Home Buying 101: High Rise vs Low Rise Condo
High Rise vs Low Rise
In the Twin Cities area of Minnesota we define condos into two classifications, 4 or more stories, or 3 or fewer stories. These can be searched separately in our system. Both of these differing types of condos have their unique benefits and features
High Rise (4 or more stories)
The High Rise condo can be great if you are looking for a fantastic view. Looking over downtown from the 20th floor of a building can give you a commanding view of the city. Likewise with a larger building, these condos usually have more amenities than the smaller buildings. This may include things like a roof-top party deck, or large party rooms, or swimming pools. These buildings are usually located downtown, or in some of the suburbs with larger commercial areas.
Low Rise (3 or less stories)
Most of these buildings are the 4-8 unit complexes that are 2 stories high. Some of these are larger 50 unit buildings, but the majority are the under 10 unit buildings. These often won’t have the roof–top decks or the swimming pools, or tennis courts, but still can offer good value. There are many of these buildings in the Uptown Minneapolis area, as well as throughout various other parts of the cities and suburbs. In the Uptown area, parking is at a premium. It is better to get a unit that has at least one off street parking spot, or a garage of some sort. This adds quite a bit of value to the unit because when winter hits, and restricted parking is enacted, there is half the number of parking spots on the street.
The Townhouse
The main difference between a townhouse and a condo is that with a townhouse, you own the land your unit sits on. That is the key difference. But usually people refer to buildings that have their own entrance as a townhouse, such as the photo above. But if the legal description has a CIC (common interest community), technically it is a condo.
In our MLS system, a townhouse can be either a true townhouse (where you own the land) or a condo ownership townhouse, where you just own the air inside the particular unit. Either way, townhouse association living is very similar to condo living, so the rest of the information in this section is combined for both townhouses and condos.
Additional Condo Resources:
What is the purpose of a Home Owners Association?
Single Family vs Townhouse vs Condo – By The Numbers
Condo and Townhouse Associations – Minnesota Attorney General (PDF download)