Glossary of Real Estate and related terms.

All

Discretionary Income

Income left over for investment after allocations for bills and savings.

Dispossess

To oust from land by legal process.

Down Payment

The amount of your home's purchase price you need to supply up front in cash to get your loan. For conventional loans, you should strive for a down payment that's at least 10% of your home's value/purchase price.

Duplex

A structure that provides housing accommodations for two families and supplies each with separate entrances, kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms and bathrooms. A two-family dwelling with the units either side by side or one above the other.

Earnest Money Deposit

A deposit made by the potential home buyer to show that he or she is serious about buying the house.

Easement

A right of way giving persons other than the owner access to or over a property.

Effective Rate

The effective rate is a consumer-oriented rate that takes into account the projected amount of time you tell us you will actually have the loan, as well as the specific costs, fees, and potential rate changes associated with it. The fees and costs are distributed over the time you plan to be in the house, allowing you to do an apples-to-apples comparison of a variety of loan types. The effective rate is not the APR. It is similar in that it factors in interest, mortgage insurance, and other.

Encroachment

An improvement that intrudes illegally on another's property.

Encumbrance

Anything that affects or limits the fee simple title to a property, such as mortgages, leases, easements, or restrictions.

Equity

The difference between the current market value of a property and the total debt obligations against the property. On a new mortgage loan, the down payment represents the equity in the property.

Equity Loan

A loan based on a percentage of the equity a borrower holds in a collateral property.

Escrow

A transaction in which a third party acts as the agent for seller and buyer, or for borrower and lender, in handling legal documents and disbursement of funds.

Escrow Agent

A person with fiduciary responsibility to the buyer and seller, or the borrower and lender, to ensure that the terms of the purchase/sale or loan are carried out.

Estate

The ownership interest of an individual in real property. The sum total of all the real property and personal property owned by an individual at time of death.

Exclusive Listing

A written contract that gives a licensed real estate agent the exclusive right to sell a property for a specified time.