General Real Estate Terms
100% Mortgage: A mortgage loan that provides 100% financing. In other words, you do not need to put any money down. Not everyone can get a 100% mortgage, and it has both it's good points and drawbacks. The good points are obvious: it allows someone with not much cash to be able to purchase property. Some bad points, however: your monthly payments will be higher, including your interest rate as well.
Abandonment Value: A value of a property if it were liquidated.
Bullet Loan: A loan that requires a balloon payment at the end of it's term.
Closing Costs: A combination of fees paid at the end of a real estate transaction. These fees are usually paid by the buyer, but sometimes the seller helps out or takes care of them completely.
Home Equity Conversions: Similar to home equity loans but geared towards senior citizens only. Also referred to as a reverse mortgage.
Housing Market Index: A rating system of 0-100 that shows the demand for new homes.
Property Taxes: Taxes that are paid by property owners every year or once a month. The total annual amount usually does not exceed 2% of the property value.
Quitclaim Deed: A deed in which all of someone's interest in property (or land) is released.
Recording Fee: Also referred to as an administration fee, it is a fee charged by the government for recording a real estate purchase into public record.
Trust Deed: A trust deed is used to add security when purchasing a property.
Zoning: Laws that control what can or cannot be built on certain pieces of land.
|