Partners' Capital - Narrative (Details) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands			12 Months Ended
	Feb. 20, 2019	Feb. 03, 2019 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Dividends declared per common share/unit (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 1.52	$ 1.44	$ 1.32
Cash dividends on common stock declared | $			$ 238,067	$ 226,172	$ 206,898
Subsequent Event
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Cash dividends on common stock declared | $		$ 67,100
Stock dividends on common stock declared (in shares)		4,500
AIMCO PROPERTIES, L.P.
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Redeemable partnership preferred units redeemed for cash during period (in units)			10	67	69
Common OP Units redeemed in exchange for cash during period (in units)			224	268	248
Dividends declared per common share/unit (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 1.52	$ 1.44	$ 1.32
AIMCO PROPERTIES, L.P. | Subsequent Event
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Cash dividends on common stock declared | $		$ 71,500
Stock dividends on common stock declared (in shares)		4,800
Forecast
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Reverse stock split, conversion ratio	0.9697534