(4/1/2010 - 4/30/2010 – *Residential Homes Only **Statistics include Medford Lakes, NJ)

Sold Medford, NJ Homes Market Statistics:

• 18 Homes Sold in April.
• Average Days on Market: 170 days
• Average Original List Price: $449,738
• Average Sold Price: $407,600
• Highest Sold Price: $605,000
• Lowest Sold Price: $198,500

Sold Medford, NJ Homes by Address:

• 25 William Penn Cir, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $198,500
• 5 Blackhawk Ct, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $213,000
• 102 Christopher Mill Rd, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $271,000
• 4 Woodmont Ct, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $275,000
• 17 Robin Way, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $349,900
• 206 Sunny Jim Dr, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $370,000
• 20 Olde Mill Run, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $387,500
• 5 Lexington Dr, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $390,000
• 4 Hobbes Ct, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $415,000
• 18 Nottingham Dr, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $430,000
• 5 Chipping Woods Ct, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $460,000
• 11 Abingdon Ave, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $467,000
• 7 Pinecrest Dr, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $515,000
• 8 Shawnee Ct, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $549,900
• 135 W Centennial Dr, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $580,000
• 38 Macclesfield Dr, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $585,000
• 42 Highbridge Blvd, Medford, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $605,000
• 57 Oak Dr, Medford Lakes, NJ  –  Sold Price:  $275,000

Current Medford, NJ Housing Market Conditions:

• Number of Homes Listed in April:  84 homes
• Total Number of Active Homes for Sale:  296 homes 
• Pending Home Sales:  26 homes

Looking to sell your Medford, NJ home? Contact your Medford NJ real estate expert for more information on how we can help: steve.torelli@gmail.com or (856) 290-5205.

Proudly serving the entire South Jersey real estate market including Burlington County, Camden County & Gloucester County.  

If any of you still want to take advantage of it, you may need to spend your lunch hour today locking in a real estate contract! 

For today is the last day to go to contract and still receive the tax credit (up to $8000).  However, you have until June 30, 2010 to actually close on the home and still be eligible. 

The one exception is for members of the military, foreign service, and intelligence communities, who have served on official extended duty outside of the U.S. for 90 days or more between January 1, 2009, and April 30, 2010.  They have until April 30, 2011, to sign a sales contract, and until June 30, 2011 to close.

And remember, the extension also includes current home owners who have lived in their present home at least five of the past eight years.  They can receive up to $6500 for buying their next primary residence, if they go to contract before the end of today.

However, there are some restrictions and income limits that have been put into place with this extension.  So please see the following link for further details before you sign on any dotted line!

Any chance of a repeat extension?

Sorry, unlike last November, there will be no 11th hour, six month extension of the program.

This time there was no lobbying effort by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), nor pleas for help from the home builders.  The training wheels are coming off, and it’s time to see if the real estate industry can pedal on its own without Uncle Sam giving low end home buyers a credit equal to two or three times their down payment!

Ah, but alas, all over America, Baby Boomer Realtors are singing that old sad song from the 60′s, “What now, my love?“, with the first time home buyer tax credit and the sales it generated being the love that may be going away:

“What now my love
Now that you left me
How can I live through another day
Watching my dreams (of retirement?) turn into ashes
And all my hopes, into bits of clay
Once I could see, once I could feel
Now I am numb I’ve become unreal”

-Gilbert Becaud and Pierre Delanoe

So what is the current state of the real estate market? 

About as mixed as it could possibly be.

On the one hand, we have reports of existing home sales having risen almost 7% in March and new construction sales blowing past all estimates with a 27% increase from February. 

In addition, the median sales price of those new homes was at $214,000, up more than 4% from one year ago.  Prices in many areas of the country are showing signs of stabilization, including some of the regions that were the hardest hit in recent years.

Investors are quickly taking advantage of incredible prices, extended low interest rates, and an increasing number of former homeowners, who after foreclosure, have no choice for the next three years but to rent until their credit improves. 

In fact, almost 20% of the homes sold in March were to investors, and inventories of inexpensive homes is drying up in some areas, such as California and Las Vegas, NV.

