Where cozy means tiny and charming means needs work.
Any mortgage that doesn't meet Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac guidelines, whether due to size, property type, or borrower qualifications. It's the misfit toy of lending, typically more expensive and harder to get.
Discounted Cash Flow analysis—a valuation method projecting future cash flows and discounting them to present value; the quantitative investor's favorite way to prove their thesis.
A three-digit number between 300-850 that essentially determines your financial destiny and your ability to borrow money at reasonable rates.
To examine something critically and officially to uncover problems, defects, or compliance issues—basically a sanctioned witch hunt with a clipboard.
A metric comparing property income to debt payments, calculated by dividing net operating income by annual debt service. Commercial lenders worship this number, typically requiring 1.25 or higher to prove you can actually afford the loan.
Upfront fees paid to the lender at closing to reduce your interest rate, where one point equals 1% of the loan amount. It's buying a discount on money you're borrowing—capitalism at its finest.
The original loan amount borrowed, excluding interest, or in agency relationships, the person represented by an agent. Context is everything, because confusing the two can make closing statements deeply confusing.
The ethically questionable act of accepting a higher offer on a property after already agreeing to sell to someone else but before contracts are signed. It's the real estate equivalent of leaving someone at the altar for a richer suitor.
The charge lenders levy for processing your loan application and creating your mortgage. It's basically an admission fee to the debt party, typically 0.5-1% of the loan amount.
A deed transferring whatever interest the grantor has in property, if any, with zero warranties or guarantees. The 'I might own this, I might not, good luck!' document of real estate transfers.
An acronym for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat—a wealth-building strategy where investors recycle their capital by refinancing rental properties to pull out equity for the next deal. It's the real estate equivalent of a perpetual motion machine, minus the laws of thermodynamics.
Buying property while leaving the existing mortgage in place under the original borrower's name. It's legally questionable, financially risky, and somehow still happens regularly.
A quick exterior assessment of a property from your vehicle, because sometimes you can tell from the street that 'charming fixer-upper' means 'condemned by next Tuesday.' It's the real estate version of swiping left.
Common Area Maintenance charges—fees in commercial leases where tenants reimburse landlords for shared expenses like landscaping, snow removal, and parking lot maintenance. It's how landlords outsource their property bills to the people renting from them.
The physical structure and materials of a property, as opposed to the land or location. It's what contractors care about and what investors try to look past while focusing on cash flow.
Any claim, lien, or liability attached to a property that affects its title or value. Think of it as baggage, except instead of emotional issues, it's tax liens and utility easements.
In construction and real estate, the detailed process of measuring and quantifying all materials needed for a project from blueprints, basically turning drawings into shopping lists. Also known as "quantity takeoff," it's the unglamorous math that prevents contractors from discovering mid-project that they're three truckloads of concrete short. Get it wrong, and someone's explaining cost overruns to very angry people.
An organization governing a residential community with rules designed to maintain property values and busybody neighbors' quality of life.
A soil test measuring how quickly water drains, crucial for determining if a property can support a septic system. Dirt's resume for its ability to handle your wastewater.
The noble art of physically visiting comparable properties to verify that online photos haven't been taken with a fisheye lens from the ceiling. It's due diligence for agents who don't trust Zillow's measurements or the laws of physics.
To take something old and tired and dump unreasonable amounts of money into it while convincing yourself it's an 'investment' rather than an expensive hobby. In real estate, it's the process of transforming a dated property into something Instagram-worthy, usually involving copious amounts of subway tile, exposed brick, and budget overruns. The verb that turns homeowners into temporary construction experts who suddenly have strong opinions about grout colors.
Real Estate Owned—a property that reverted to a lender's ownership after a failed foreclosure auction. These are the banking industry's participation trophies, proving they're now reluctant landlords who just want their money back.
A property built on speculation without a specific buyer in mind, using builder-grade everything in beige or gray. The housing equivalent of business casual—safe, boring, and designed to offend absolutely nobody.
Property tax rate expressed in mills, where one mill equals one-tenth of one cent ($0.001). Because saying 'point zero zero one dollars' is apparently too straightforward for local governments.