Types of Apartments & Multifamily Buildings – Complete Guide

There are many different types of apartments and multifamily buildings. Investors should be aware of the many types of apartments so that they know their investment options.

Certain markets, like Manhattan in New York, have many tiny luxury apartments with high rents. But the island also has larger apartments and premium co-ops. Other cities have their own mix of apartment buildings and multifamily housing to complement single-family residences.

Clearly, investors have many choices. In this article, we cover:

• Different Types of Apartments
• Different Types of Multifamily Buildings
• How Assets America^® Can Help
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Helpful Related Articles

How Assets America^® Can Help

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Different Types of Apartments

Typically, we classify apartments by size and number of rooms. These classifications are somewhat arbitrary, but they help establish a framework for understanding the apartment markets.

Large Apartments

It’s important to understand that what one considers to be a large apartment is small compared to a house. Nonetheless, we demarcate anything larger than a two-bedroom as a large apartment. These include:

• 3+ Bedroom: These apartments offer a lot of space, multiple bathrooms and separate kitchens/dining rooms. Depending on the particular real estate market, these apartments can be rare or plentiful.
• Classic Six or Seven: Large apartments built in NYC and other places, usually before World War II, containing six or seven rooms.
• Penthouse: These are large apartments that sit at the top of an apartment building. Usually, they are quite luxurious and expensive, and they frequently offer spectacular views.
• Duplex/Triplex: Multi-story apartments featuring stacked living space connected by internal staircases. Typically, the units contain one or more levels dedicated to sleeping quarters.
• Maisonette: A triplex-apartment with its own private outdoor entry.
• Loft: Usually repurposed from industrial space, lofts typically have open floor plans and might occupy more than one level. Interestingly, some are purpose-built in new luxury buildings.      
• Parlor Floor: An apartment occupying the second floor of a brownstone or townhouse building. Extremely popular in Brooklyn.

NYC Apartment Tour of a Minimalist Studio

Medium Apartments

These apartments can accommodate individuals and small families:

• 2-Bedroom: Separate bedrooms, often with at least one ensuite bathroom. They often feature just 1 or 1 ½ bathrooms.
• 1-Bedroom: A single bedroom space, usually separate from a single bathroom. They can run the gamut from spacious to cramped, depending on the location and rent level.
• Flex: A 1-bedroom apartment with enough space to serve as a second bedroom. Surprisingly, some landlords allow tenants to put up drywall to create the additional sleeping space.
• Junior 1-Bedroom: On the cusp between medium and tiny apartment, this type of apartment has enough space for a separate small bedroom. Often, the bedroom is ¾ size.
• Garden: A garden apartment sits on the ground floor and accesses a back yard, lawn or garden.
• Shotgun Apartment: A multi-room apartment only one or two rooms wide. Each room opens into the next room. Typically, opens up in the back to outdoor space.
• Basement Apartment: An apartment below street level, with or without windows. It may have its own entrance.
• Flat: The “English” synonym for an apartment. However, San Franciscans define a flat as an apartment that takes up a single story of a large house.

Tiny Apartments

These apartments range from small to cramped. None of them have a separate bedroom, although larger studios might support conversion. These are best suited for individuals or couples.

• Studio: This is basically, a two-room apartment with an open kitchen/dining area and space for a small bed or convertible couch. The second room is a full bath.
• Alcove Studio:  A studio with an L-partition that creates a semi-private sleeping area.  It might not be any larger than a standard studio but feels more spacious.
• Convertible Studio:  A larger studio that you can convert to a 1-bedroom if the landlord allows it.      
• Micro-Studio: A studio with minimal kitchen and dining space, a cramped bathroom and tiny sleeping area. Typically, these apartments occupy less than 350 square feet.
• Single-Room-Occupancy Unit: A small sleeping area without its own kitchen or bathroom.  Tenants share common bathrooms, toilets and kitchens. Thankfully, some SRO units might have a sink, microwave oven and/or small refrigerator. Fascinatingly, they are called bedsits in the UK and hasukjibs in South Korea.
• Micro-Apartment:  This is an upscale cross between a studio apartment and an SRO unit. A micro-apartment can range from 50 to 350 square feet and may have its own bathroom and kitchenette. Unsurprisingly, in California these are “efficiency units” if they have at least 150 square feet.