About 36% of all the sales in the month of March were distress sales (foreclosures + short sales), a slight increase over February numbers.

Total inventory, which a few years ago was at a 13 or 14 month supply of homes in many parts of the country, is now about 8 months.  This is certainly an improvement.

So all of this is well and good, but could this just be the calm before the next storm?
You see there’s that  pesky old “shadow inventory”, which just doesn’t seem to want to go away.  Banks are still holding onto millions of foreclosures, while the number of “walk away” homeowners continues to increase.

Last week, Ivy Zelman, a former Credit Suisse analyst who was one of the early prognosticators of the real estate market crash, had this to say about shadow inventory at a Washington, D.C. real estate trends conference:

“Public policy is delaying the pig in the python.  The pig has lipstick.”

Translation:  The Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is making the shadow inventory problem look better than it really is by simply delaying the inevitable.
Zelman noted that if you take an area like Washington, D.C., which has a below average 5.1 month supply of homes, and add the shadow inventory to that inventory, the actual number balloons up to a 13.2 month supply.

That would be roughly where we were in 2008, which means that most of the administration’s year long efforts to stabilize the real estate market would have done substantially little to improve the numbers. 

The best one could say is that perhaps the numbers would have been worse without the various programs enacted since then.

Still another problem is that the high priced homes continue to lag way behind the homes below $150,000.  According to Zelman, there is a 45 month supply of homes with asking prices between $400,000-$600,000!

That’s just insane.

Although 30 year jumbo mortgage rates are now down to 5.875% and 15 year jumbos are around 5.375%, lenders continue to demand 20% to 25% down from borrowers.  What’s more, there are no modifications for current struggling or unemployed jumbo loan holders.  

Say what you will about not feeling sorry for the folks with the high priced homes, but when the value of their homes drop, that depresses the price of all of the homes below them as well. 

That means more folks going underwater on the lower priced homes.  If they then decide to walk away from their homes, we will have increasing inventory, which will lead to further price deflation.

However, if they remain in their homes, and (being underwater) are forced to remove them from the market, that will reduce inventory numbers and offer a better chance for price stability. 

Can’t we have our cake and eat it too?  Not likely.

So which way will the market go?
If this was 30 years ago, I would be betting heavily that people will remain in their homes.  But today everything is different. 

Many people don’t have the same pride of home ownership that their parents or grandparents once did, and they don’t feel it is immoral to hand the keys back to the bank.

Some point to the banks packaging off loans by the thousands in Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO), and say they have no obligation left to the bank with whom they went to contract.

Others cite the sections of the note they signed where it basically says “you pay, you stay, you don’t, you won’t”, and feel that not paying should allow them to leave without any guilt.

And then there are those who were denied loan modification, and feel they have no other recourse.

My own opinion is that when you borrow money from someone, you have made a commitment, and should honor your obligation, no matter what that value becomes over time.

Who will be foolish enough to lend money on a mortgage tomorrow if there is little chance of being repaid?  And what will become of interest rates when the lenders decide that the risks of lending are becoming increasingly greater?

There are no guarantees that any investment will go up, and anyone who enters into an investment, whether it is a stock, bond, or real estate has to know that.

To that extent, I draw a distinction between those who truly can’t pay because they have lost their jobs, and those who can pay but just don’t want to own an asset that has now depreciated.

But there are other options.  A few weeks ago, I told you about an ETF that shorts both the residential and commercial real estate markets, called the ProShares Short Real Estate Fund (symbol: REK).

If you believe that the real estate market has further declines ahead, you can buy that ETF, and also make money by shorting the home builder stocks.  Choose the ones that have shown the weakest relative strength over the last several months.  Those stocks will decline the most if we get the dreaded “double dip” in the housing market.

I also strongly urge investors to take advantage of any further weakness in the housing market by investing in residential properties in areas that hold the most promise for a turn around.

In my Master Real Estate Investor Course, I am continually updating the students on which areas of the country are the strongest, and which are best avoided.  In addition, I teach the step-by-step principles necessary to get started, find the most undervalued properties, and generate the highest possible return on income from investment real estate.

