Differences in housing

Hi Dany,

welcome to the forum.

The differences even here in Malta are not always that clear. As you are living in the US ? I would say for your understanding you can consider all as being appartments , just not in a bigger building !

To get something like a house in the US you would have to buy/rent a villa here in Malta.

Converted just means it is not falling apart and derelict.

Cheers
Ricky

Thanks Ricky. I will be coming from the US, but he is from the EU. I have spent a lot of time in England so I am aware that traditionally European houses aren't "American sized." I'm just getting confused because I'm seeing townhouses and terraced houses (which seem very similar to me) and some are listed as unconverted, but in the photos it looks as if people are living in them. So I wasn't quite sure of the Maltese definition of converted. I'm just getting an idea right now. I'm sure it will make more sense once we are there. Thank you for your response.

A maisonette would be a ground floor apartment with its own entrance, can be elevated ground floor, can be sort of below. Also can be on a first floor I suppose if they would convert a 2 floor house into 2 apartments - one on each floor, which they do quite a bit. Maybe thats what converted means? Quite unsure.

found this

explanations of different properties

http://ownersbest.com.mt/read/index/20000153

Hi there,
without taking what I say as being totally exact, in general a town house is a house that probably does not have a proper garden, maybe just a court yard, and access to the front of the house is usually very close to the street, or on the street. They are usually joined to another house or building on both sides, but can sometimes be free standing, meaning totally detatched, so there is no 'rule' for attatched or not.  They often do not have a garage or parking. 
A terraced house could be very similar to a town house, except that it would be in a row of houses that all look the same and are always attatched on both sides, which means that there is never a garage joined to the side of the house (but there could be one around the back).  The exception to the attatched 'rule' is an 'end of terrace' house, which, as the name describes, would be at the end of the row, therefore attatched on one side only.
A town house is usually a 'one off' and can have lovely, original features and an unusual shape, and sometimes quite an agreable living space once inside. 
A terraced house usually looks like all the other houses on the row and often holds less surprises once inside than some town houses can.
Your first feeling, that terraced and town are similar, is basically right, though when talking about the practical side of things.   
A maisonnette can be harder to describe because it is one of those wonderful French/latin words that has been transformed in more modern times to describe something that didn't really exist up until recently.  So, as a general rule again, a maisonette is usually a modern type house within a 'block' of either houses or apartments;
the maisonnettes I know share private parking lots with the maisonnette neighbours, but have their own front door, which doesn't make it an appartment.  I know some maisonnettes with small private gardens and some with no outside space at all.

"Converted" often just means renovated, but it could also mean that a house with a lot of volume has been "changed" into two or more smaller living spaces.  For example, a large house with an upstairs could have been "converted" into a ground floor apartment and a first floor apartment, each with independant entrances and living spaces.
I would hope that any property advertised, whether for rent or sale, has electricity and plumbing installed, otherwise the person could be breaking the law by not stating otherwise, so don't worry too much about the word "converted."  In literal terms, it just means "changed into"... 
It is also a way to say that the residence still has original features and has not been damaged by over modernisation over the years.
If you like 'modern', look at maisonnettes; if you like 'originality' and independance, look at 'town', and look at 'terraced' only if you come across something that really looks like the visit is worth it. 

I know that things are so different here than the States so I do hope that this has been of some help,

Good luck,

LI.

I am absolutely in love with the stone, the arches, all the original details so this really helps narrow down a search. I really want to find a house of character but will consider a townhouse or terraced house now that I know chances are that maisonettes will be modernized.

Very helpful responses. Thank you all so much!