Common Interest Developments (CID's)
If you work with the Bureau of Real Estate on very many developments, you quickly become accustomed to speaking in acronyms, like "CID," and "HOA," to name two.
CID = Common Interest Development. More specifically, it is a development where there is a common interest, or common element, that will be owned (or controlled) by a Homeowners Association (HOA).
Many times, real estate professionals, including developers themselves, refer to a CID automatically as a "condominium," because a development includes an HOA. This can be very misleading, since a condominium is just one type of CID... Another type is a "Planned Development." The two types of developments are discussed here.
A Condominium is a type of real estate development where the interests to be sold are airspace, coupled with an undivided interest in a common area/element. Since the interests are airspace, they are created by a "Condominium Plan," which essentially is a vertical subdivision. The Condominium Plan is a 3-dimensional plan that defines both the airspace Unit(s) and the Condominium Common Area. Commonly, condominiums are "stacked" with residential units on top of each other; however, in today's market, we often see detached condominium units.
A Planned Development is basically a lot-in-tract development, where the buyer receives fee title to a specified lot. In addition to the residential lot(s), there exists a common area lot (or element) that is also shown on the subdivision map. Examples of common area improvements might be a gated street, open space, a park or other recreational facility. The residential dwellings can be attached, townhome, row-house or single family detached. The common area is deeded to the HOA, which is then responsible for maintenance and the accompanying liability. A planned development is often referred to as a "townhouse" project; however, it is important to note that a townhouse is merely an architectural style of building.
Another type of CID is a Condominium Conversion, which is the conversion from a pre-existing use (i.e., apartments) to ownership condominium interests. A Condominium Plan would be recorded to create the individual Units.
The architectural composition of the dwelling structure is not the final determining factor of what type of CID is created. Rather, it is the structure of ownership that is the final determining factor of what type of development a given project is.
It is estimated that more than 47 million people in the United States live in some type of CID. Well over 80% of new housing developments created and filed with the California BRE are CIDs. It definitely merits understanding what a CID is, and learning to distinguish one type from another, if you are in the business. Click HERE for a brochure on “Living in a Common Interest Development” located on our WEBSITE.
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