REAL ESTATE BASICS
The legal document that transfers ownership of real property.
What is a deed?
A loan used to purchase a home.
What is a mortgage?
A showing scheduled for the public to view a property.
What is an open house?
U.S. law that prohibits housing discrimination.
What is the Fair Housing Act?
The value of a property minus the amount owed on it.
What is equity?
The initial cash payment made when buying a home.
What is a down payment?
The percentage charged by lenders for borrowing money.
What is interest?
The final step before closing, where buyers check the property’s condition.
What is the final walk-through?
Real estate professionals must put their clients’ interests above their own.
What is fiduciary duty?
An increase in property value over time.
What is appreciation?
A written agreement between buyer and seller outlining the terms of a sale.
What is a purchase contract (or sales contract)?
Insurance that protects the lender when a buyer puts less than 20% down.
What is PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance)?
The term for a seller who lists their home without an agent.
What is For Sale By Owner (FSBO)?
Money held in trust by a third party until closing.
What is earnest money (in escrow)?
A person authorized to represent buyers or sellers in real estate transactions.
What is an agent?
The process of determining a property’s market value.
What is an appraisal?
A type of loan where the interest rate changes over time.
What is an ARM (Adjustable-Rate Mortgage)?
This type of listing guarantees the broker a commission regardless of who sells the property.
What is an exclusive right to sell listing?
The Latin phrase meaning “let the buyer beware.”
What is caveat emptor?
The process of combining smaller parcels of land into one larger parcel.
What is assemblage (or plottage)?
The government’s right to take private property for public use with compensation.
What is eminent domain?
This government agency backs FHA loans.
What is the Federal Housing Administration?
The paperwork given to buyers and sellers detailing costs before closing.
What is the Closing Disclosure?
Failing to disclose known defects in a property could be considered this.
What is misrepresentation (or fraud)?
Land and everything permanently attached to it.
What is real property (or real estate)?