Where cozy means tiny and charming means needs work.
Breaking down property components into depreciable categories with different useful lives to accelerate tax deductions—basically legal tax magic for real estate investors.
How long a property has been listed before sale—the real estate equivalent of checking your expiration date.
When buyer and seller fight over who gets the deposit if the deal falls apart—the worst kind of relationship counseling.
The agent who represents you as the buyer, though technically the broker still wants you to overpay.
A known problem the seller admitted upfront—the legally mandated 'surprise spoiler alert.'
A binding contract that details the terms of a rental arrangement, basically a detailed way to say 'pay me monthly or get out.'
A transaction where you simultaneously buy and sell properties, often used in wholesaling to hide profit margins from the actual buyer.
Additional cash or property value included in a 1031 exchange to equalize the values being swapped, which unfortunately becomes taxable income. Named perfectly for something that kicks you right in the tax deferral strategy.
Living or occupying space without paying rent, either through arrangement, squatting, or as a benefit. In modern slang, it's also when someone or something occupies your thoughts constantly without deserving the mental real estate—like that embarrassing thing you said in 2015. The literal version is much less psychologically damaging.
A property allegedly so perfect you could move in immediately with nothing but your keys and belongings. Spoiler: there's always something.
A lawsuit filed by a co-owner to force the sale or physical division of jointly owned property when owners cannot agree on management or disposition. It's the legal sledgehammer for splitting property when co-ownership goes toxic.
Official permission to violate local zoning laws for your specific property, obtained by convincing bureaucrats that your unique situation justifies breaking the rules. It's a get-out-of-zoning-jail card that requires political finesse and often attorney fees.
When sellers agree to pay some of the buyer's closing costs, essentially discounting the price through the back door. A negotiation tactic that makes everyone feel like they won when really they just moved money between different piles.
A detailed examination of a property by a professional to find all the problems the owner conveniently forgot to mention.
Insurance protecting the lender when you put down less than 20%, essentially punishing you for not being wealthy enough.
Annual net income divided by property cost, the primary metric for evaluating commercial real estate investments.
A steep cliff or slope, often created by erosion or military design, that looks menacing and makes hiking feel unnecessarily dramatic. Engineers love them; hikers hate them.
Either a technical drawing showing how something is built or designed (especially buildings viewed from above), or a set of coordinated actions intended to achieve a goal. Real estate agents live by these; architects obsess over them.
A large, final payment due at the end of a loan term that covers the remaining principal balance. Named for its tendency to inflate your anxiety levels right before it's due.
A loan secured only by collateral, where the lender cannot pursue the borrower's other assets if the property is insufficient to cover the debt. The 'take the house and leave me alone' mortgage.
The extra compensation an agent receives when representing both buyer and seller, also called double-ending. Twice the work or twice the conflict of interest, depending on who you ask.
A form of property ownership where two or more parties hold equal, undivided interest with right of survivorship, meaning the property automatically transfers to surviving owners upon one's death. It's estate planning that bypasses probate court, assuming everyone stays friendly.
The practice of separating people or things, which can range from voluntary self-sorting to legally enforced discrimination that stains history books. In genetics, it's the boring-but-important Mendelian process where parent organisms pass only one allele to offspring. Real estate agents know it as that uncomfortable topic from the industry's shameful past that fair housing laws were created to combat.
A preliminary environmental assessment investigating a property's potential contamination history through records review and site inspection, without actually testing soil or water. It's due diligence for avoiding EPA superfund surprises.