Real Estate Terms
Simple Real Estate Definitions : Short Sale
A "Short Sale" is when a home seller sells his home for a lesser amount than what is owed on his mortgage, and the mortgage lender agrees to accept the lesser amount in lieu of a full payoff.
By way of example, a Short Sale may be appropriate for a ...
Simple Real Estate Definitions : APR
APR is an acronym for Annual Percentage Rate. It's a government-mandated calculation meant to simplify the comparison of mortgage options.
A loan's APR can always be found in the top-left corner of the Federal Truth-In-Lending Disclosure.
Because APR is expressed as a percentage, many people confuse it for ...
Real Estate Terms : Escrow Account
An escrow account is a designated savings account into which funds get deposited for a specific purpose.
With respect to real estate and home loans, escrow accounts are used to pay real estate tax bills and homeowners insurance payments.
Escrow accounts are managed and disbursed by lenders.
When a homeowner ...
Real Estate Terms - FICO
The basis of most mortgage lending is credit scoring. In general, the higher a person's credit score, the lower his offered mortgage interest rate.
Despite the many credit scoring models in use today, however, just 3 are relevant to American homeowners:
- The Equifax BEACON® score
- The Experian Fair Isaac ...
Defining Average Vs. Median Home Prices
One of the terms which is least understood and most overused in real estate is “average”. It gets used a lot in news media coverage of the real estate industry; I guess, simply because there is not a more definitive way to describe price or days on market. Let's ...
Simple Real Estate Definitions : Refinance
A mortgage is a contract between a lender and borrower, defining the terms by which a home loan must be repaid.
The paperwork, signed by both parties, includes provisions for things like:
- The interest rate
- The length of the loan
- The amount of money to be borrowed
But, like all ...
Real Estate Terms - Distressed Properties
For the purpose of my real estate market reports, I tend to lump distressed properties together. So, what am I talking about when I say distressed properties. These are the terms used by our local Board of Realtor listing service.
Bank Owned - This is a home which has been foreclosed ...
Simple Real Estate Definitions : Home Inspection
A home inspection is a complete, top-to-bottom, visual check-up of the structure and systems of a house.
It is meant to be an objective determination of a home's condition.
A home inspection usually takes 3-6 hours to complete, depending on the size of the home.
During the inspection process ...
Real Estate Terms - BPO
BPO is short for Broker Price Opinion. A BPO is most commonly used by banks and investors when determining the property value of a home which is in the pre-foreclosure process.
In place of a full appraisal, the bank or investor will hire a broker or agent to evaluate the ...
Simple Real Estate Definitions : PITI
Most homeowners make four housing-related payments each month:
- Principal on a mortgage
- Interest on a mortgage
- Taxes on the real estate owned
- Insurance for the real estate owned
Collectively, these payments are known by the acronym PITI but don't let it fool you -- a homeowner's monthly expenses are ...
