The way that the title industry views the difference between the two property types is based on the very definition of condominium and townhouse, which is stated below:

Condominium

A condominium is typically a unit in a far larger complex, often multi-floored, with shared common areas that can include hallways, elevators, gym areas, and other places where all residents have access. When buying a condo, you are effectively buying everything inside the walls of your condo, while everything outside is shared and managed by a group of owners. You don’t actually own any land in a condo purchase.

Townhome

A townhome is an attached home, often in a community or complex of other townhouses, where some shared common areas may exist. When you buy a townhome, you buy the land it sits on and any garden or yard areas attached to your unit.

Conclusion

The definition of each has been challenged because attorneys have muddied the waters by drawing up covenants, conditions, and restrictions that call a development a “condominium” subdivision instead of a townhome and vice versa. Nonetheless, if we go back to the very definition that sets a condominium apart from a townhome, then one can assert that to be a townhome, the unit must touch the ground and go from ground to the roof, with no other units on top. 

So then, to be a condominium, a unit would have another unit sitting on top of it, which would not allow that top unit to touch the ground, leaving the bottom unit unable to touch the roof. 

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