encumbrance

Definition

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.

Example Usage

The title search revealed three encumbrances, including a mechanics lien from 2015 that nobody bothered to resolve.

Origin

From Old French 'encombrer' meaning to block or hinder

Fun Fact

Some encumbrances, like historic preservation restrictions, can prevent you from changing your own house color—freedom with asterisks.

Source: Real estate law and title terminology

Related Terms

Advanced

sub2

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.

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

blanket mortgage

A single loan that covers multiple properties, popular with developers and investors who find getting individual mortgages tedious. It's the financial equivalent of buying in bulk, often with a release clause letting you sell properties individually.

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

Comparable

A nearby property that supposedly proves your house is worth what someone says it is, despite having completely different everything. It's the real estate version of comparing apples to slightly different apples that sold six months ago.

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

Comps

Short for comparables, these are recently sold nearby homes that agents use to justify whatever price they want. Finding the right comps is an art form -- you just cherry-pick the ones that support your narrative.

🏠 Real Estate

Beginner

PCM

Per Calendar Month—the rental industry's way of stating the bleeding obvious about monthly payments, because apparently 'monthly' wasn't clear enough. Commonly seen in real estate listings alongside other redundant acronyms designed to make basic concepts sound more professional. The 'ATM machine' of property jargon.

🏠 Real Estate

Advanced

net rentable area

The actual square footage tenants can occupy and must pay for, excluding common areas, mechanical rooms, and structural elements. It's why your 'thousand square foot' office feels like eight hundred.

🏠 Real Estate

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