5 Real Estate Terms: Every Homebuyer Needs To Know
As every industry has its terminologies, real estate does too. In the world of real estate, if you are a seller or buyer, you have to be familiar with many terms used by real estate professionals. Having basic knowledge and understanding of these terms will ensure a smooth conversation, selling, and buying process. Here we have for you, 5 commonly used real estate terms
Here Are The 5 Real Estate Terms
While conversing or even before you start a real estate journey, you need to have a prior understanding of these terms, to eliminate ignorance. There are several real estate terms but below are 5 basic real estate terms every homebuyer needs to know
1. Realtor: People often assume a realtor is the same as a real estate agent. Not all licensed real estate agents are realtors, but a realtor is recognized as a registered member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). A Realtor adheres strictly to NAR’s Code of standards and ethics. They are knowledgeable, trained, and certified to operate in the real estate business.
2. Closing: The closing refers to the meeting that holds when officially finalizing the sale of a property. At the closing, the buyer must sign all mortgage documents, makes a down payment, and pays closing costs. The seller also signs the final documents and completes the transaction with the buyer.
3. Titles and Title Insurance: A title is a legal government document allocated to a particular property. It signifies that a property owner is in lawful possession of such property. Title Insurance protects house owners or lenders against any property loss or damage they might experience due to sudden liens, defects, or encumbrances.
You can also read up on 7 Land Documents you must check before you buy that property
4. Listings: This is a term generally used by real estate agents to refer to homes for sale in the market. The name was derived as available homes are usually “listed” on a website or in a publication. Listings usually contain basic information about the available home for sale such as the price, location, number of rooms, and square footage.
5. Offer: A formal offer made on a home is the initial price offered by a prospective buyer to the seller. An offer can be the full list price or a fair market price or value a buyer and agent come up with.
A signed offer by the buyer is usually put into writing by a buyer’s agent and submitted to the seller or seller’s agent. The seller might accept or reject the offer, or counter with a different offer (counter offer) until an agreement is reached.