Where cozy means tiny and charming means needs work.
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.
When a property seller provides financing to the buyer, essentially acting as the bank and holding a note secured by the property. It's the real estate version of 'I'll spot you until payday'—except with six-figure stakes and actual paperwork.
A property marketing status indicating a listing will be active shortly, used to generate buzz and pre-market the property before it officially hits the MLS. It's the real estate equivalent of a movie trailer, complete with the same level of hype.
One one-hundredth of a percentage point, used to describe interest rate changes and fees without dealing with decimals. It's how mortgage professionals make 0.25% sound more important by calling it 25 basis points.
A personal note from buyers to sellers describing their emotional connection to the property and how they'll cherish it forever. They're increasingly discouraged or banned due to fair housing concerns, but still occasionally work to sway sentimental sellers.
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.
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.
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.
A contract binding a buyer to an agent for a specific period, ensuring the agent gets paid even if the buyer tries to ghost them after months of work. It's basically a pre-nup for the house-hunting relationship.
Scheduling multiple property viewings in rapid succession, typically in the same neighborhood, to maximize efficiency and minimize windshield time. It's speed dating for houses, and just as exhausting.
Someone who purchases property on behalf of another party who can't or won't reveal their identity, ranging from perfectly legal privacy plays to outright mortgage fraud. The real estate equivalent of a burner phone.
Someone who attends multiple open houses with no intention of buying, just enjoying free snacks and architectural tourism. They're often retired, bored, or working for a competing agent on reconnaissance.
A provision allowing an owner to sell individual parcels from a larger mortgaged property, common in land development. It's how developers avoid having all their eggs in one very large, very financed basket.
The escape hatch in every smart buyer's offer—a contingency allowing them to back out or renegotiate if the inspection reveals the house is held together by hope and termites. It's the 'just kidding' clause of real estate.
The predicted housing market flood as millions of boomers simultaneously try to sell their family homes and downsize, potentially tanking prices. It's demographic destiny meets real estate economics, and millennials are waiting with popcorn.
An offer with no escape clauses—no inspection, no appraisal, no financing contingencies. It's the real estate equivalent of skydiving without checking if there's a parachute in the backpack, popular in markets where desperation trumps common sense.
Government-mandated caps on rent increases, beloved by tenants and blamed by landlords for everything from peeling paint to climate change. Economics' most passionate debate in apartment form.
See earnest money, but longer and more official-sounding. Because real estate professionals get paid by the syllable.
A formal eviction warning telling tenants to pay up, shape up, or get out. The landlord-tenant relationship's breakup letter, now with legal consequences.
A contingency allowing sellers to accept backup offers and 'kick out' current buyers if they can't remove their contingencies fast enough. The real estate equivalent of keeping your options open while dating.
A Home Equity Line of Credit that lets homeowners borrow against their property's equity with a revolving credit line, typically at variable interest rates. It's a financial temptation that transforms your home into an ATM, for better or worse.
Money put down to show a seller you're serious about buying their property, essentially a financial hostage that says 'I mean business.' If you back out without a valid contingency, kiss that money goodbye.
A contract where one lien holder agrees to take a backseat to another in the priority line for getting paid if things go sideways, voluntarily accepting second-class status. It's cutting in line, but in reverse and with lawyers involved.
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.