Becoming A Homeowner

Posted on: 26 June 2018

If you go online to search for all of the homes available and for sale in your area (or anywhere else, for that matter), then you will probably encounter at least half a dozen search engine bars on various real estate sites. As you click on these drop-down menus, some are already populated with search choices. However, if you do not know the difference between a "ranch" home and "split-level," or a single-family home-detached versus single family home-attached, you may be frustrated with the search results. The following popular searches that are often pre-populated in the drop-down lists are more clearly defined to help you search for what you really want.

Split-Level 

This is a style of house where you may enter the front door on the second level of the house at ground level, while the rest of the home is either split between the lower level or the level on which you enter the house. The design may have the common areas (i.e., kitchen, dining, and living rooms) on the entry level, with the bedrooms downstairs, or the bedrooms at entry level, and the common areas downstairs. The house is elevated such that windows for the lower levels can still look outside onto the front lawn, and the rear of the house frequently has a walk-out entrance onto a patio via patio doors.

Single-Family Attached vs. Duplex vs. Twindominium

These three search phrases are probably the most confusing of all. A single-family attached home is a house that shares a complete wall. If you were to punch holes through this wall, you could look directly into your neighbor's house! There is nothing else in between your house and the neighbor's except for this shared wall.

A duplex may share a wall, but there is almost always a set of separate garages between most of the rest of the home and your neighbor's home. The wall space you may share is only shared in one room of the entire home. This leaves you with more privacy than a single-family attached home. 

A twindominium, or "twindo," is like a condo or condominium, except instead of four, six, or eight homes built into one massive building, there are only two. A twindo may also be a single-family attached home because of shared wall space. Yet, the structure of the twindo and the floor layout are exceedingly different, with most of the one home located upstairs and most of the second home located downstairs or next door.