What are the Different Parking Types?
When a house or condo goes up for sale, the parking needs to be described. Almost all homes have at least one place to park a car, but not all parking is the same. You’ll see several different types of parking in real estate listings.
Real Estate Agent Explains Parking Types
What kind of parking you have determines how you will access and store your vehicle, and also how many vehicles you can have.
The Edmonton Real Estate Board recognizes quite a few different parking types. First off, you can have parking on-street or off-street. That starts the differentiation between the many parking types and then the off-street types are further divided:
On-Street Parking
On-street parking means there are no parking spaces, stalls or garages meant for the owner to park in that are on the property itself. It is not common to find a property sold with only on-street parking, but there are some older buildings downtown which may have no parking at all.
The abbreviation for on-street parking is STRET
Off Street Parking
Off-street parking is any parking that is on the property in question – most parking associated with real estate in Edmonton is off-street.
The abbreviation for off-street parking is OFFST
Off-street parking comes in many different forms:
Breezeways
Breezeways are typically meant for pedestrian traffic, but cars are sometimes parked under them. Breezeways are built between two structures (sometimes a house and a garage), where the roof extends from one structure all the way to the other. This kind of parking may keep a vehicle drier than parking outside, but breezeways do not have walls so the car may still get rained or snowed on. Breezeways are not common parking areas.
Breezeways are abbreviated on MLS listings as BRZWY
Carports
Carports are extensions of a roof structure of a house that is usually used for parking. That means that one or two walls are supporting the roof, but two or even three sides are open. You cannot heat a carport, so parking under one may keep off rain and snow, but that’s about it. Carports are not common in Edmonton, but you’ll see them here and there.
Carports can be for one or two cars and abbreviated as 1CRPT or 2CPRT
Detached Garages
Often it is older homes that have detached garages (if they have one at all). Detached garages are sometimes built after the house is built and come in a variety of sizes, shapes and could be situated almost anywhere on a property.
Detached garages come in many sizes and configurations, but most commonly they are single or double, and sometimes triple and even quad car or larger garages. They are abbreviated on MLS® listings as 1GDET, 2GDET, 3GDET or 4GDET for four cars or more.
Read Buyers Beware: Is That Garage Going to Work?
Attached Garages
The most popular parking type these days is attached garages. Attached garages are part of the house structure and are easier to heat than detached garages.
Attached garages also come in many sizes and can be for one, two, three, four or more vehicles. Property listings abbreviate these as 1GATT, 2GATT, 3GATT or 4GATT for four or more car garages.
Indoor Parking
Indoor parking means that the area is completely enclosed, above ground parking that is not in a garage – a garage being a smaller structure meant for few cars, whereas indoor parking is meant for many vehicles. Sometimes condominiums are built up on a parking garage, although this format is rare.
Indoor parking is typically for one or two cars only and can appear on listings as 1INDR or 2INDR
Parkade Parking
Parkade parking is not common in Edmonton, but there are some buildings that have a parkade for their tenants. Commercial buildings downtown will sometimes have a parkade.
Parkades show as P/ADE on listings
Underground Parking
Underground parking is almost always reserved for high-rise apartment condominiums and commercial high-rises. Because building an underground parking garage in Edmonton is expensive, they are not that common except where land value is very high – as it is in the downtown core.
Parking underground is abbreviated as UNDGR, but has no specific number of stalls stated – that information is located elsewhere on the listing
Outdoor Stalls
Outdoor parking stalls are often reserved for condominium and apartment-dwellers. These parking stalls are not common near the center of the city because land is so valuable, but you can see parking lots for high-rise and low-rise apartments in many other areas of the city.
Outdoor parking stalls are listed as 1OTDR (for one stall) or 2OTDR (for two stalls) on listings
Parking Pad
A miniature version of a stall, a parking pad is meant for just one or two cars and have no covering at all. A pad consists of just a concrete or asphalt parking area. This is the least expensive form of off-street parking.
Parking pads are shown as PAD on MLS® listings
Other factors that affect parking are access, wiring, insulation, heating, size arrangement and things like a shop. These items are sometimes listed when a property is for sale as well, and of course each one has an abbreviation as well. Here they are:
| Description | Abbreviation |
| 220 Volt Wiring | 220V |
| Front & Rear Drive Access | FR&RE |
| Front Drive Access | FRONT |
| Heated | HEATD |
| Insulated | INSUL |
| No Garage | NOGAR |
| Over Sized | OVSZ |
| Rear Drive Access | REAR |
| RV Parking | RV |
| Shop | SHOP |
| Stall | STALL |
Often parking is something people forget when shopping for a home – for more information about parking, see Top 5 Things Home Buyers Overlook.
Why Does it Matter?
Parking is an extremely important factor for property owners. It is very common for households to have more than one vehicle and where those vehicles are going to be parked can be a big deciding factor in a home purchase. And don’t forget about guest parking and parking for new driver, too – kids don’t stay kids forever! It is hard to get around Edmonton without a car, so keep parking in mind whenever you’re shopping for a place to live.
