Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Increase (Decrease) in Partners' Capital [Roll Forward]
Redemption of common OP Units	$ (620)
Amortization of Aimco stock-based compensation cost	2,709
Change in accumulated other comprehensive loss	(580)aiv_OtherComprehensiveIncomeLoss
Other	39us-gaap_StockholdersEquityOther
Net income	102,414
AIMCO PROPERTIES, L.P [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Partners' Capital [Roll Forward]
Balance, December 31, 2014		1,208,809
Balance, March 31, 2015	1,598,876	1,208,809
Partners Capital [Member] \| AIMCO PROPERTIES, L.P [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Partners' Capital [Roll Forward]
Balance, December 31, 2014	1,208,809
Issuance of common partnership units to Aimco	366,585
Repurchase of Preferred Units from Aimco	(27,000)
Distributions to preferred units held by Aimco	(2,827)
Distributions to common units held by Aimco	(43,758)
Distributions to common units held by Limited Partners	(2,139)
Redemption of common OP Units	(620)
Amortization of Aimco stock-based compensation cost	2,709
Change in accumulated other comprehensive loss	(580)
Other	39
Net income	97,658
Balance, March 31, 2015	$ 1,598,876

Distributions to Common Partnership Units Held By Limited Partners

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Distributions to common partnership units held by parent

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Net income loss including portion attributable to noncontrolling interests included in permanent equity excluding portion attributable to noncontrolling interests included in temporary equity.

+ References

No definition available.

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Other comprehensive income loss.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Partners Capital Account Distributions To Preferred Unitholders.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Issuance of common units to Parent in connection with Parent's issuance of corresponding equity securities to third parties.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Redemption of preferred units held by parent in connection with parent's redemption of corresponding class of equity held by third parties.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Operating partnership units redeemed in exchange for cash or shares of Aimco Common Stock.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

This element represents the amount of recognized equity-based compensation during the period, that is, the amount recognized as expense in the income statement (or as asset if compensation is capitalized). Alternate captions include the words "stock-based compensation".

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

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-SubTopic 10

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- Definition

The amount of ownership interest of different classes of partners in limited partnership.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 04

-Article 3

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- Definition

This element represents movements included in the statement of changes in stockholders' equity which are not separately disclosed or provided for elsewhere in the taxonomy.

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