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A considerable proportion of Ottawa new home sales today - and an even greater proportion of used home sales - involve condos. This is a summary of what constitutes a "condominium" and what different types of condos are available in Ottawa's new homes market. It is intended to be an introduction to assist first-time home buyers.

In terms of the contemporary new homes market in Ottawa, the terminology refers specifically to home ownership of an apartment. While previously, Ottawa builders also made condominium town homes available, today's home builders only offer town homes as freehold.

Condo apartments fall into two categories - Low-Rise Terrace Homes and Medium or High Rise Condominium apartment buildings. Their distinctive differences are;

	Terrace Homes	Condo Apartments
Parking	Open Air	Underground
Construction	Wood Frame	Concrete
Communal Areas	Limited (eg. foyers & corridors)	Communal Rooms (eg. reception areas, elevators, pools)
Loft Designs	Frequent	Infrequent
Amenities	None	Many
Maintenance Costs	Lower	Higher
Walk-up or Elevator	Walk-ups	Elevators

Generally, Terrace Homes are the most affordable housing choice today. This is due to the high costs of Medium to High-Rise Construction, which require extensive excavation to construct several underground concrete parking levels, and an enormously labour intensive and complex process to enable a massive concrete structure to tower 15 levels or more above the ground.

And there is also the cost of the numerous amenities associated with modern high-rise communities to consider.

The legal clauses in a condominium title deed define who is responsible for common and joint areas, and who pays how much for the maintenance of these areas.

While freehold home owners have to take care of their own snow clearance, grass-cutting, and wear-and-tear, these costs in condominiums are shared between all the owners in the building and charged monthly, sometimes with heating costs, under the heading of monthly "condominium fees."

Since there is far less maintenance in Terrace Homes, Condo Fees are very much lower than in typical medium and high-rise apartments.

Since each "shared" internal wall, ceiling & floor has, in effect, two owners in a Terrace Home or in a medium & high-rise apartment, condominium regulations clearly define who is responsible for maintenance, damage and wear-and-tear replacement for each side or section.

This relates to joint ownership of the inside section as well as common ownership of outer walls, roofs, car park and other common areas, such as entrances and exits.

Notwithstanding joint and common ownership of common areas, Condominium ownership does give you Freehold Title to your new apartment. Nevertheless, you need a Conveyancing Lawyer to study your Title to the property (and the builder's) to ensure you are fully protected before you commit yourself to a purchase.

For further information about ownership and warranty protection, visit the Tarion New Home Warranty Program

Condominium is a Latin word which dates back to the times of the Roman Empire.

Its etymology is from the Latin com- with, together; plus dominium rule, ownership.

Condo apartments were quite common historically in major cities like Rome. In fact, Julius Caesar's mother owned at least one such apartment building.

Whereas nowadays a "Condominium Corporation" has title over common areas, and Condominium owners own shares in the Corporation, In Caesar's time, his Mother was the owner of the common areas of her Condominium, and she was able to administer joint costs and responsibilities through the legal means of a condominium under Roman law.

In Ottawa by the 1970s, affordable condos were considered to be the answer to rising house prices. Back then, you might have had to pay as much as $25,000 for an 1100 sq ft town house condo, with the average price of a house in Canada being about $175,000!

Condominiums then had fewer features. For example, Condo apartments often did not have the in-suite laundries which are now typically available. Instead, they had a communal laundry on one level, generally located inconveniently in the basement. Nor could condo owners instal their own insuite laundry after buying their condo, because the plumbing had not been allowed for, and it was thought their neighbours would be adversely effected.

Now all Terrace Homes can be expected to include suitable plumbing, a laundry closet, and sometimes even the appliances - generally a stacked washer/dryer, as well other premium features such as central air conditioning.