Where cozy means tiny and charming means needs work.
A revolving credit line that lets you borrow against your home's equity, because apparently one mortgage wasn't enough debt.
A person who rents a property from a landlord and has more rights than you'd think, which landlords discover too late.
Money withheld at closing to ensure the seller completes promised repairs or obligations—basically your insurance policy against seller disappearance.
Letter of Intent—the 'I'm seriously interested but not legally committed yet' document that keeps everyone guessing.
Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions—the rulebook that HOAs use to control your life in writing.
The waiting period lenders require after you acquire a property before you can refinance or apply for a cash-out loan—basically lenders' way of preventing immediate equity extraction.
The agent who represents you as the buyer, though technically the broker still wants you to overpay.
Buying a property exactly as it is without repairs—the seller's way of saying 'don't say I didn't warn you.'
A known problem the seller admitted upfront—the legally mandated 'surprise spoiler alert.'
Buying a property while leaving the original mortgage in place—you take the deed but not the loan, assuming the seller won't trigger the due-on-sale clause.
A legal claim filed by contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers against a property when they haven't been paid for work or materials. The construction industry's way of ensuring they don't become involuntary donors.
A tax deduction method that spreads a property's cost evenly over its useful life (27.5 years for residential). The IRS's gift to real estate investors, assuming you can wait three decades.
Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act—IRS rules requiring withholding from foreign sellers of US real estate. Because Uncle Sam doesn't trust foreigners to voluntarily pay capital gains taxes after they've left the country with the money.
A collaborative database where real estate agents list properties for sale, basically the internet before the internet made it all free.
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 rental income divided by property cost, an investment metric that helps you understand if you're actually making money.
Breaking up a piece of real estate (or a company) into smaller parcels for resale—the real estate equivalent of carving up a turkey. Usually done to maximize profit rather than actual value.
A narrow passageway that connects different spaces in a building or sometimes a physical strip of land that grants access between two locations. It's the organizational glue that prevents architects from creating maze-like nightmares—most of the time.
The expensive metal boxes that come with your home and inevitably break one week after the warranty expires. In real estate listings, 'stainless steel appliances' is code for 'we did the bare minimum to make this place sellable,' while 'appliances included' means they're too old to bother moving. These kitchen and laundry machines represent the intersection of necessity, status symbol, and planned obsolescence.
A public financing method using future property tax increases from development to fund current infrastructure improvements. Politicians love it because it looks like free money; critics note it's borrowing from tomorrow to pay for today, municipal style.
The strategic division of land into distinct zones for different uses (residential, commercial, industrial). It's how cities prevent a nightclub from opening directly next to your bedroom—theoretically.
An informal assessment of how much a lender thinks you can borrow based on self-reported information—basically a lender's educated guess before they actually check anything.
The percentage of the sale price paid to agents—traditionally 5-6% split between buyer's and seller's agents because that's what we've always done.