Real Estate Terms you Should Know

When buying a home there are many real estate terms that a realtor may use to describe a property that you should know to help you understand just what they are saying about the particular property. These real estate terms will help you know if the property that you are looking at is what you want.

• Old fashioned, antique, original—these terms can show that the property is too old to be ever cleaned completely but is still too new to be considered a historical monument. Many times these properties will have beautiful tile work, high ceilings, and crown moldings but there are also disadvantages with these properties. The disadvantages can include drafty windows, having to replace a fuse instead of just flipping the breaker, and sewer backups.
• Brand new, state-of-the-art, never lived in—one thing to keep in mind with this type of home is that sometimes things will not work as expected with construction that is new.
• Fixer-upper, investment opportunity, handyman’s special—these terms mean just what they say. The home needs to be fixed up and can sometimes need a lot of work to get it in livable condition.
• Desirable location, excellent school district, great view—if you do not have at least fifty percent of the value of these homes in your checking or savings account you should not bother checking these properties out because they will usually be very expensive.
• Close to, accessible, convenient to—these terms will usually translate to “can see from your front porch” which is not so bad if it the ocean or a park but not so good if it is close to the community hospital, a strip mall, or train tracks.
• Breakfast bar—this can mean that there use to be a wall that separated the kitchen from the rest of the other room but someone decided to cut out the top half of the wall and put a tabletop on the bottom half of the wall.
• Development—this term can refer to apartments, condos, or houses and usually means that the property looks similar to all the others around it so you will something that will make it stand out some so you know which one is yours.
• Spacious—this can mean that there will be a lot of rooms to clean and vacuum.

These are just some of the many real estate terms that a person should be aware of before they start looking at properties or homes to buy.