Communism in theory and practical application are two different things. There are very few countries that don't have communist organizations of some sort (the US has about five). The reason for the diversity is there are disagreements on how the principles should be applied and strategies for implementing their plans. Some of the organizations try to form gurerriilla armies to physically take control while others participate in the political process like a typical political party.
I am not aware of any nation under communist control where everybody has the same homes. Since the state owns all business, you can buy what's available but that's one brand controlled by the regime. It's not uncommon for there to be a lot of black market activity outside what the government provides. In recent times, some communist nations have allowed product branding to make their products saleable in foreign markets. The bottom line is, to evaluate communist governments you must do it country by country. They're all different.
The word "communist" is more of an expression of the general principles of wealth being divided by need rather than ability. In application, there are many very different ways it has and is being implemented. Marxism, Maoism and other "isms" are just terms used to describe those applications
List of communist parties:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_communist_parties
