setback

Definition

The minimum required distance between a building and the property line or street, dictated by zoning laws. Your municipality's way of ensuring you can't build right up to the sidewalk.

Example Usage

The 25-foot front setback meant she had to redesign the house to fit further back on the lot.

Origin

Zoning terminology that emerged with urban planning regulations in the early 20th century

Fun Fact

Setback requirements originally aimed to prevent urban fires from spreading between buildings—now they're mostly about aesthetics and property values.

Source: Zoning and land use planning terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

warranty

A seller's promise that their product won't immediately explode or fall apart, though the fine print will explain in excruciating detail all the ways you can void this promise. This legal guarantee assures buyers that goods or property meet certain standards and provides recourse if things go wrong—assuming you kept the receipt, didn't use it wrong, and performed ritual maintenance every third Tuesday. Extended warranties are the profitable cousin that exists solely to make you second-guess your purchase.

🏠 Real Estate

Advanced

cost approach

A property valuation method calculating what it would cost to rebuild the structure from scratch, minus depreciation, plus land value. Useful for unique properties where comparable sales are scarce, like that missile silo you're converting into a home.

🏠 Real Estate

Advanced

gift of equity

When a seller (usually a family member) sells a property below market value and treats the difference as a down payment gift. It's nepotism in real estate form, and the IRS has feelings about it.

🏠 Real Estate

Beginner

DOM

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.

🏠 Real Estate

Advanced

non-contingent offer

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.

🏠 Real Estate

Beginner

As-Is

The seller's polite way of saying "we know it's broken and we don't care." Buying a property as-is is basically adopting a feral house and hoping love alone can fix the plumbing.

🏠 Real Estate

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