Condos and houses differ both in how they're valued and in what needs to be checked before viewings begin. Understanding the traits of each in advance will help your sale go more smoothly.
- Condos have many comparable transactions, making it easier to gauge the market.
- For condos, checking for arrears in management fees and the repair reserve fund, and confirming the large-scale repair plan, matters.
- Houses are valued by assessing the land and building separately, which requires confirming the boundary.
- A house's value tends to decline with age more than a condo's does.
- Because the valuation approach differs for each type, it's worth consulting an agent experienced with that property type.
What to Check When Selling a Condo
Condos tend to have many comparable transactions within the same building or nearby, which makes it easier to get a sense of the market. At the same time, buyers place a lot of weight on whether management fees and the repair reserve fund are in arrears, and on the history and future plans for large-scale repairs. Any arrears generally need to be settled by the seller before handover, so it's worth checking with the management company in advance. Having the general meeting minutes and long-term repair plan on hand also gives buyers reassurance as evidence of how well the building has been managed.
What to Check When Selling a House
For a house, it's standard to evaluate the land and the building separately when arriving at a price. Whether the land's boundaries are confirmed is a key thing to check, and if they're ambiguous, a survey may be needed — see sell-18.html for the preparation specific to selling land. Encroachments, buried objects, and who owns a shared boundary wall with the neighboring property are also checks specific to houses.
How Valuation Differs
Condos tend to be easier to gauge because comparable closed transactions are readily available, whereas houses can vary more widely in valuation because the shape of the land and its road access differ property by property. Since the gap between individual properties can be large even within the same area, there's more value in getting valuations from several companies to compare. Even condos on the same rail line and of the same age can be valued differently depending on floor and orientation, so it's worth checking the details of comparable transactions carefully.
How the Timing of Value Decline Differs
A wooden house's building value tends to decline with age faster than a condo's does. This is related to the fact that, for tax depreciation purposes, wooden buildings have a shorter useful life than reinforced-concrete condos. For an older house, the land value tends to become the main driver of price rather than the building's value. It's not unusual, in fact, for an older house to be valued with the building treated as worth close to zero and the price centered almost entirely on the land.
How Selling Timelines Differ
Because multiple listings and closings can happen in parallel within the same condo building, a condo can sometimes sell relatively quickly depending on demand. Houses, on the other hand, tend to see the pool of prospective buyers narrowed by the land's shape and surrounding environment, and often take longer to sell than condos. When forming an expectation for how long your sale might take, it helps to ask your agent about recent closings in the same area and price range.
What to Prepare Regardless of Property Type
Whether you're selling a condo or a house, much of the thinking around selling costs, tax, and required documents overlaps. See sell-04.html for the overall picture of selling costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do condos and houses get valued differently?
Condos are easier to compare using similar transactions, while houses are evaluated by separating land and building and factoring in boundaries and road access, so the approach to valuation differs.
Is a house harder to sell than a condo?
Not necessarily, but the pool of prospective buyers can be narrower depending on the land's shape and surrounding environment, which can sometimes lengthen the selling period.
What should I check especially carefully when selling a condo?
Whether management fees and the repair reserve fund are in arrears, and the history and plans for large-scale repairs. It's smart to confirm these with the management company in advance.
Summary
Condos and houses differ in how they're valued and what needs to be checked. For condos, the focus is management fees, the repair reserve fund, and management condition; for houses, it's the boundary and the building's age-related decline in value. We'd recommend consulting an agent experienced with the type of property you're selling.