Organization	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
Organization/Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Organization	NOTE 1 — Organization Apartment Investment and Management Company, or Aimco, is a Maryland corporation incorporated on January 10, 1994. Aimco is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT, engaged in the ownership and operation of a diversified portfolio of apartment properties. AIMCO Properties, L.P., or the Aimco Operating Partnership, is a Delaware limited partnership formed on May 16, 1994 to conduct the business of acquiring, redeveloping, leasing and managing multifamily apartment properties. Aimco, and through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, AIMCO-GP, Inc. and AIMCO-LP Trust, owns a majority of the ownership interests in the Aimco Operating Partnership. Aimco conducts all of its business and owns all of its assets through the Aimco Operating Partnership. Interests in the Aimco Operating Partnership that are held by limited partners other than Aimco are referred to as “OP Units.” OP Units include common partnership units, high performance partnership units and partnership preferred units, which we refer to as common OP Units, HPUs and preferred OP Units, respectively. We also refer to HPUs as common OP Unit equivalents. At March 31, 2012, after eliminations for units held by consolidated entities, the Aimco Operating Partnership had 129,459,034 common OP Units and equivalents outstanding. At March 31, 2012, Aimco owned 121,351,204 of the common OP Units (93.7% of the common OP Units and equivalents of the Aimco Operating Partnership) and Aimco had outstanding an equal number of shares of its Class A Common Stock, which we refer to as Common Stock. Except as the context otherwise requires, “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Aimco, the Aimco Operating Partnership and their consolidated entities, collectively. As of March 31, 2012, we owned an equity interest in 196 conventional real estate properties with 62,420 units and 165 affordable real estate properties with 19,947 units. Of these properties, we consolidated 190 conventional properties with 60,974 units and 132 affordable properties with 17,040 units. These conventional and affordable properties generated 88% and 12%, respectively, of our proportionate property net operating income (as defined in Note 11) during the three months ended March 31, 2012. As of March 31, 2012, we also provided services for or managed 8,569 units in 126 properties, primarily pursuant to long-term asset management agreements. In certain cases, we may indirectly own generally less than one percent of the operations of such properties through a syndication or other fund. In February 2012, we entered into an agreement to transfer asset management of a portfolio comprised of substantially all of these managed properties, and to sell our interests in this portfolio to the new asset manager upon satisfaction of certain conditions and regulatory approvals.

Organization

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Organization/Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

NOTE 1 — Organization

Apartment Investment and Management Company, or Aimco, is a Maryland corporation incorporated on January 10, 1994. Aimco is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT, engaged in the ownership and operation of a diversified portfolio of apartment properties. AIMCO Properties, L.P., or the Aimco Operating Partnership, is a Delaware limited partnership formed on May 16, 1994 to conduct the business of acquiring, redeveloping, leasing and managing multifamily apartment properties.

Aimco, and through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, AIMCO-GP, Inc. and AIMCO-LP Trust, owns a majority of the ownership interests in the Aimco Operating Partnership. Aimco conducts all of its business and owns all of its assets through the Aimco Operating Partnership. Interests in the Aimco Operating Partnership that are held by limited partners other than Aimco are referred to as “OP Units.” OP Units include common partnership units, high performance partnership units and partnership preferred units, which we refer to as common OP Units, HPUs and preferred OP Units, respectively. We also refer to HPUs as common OP Unit equivalents. At March 31, 2012, after eliminations for units held by consolidated entities, the Aimco Operating Partnership had 129,459,034 common OP Units and equivalents outstanding. At March 31, 2012, Aimco owned 121,351,204 of the common OP Units (93.7% of the common OP Units and equivalents of the Aimco Operating Partnership) and Aimco had outstanding an equal number of shares of its Class A Common Stock, which we refer to as Common Stock.

Except as the context otherwise requires, “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Aimco, the Aimco Operating Partnership and their consolidated entities, collectively.

As of March 31, 2012, we owned an equity interest in 196 conventional real estate properties with 62,420 units and 165 affordable real estate properties with 19,947 units. Of these properties, we consolidated 190 conventional properties with 60,974 units and 132 affordable properties with 17,040 units. These conventional and affordable properties generated 88% and 12%, respectively, of our proportionate property net operating income (as defined in Note 11) during the three months ended March 31, 2012.

As of March 31, 2012, we also provided services for or managed 8,569 units in 126 properties, primarily pursuant to long-term asset management agreements. In certain cases, we may indirectly own generally less than one percent of the operations of such properties through a syndication or other fund. In February 2012, we entered into an agreement to transfer asset management of a portfolio comprised of substantially all of these managed properties, and to sell our interests in this portfolio to the new asset manager upon satisfaction of certain conditions and regulatory approvals.