In the meantime, if you’ve been stalling on pulling the trigger on that real estate contract, today is the last day to take advantage of Uncle Sam’s generosity with the taxpayers’ funds.  Between the low interest rates, low prices, and Uncle’s $8000 check, you could have a very nice cushion to ride out the rest of the storm.

Tick, tick, tick, tick…

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“Our experience and research shows that approximately 40% of resale homes have at least one defect that can cost a home buyer a minimum of $500 to repair,” said Kathleen Kuhn, President of HouseMaster.“A home inspection by a professional and qualified home inspector is an excellent tool to encourage home sellers to make repairs or make further price adjustments as a result of conditions noted in the inspection report.”

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), in 2009, a record 47% of homes sold were purchased by first-time buyers. Tax credit incentives from the federal government of up to $8,000 and historically low mortgage rates continue to attract first-time buyers to the market. A professional home inspection not only educates buyers on the condition of the home but can minimize costly surprises down the road. HouseMaster provides the following tips to ensure that first-time buyers make an educated decision when purchasing a home and get the best price possible.

1. Inspect the Inspector. Only hire a home inspector with an excellent reputation and credentials. Ask how long the company has been in business, ask about specific formal training and ongoing education the inspector has and verify the inspector carries professional liability insurance also known as “Errors & Omissions” (E&O). If the company doesn’t carry this insurance, it could indicate a poor track record or lack of experience.

2. Ask for a sample of a report. The credentials of the inspection company and the quality of the final inspection report will be important. A poorly prepared report without pictures or clear, concise details addressing all the various systems and accessible elements of the home is less likely to be taken seriously by a home seller.

3. Inspect ancillary systems. It’s hard for first-time home buyers to know what they need, so be sure to ask what additional services the company offers. If the home you are considering has a septic system for example, a professional home inspection company may offer septic system inspections or can coordinate that service for you. Generally, the company will offer you a multiple services discount as well as the added convenience of only having to attend one inspection appointment. Other common services offered by home inspectors are termite inspections, mold screening, water testing and radon testing.

4. Go along on the inspection. Ask the inspection company if they encourage buyers to tag along on the inspection. If the inspector discourages you from going along and asking questions, find another inspector. A home inspection is not simply a laundry list of what is wrong with the home. In addition to documenting issues and needed repairs that may exist, a professional home inspector will also show the new buyer how to operate the various systems in the home and provide tips on improving energy efficiency and maintaining the home in general. And being present during the inspection will make the final written report that much more meaningful.

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Trying to sell a vacant house adds obstacles and depresses the sales price, says Showhomes, a nationally franchised home staging company. Showhomes uses live-in home stagers to lower the cost of staging and produce faster home sales. Take a look at their top five reasons why selling a vacant house is often a mistake in today’s market:

1. People don’t simply buy houses; they buy the next chapter of their lives.
This is an emotional experience and emotion influences what people buy and how much they will pay. Vacant houses are devoid of life, and the chance to make an emotional connection is lost.

2. Vacancy distracts buyers from looking at the house itself.
They wonder: “Is this a divorce? Why did they move out? Are they selling because they have money problems? Is this home hard to sell?” They’ll make a low-ball offer, thinking the owner is desperate.

3. When a house is vacant, buyers focus on flaws.
They look at nail holes, carpet wear and gaps in the molding rather than how the space works. In a vacant house, floors, walls and ceilings are all the buyers see. This drives the price down.

4. People can’t visualize how furniture fits.
An empty bedroom might appear awkward or a living room might seem cavernous. Some spaces might confuse buyers because a use is not obvious. Buyers are derailed and move on to the next house.

5. Vacant houses don’t show as well as staged and occupied homes.
Without people, even the best home quickly looks and smells vacant. Dust settles, leaves scatter, and stale smell spreads. These cues often shorten the showing time, leading to fewer sales.

“Home owners don’t realize how much harder a vacant home is to sell. In today’s market, you have to win the beauty contest,” says Thomas Scott, VP of Marketing at Showhomes. “Vacant houses simply underperform staged homes and the increased sales price provides an excellent return on what staging costs. Choosing to stage your home should be an easy decision in today’s market.”

