Where cozy means tiny and charming means needs work.
Short for 'subject to'—acquiring a property while leaving the existing mortgage in place and making payments on behalf of the seller. It's a creative financing technique that makes attorneys nervous and investors wealthy.
The practice of advertising a low base price for a property while gradually revealing additional mandatory fees throughout the transaction. The 'budget airline' approach to real estate pricing.
An investment property with carrying costs that exceed the rental income, effectively eating the owner alive month by month. Named because it takes bigger and bigger bites out of your bank account.
The right to obtain full ownership of property while legal title remains with another party, typically during a purchase contract or land contract period. You get to act like the owner before you technically are.
Days On Market—the number of calendar days a listing has been active, serving as a digital scarlet letter that either signals a property is priced wrong or has bodies buried in the backyard. The higher the number, the more desperate everyone becomes.
A valuation metric for multifamily properties calculated by dividing price by number of units, because apparently 'per unit' wasn't jargony enough. It's the real estate equivalent of price per ounce.
Any claim, lien, or encumbrance that impairs the property's title and creates doubt about legal ownership. Like a stain on your property's permanent record that needs bleaching before you can sell.
Walk-Away Cash—the net proceeds a seller receives after paying off mortgages, liens, commissions, and closing costs. It's the moment of truth when sellers discover whether they're taking home a check or writing one.
Development expenses that aren't physical construction—architectural fees, permits, insurance, financing costs. The budget line items that mysteriously balloon while making your project more expensive without anything visible to show for it.
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 three-party alternative to a mortgage where a trustee holds the property title until the loan is paid. Like a mortgage, but with an extra person who can foreclose faster.
The minimum fixed rent amount in a commercial lease before any additional charges like utilities, insurance, or common area maintenance are tacked on. It's the starting point before your landlord creatively explains why you owe much more.
After Repair Value—the estimated market value of a property after renovations are completed, used by flippers and lenders to determine how much to invest. It's the number that makes every renovation look profitable in your spreadsheet, before reality intervenes.
Rules governing what you can do with your property, proving that ownership is really more of a suggestion.
The percentage of gross income needed to cover operating expenses and debt service, revealing how close a property teeters to financial disaster. It's the fiscal tightrope number—anything approaching 100% means you're one vacancy from trouble.
Insurance protecting the lender when you put down less than 20%, essentially punishing you for not being wealthy enough.
The art of secretly buying adjacent properties to combine into one larger, more valuable parcel—like playing real estate Tetris with someone else's neighborhood. It's why some buyers use LLCs to hide their acquisition strategy.
The government's official property stalker who determines how much your home is worth for tax purposes, usually right after you've renovated. These specialists combine questionable math with drive-by appraisals to decide your financial fate. They're like real estate agents, except they work for the taxman and nobody's happy to see them.
A contract provision allowing buyers to back out if they can't secure a loan, essentially making the deal conditional on a bank's approval. It's the escape hatch that makes sellers nervous and buyers sleep better at night.
The legal fine print that tells you what you can't do with your property, crushing dreams of backyard chicken coops and neon pink houses since time immemorial. These are the rules embedded in deeds, HOA bylaws, or zoning laws that limit how you can use or modify property. They're the reason you need to ask permission to build that treehouse in your own yard.
Predatory services promising to magically fix credit scores for upfront fees, usually doing nothing illegal that borrowers couldn't do themselves for free. It's the housing market's equivalent of those 'lose weight without diet or exercise' ads.
Legal documents where sellers reveal known defects, issues, or stigmas about a property. It's where you learn that 'charming' means 'haunted' and 'original fixtures' means 'nothing works.'
A socially acceptable form of gladiatorial combat where participants wave paddles and bankrupt themselves in public, all for the thrill of outbidding strangers. The highest bidder wins the dubious honor of paying more than everyone else thought something was worth. Popular in real estate, art, and estate sales where dead people's stuff finds new homes.
Debt-to-Income ratio—the calculation that determines if you're financially responsible enough to borrow money, by comparing your debts to your income. It's how lenders mathematically judge your life choices.