you sell. The best investments might be in the worst part of town. Or they might be properties you'd never dream living in. (There's a real estate investor named Lonnie Scruggs who's written a couple of very good books about investing in mobile homes. You buy a mobile home for, say, $5,000, do a quick rehab, and sell it for $10,000 on terms. They can be great investments--returning 50% or more per annum.) If you want a good investment, maybe you should consider a mobile home. Otherwise, forget investing.

If you mean: Which one is likely to hold its value, or go up in value more, it depends on location and it depends on what the unit has. In today's market, in many areas, you need two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Why? A lot of people like a home office, or an exercise room, and they'll use the second (usually small) bedroom as the office. And very often, even if you're just selling to a couple, each will want his/her own bath. If you think you might want to sell to a family, you really ought to aim for 3 bed/2 bath at a minimum.

Hope that helps.

Viviane,

In general with a townhouse you own the land around your structure and you are a member of a homeowner's association (HA). The HA may own common areas such as tennis courts, pools, clubhouses, etc. and may be responsible for common maintenance to the exterior of the units, including snowplowing, roads etc. Some townhomes around WNY have a nice plot of land so you can garden etc.

Condos are similar in appearance; however, you own the interior of the unit. In some cases there may be a condo association and a homeowners assocation. For example, in Charter Oaks in Amherst, there is a condo association and a HA. The HA takes care of the pool and tennis court.. The condo association takes care of roofs, roads, etc.

The distinction in ownership should not make a great impact on the investment side of the equation except for distniction in taxation. Condos are generally taxed at a lower rate, although there has been attempts to modify the tax advantage over the years.

There are two distinctions between legal status and architectural design. In New York State, we have a Condominium Law and some properties fall under the status of Condominium ownership for legal status. Generally, when someone refers to a "Condo" they are talking about owning an apartment with someone else above you, below you, next to you or all of these. When you refer to a townhouse, it generally means that you own above and below the living space, including the airspace. Townhouses can be attached or detached. Ranch townhouses many times are also referred to as a Patio Home. The legal status defines what you own. If you own a Condo or, a townhouse that has condominium status (and we DO have those in NY State), you own the INTERIOR ONLY and part of your ownership includes a share of the condominium association which owns the buildings, driveways, garages, hallways, decks/porches and the common areas and it is the association that maintains all of it. The benefit of ownership with condominium status is that you are NOT assessed for tax purposes at actual market value but at a percentage. The other type of Townhouse ownership in our area is HOA (Homeowners Association ownership). Depending on how the offering plan was structured by the developer, your ownership could be the interior AND the building (or your portion of the building if it is connected to other units). In some communities you also own the lot or a footprint lot (1 foot off the foundation). With HOA ownership, you are generally responsible for the cost of the interior as well as the exterior repairs and maintenance. The association may be responsible for facilitating the repairs and day to day maintenance but you are generally responsible for the costs. Both types of ownership usually have monthly dues or fees but when it comes to capital improvements (roofs, siding, driveways etc) a Condominium Association pays for it through its reserve fund. With an HOA, you most likely are assessed for your improvements. Finally, when the property tax bill comes, those with condominium status may have a tax bill that is only 50 - 60% of a single family home or a townhouse without condo status. Condo status makes sense because each unit is part of a large parcel, similar to an apartment building, hotel, or retail plaza and local governments do not provide services beyond the driveway such as garbage collection, snow plowing, road repair, sewer, water and lighting maintenance. Unfortunately, there are some municipalities that do not recognize condominium status so you cannot take advantage of the tax benefit even though you still do not receive all the services. In other cases, developers do not want to invest the added time or money for a condominium project. Which one is the better investment can only be determined once you can research the area that you want to live in and project how long you will live there, what your initial investment will be and estimate how much the investment will appreciate over the time period that you anticipate living there. Decisions are not always made by buyers as to what type of ownership a unit has but rather the look, feel and the amenities in a particular community.

Choosing between the two is a matter of preference.

A townhouse is like a house in that the owner owns both the structure and the land on which it sits; but it is not free standing, so "the land on which it sits" is limited to the front and back yards. Townhouses are connected to one another in a row, and are usually two or three stories tall. They have a front and back outside entrance. They share many of the characteristics of condominiums.

Like townhouses, condominiums are attached to one another. If you own a condo, you do not own the land surrounding your living space. A condo owner owns only the unit itself, which is taxed as an individual entity, and sometimes a percentage of the common areas of the community. Condo communities may provide such shared facilities as a pool, gym, tennis courts and clubhouse, all maintained by the condo association, which takes care of all day-to-day management tasks. This is one of the key advantages of condo living...all the joy of using the amenities, none of the hassles of maintaining them. Condominium owners pay a monthly fee to the condo association, which also sets the rules for the community. They are similar to an apartment building. They have common area hallways and entrances to the unit off that hallway.