A licensed real estate professional that helps people buy and sell houses. The broker usually represents the seller of a property.

Expenses not included in the price of the property.

Examples:

• Appraisal Fee
• Title Searches
• Credit Report
• Home Inspection
• Attorney Fee
• Recording Fees
• Escrow Fee
• Transfer Taxes

Benefits that are thrown into a contract to close the deal. Both buyers and sellers can make concessions. Some examples: closing costs, appliances, repairs, etc.

Conditions included with the offer of a home that must be fulfilled before the deal can close. Although there are many, financing contingencies and inspection contingencies are the two that you usually hear the most about.

A default occurs when a borrower falls behind on their mortgage loan payments and their home is at risk for going into foreclosure.

A deed is a document that transfers ownership of property. The deed has the names of the people that used to own the house and the people who now own the house. It is signed by the person who is doing the transferring of the property.

The buyer’s responsibility to thoroughly investigate the property within a specified amount of time. Depending on the results of their investigation, the buyer may continue with the original contract, or they may want to amend the contract, or even cancel it.

This is a statement the seller makes in regards to their property. It is their chance to reveal anything that might affect them negatively and to give the buyers a head’s up. Failure to disclose certain things to buyers can get the sellers in a lot of trouble. You will need to research the state laws and talk with your agents about what you must disclose and what you don’t have to disclose.

The money you pay to secure the contract. This money is typically held jointly by the seller and buyer in an escrow account. If you back out of the sale, you will need to see if the reason you backed out is covered by contingencies. If it is not, you will forfeit that money.

When something crosses over the property line of neighboring lots. Encroachments can affect the title and may need to be looked into before buying or selling a house.

Money, documents and other assets held by a third party on behalf of the buyers and sellers during a transaction. Once the conditions have been met, the assets being held in escrow are released to their prospective parties.

The amount of a home’s value that the owner actually owns. Equity is calculated by taking the final sale price of the home and subtracting the amount the owner still owes on the mortgage loan. So, if you were to sell your house, the equity would be the money you would receive after paying off the mortgage.

Final Sale Price – Mortgage loan Amount Owed = Equity

When home owners fail to keep up with their mortgage payments, the bank or lender will take control of the property. Once the owner defaults on their mortgage payments, they will have a couple months to catch up on the payments before the ownership of the home is transferred to the bank or lender.

The HUD is a summary of the financial aspect of the transaction. It will itemize services and fees involved in the transaction. Some of these services and fees are the purchase price, closing costs, the loan amount, and many more.

A legal claim on property. A mortgage lender usually holds the most significant lien on a property. Other companies (utilities, contractors, etc.) can file a lien on a home in hopes of getting their money. If there are liens on your property you are going to have some issues when it comes to selling the property. You must pay off the lien(s) to get a clear title and proceed with selling of the property.

A loan that a bank gives you to help finance the purchase of a home. The loan is repaid over many years, plus interest, until they own the home outright.

The total amount of money you borrowed to purchase the home.

The transferring of ownership of a home to another party. Quitclaim deeds are usually used when transferring property to a family member or spouse. This type of deed makes no guarantee that the person releasing their claim to the property actually has ownership.

People refinance their home to pay off one loan to get another one with better terms, usually a lower interest rate. Other terms that may be altered are the payment amount and the payment date(s).

A document that shows ownership of a specific real estate property.

An investigation into the title to determine the history of ownership of a property. When doing a title search, there are many things we look for, such as, liens, restrictions, encroachments and other factors.