There are a lot of home tenures that are lurking in the market but for most people, there are three basic types of home ownership that should be given emphasis:

1. Private House

It can be a one-family structure and can be either totally unattached, semi-attached, or fully attached. An owner usually purchases the entire structure and receives a deed at closing indicating that he or she is the only owner of the property.

An owner also receives a deed to the property and has the ability to lease some or all of the apartments to others in exchange for rental income. In order for this to be legal, the building department of the municipality in which the property is located must have approved the building for use as a two, three or four family dwelling.

The owner of this type of home usually is responsible to pay property taxes to the municipality.

2. Condominium

A condominium unit is similar to ownership of a private house. The purchaser receives a deed indicating that he or she owns the condominium unit as well as a certain percentage of the common areas like hallways and laundry rooms.

In addition to paying the monthly mortgage payment, the owner usually has to pay a monthly maintenance charge to the Board of Managers of the Condominium to maintain the building and the common areas.

The unit owner is also responsible for the payment of the property taxes assessed by the municipality.

3. Cooperative Apartment

An owner of a cooperative apartment does not receive a deed to the premises like is the case with a private home or a condominium unit. The purchaser receives shares of stock in the cooperative corporation that actually owns the building.

The cooperative corporation actually runs the day to day affairs of the building, collects a monthly common charge fee to doing so, and pays the real estate taxes assessed against the building from the common charges collected from the apartment owners.

A prospective purchaser of a cooperative apartment must receive approval from the Board of Directors of the cooperative corporation before they can actually purchase an apartment.