The number of American households dropped by an estimated 1.2 million between 2005 and 2008, even though the population increased by 3.4 million in 80 of the largest metropolitan areas during that time, according to a new study by a professor at the University of Southern California.

More young people are living with their parents instead of moving out, postponing the creation of their own households. Meanwhile, more families are combining households for economic reasons, including the loss of a home due to foreclosure, said Gary Painter, associate professor in the School of Policy, Planning and Development at USC. “With such a significant drop in households nationwide, it is clear the most recent recession impacted individuals’ decisions to move out on their own and caused many Americans to join already formed households,” Painter said in a news release.

The decline in the number of households contributed to the excess supply of apartments and single-family homes on the market. “The housing and mortgage industries will feel the impact of this reduction in the number of households for years to come,” Painter said in the report, which was sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Research Institute for Housing America, a trust fund that aids research on mortgage markets and real estate finance. Also, the recession caused a fivefold increase in the rates of overcrowding, he said. A household that has more than one person per room indicates overcrowding.

While the analysis incorporates data only through 2008, Painter said the decline in household formation likely continued through 2009. “Clearly, given the depth of the downturn in 2009, and the ongoing weakness in the job market through the beginning of this year, this study gives no reason to expect that household formation has picked up at all,” he said.

There’s a strong tie between unemployment and household formation rates, Painter said. The national unemployment rate was 9.7% in March 2010, but the recession hit younger workers much harder. Workers between the ages of 16 to 24 peaked at a record high of 19.2% in September 2009, up from 11.8% in December 2007, according to a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute.

Household formation should begin a return to a more normal level by 2012, as unemployment rates decline, Painter said. But he said there isn’t a “demographic silver bullet” to solve the overhang of housing supply in many markets.

However, when conditions do improve, there could be more young adults becoming homeowners instead of moving into a rental unit, he said. “Young adults need not only a paycheck, but also a sense that they have sustainable employment before striking out on their own,” Painter said. “Typically, many new households are renters, but if young adults postpone moving out, some may have the ability to save for a down payment, causing them to skip the rental stage and move right to homeownership.”

The study, which analyzes data from the past 40 years, examines the historical impact of recessions and elevated unemployment rates on the formation of households. Findings include:

• The likelihood of a young adult forming an independent household falls up to 4% in a recession, depending on the person’s age and the severity of the changes in unemployment rates.
• The national homeownership rate has fallen to just above 67%, from above 69%. Renter household formation dropped even more than the formation of homeownership households.
• Native-born Americans showed a larger decline in household formation and a larger increase in overcrowding rates than immigrants.
• Parents with higher incomes are more likely to have young adults living with them instead of moving into the rental market. But children with parents who have higher financial wealth are more likely to form their own new rental households.

Braddock’s Tavern

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The Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday that the average rate nationwide climbed to 5.34 percent from 5.04 percent the previous week, the highest it has been since August.

Association vice president Michael Fratantoni attributed the 30-basis-point increase to the anticipated end of the Fed’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities.

Fratantoni added that the rate’s rise affected refinancing applications more than mortgage originations, with the index that measures refinancings down 16.9 percent.

“When you consider the Fed has purchased 70 percent of [Fannie and Freddie] loans in the past year, it seems logical that losing such a large buyer of mortgages would result in higher rates,” said Jerome Scarpello of Leo Mortgage in Spring House, Montgomery County.

Economists largely expected that investors, assuming the government would rescue them if anything went wrong, would return to the bond market. Holden Lewis of Bankrate.com said, “I think they’ll wade back into the mortgage market if they think it’s necessary.”

Yet, the lure of the fast-recovering stock market, with the Dow hovering near 11,000, has curbed investor interest in bonds.

Benchmark Treasury bond yields have risen, reducing prices of mortgage-backed securities to their lowest point this year, and lenders have raised rates in response.

Wednesday’s sale of $21 billion in benchmark 10-year Treasuries with a yield of nearly 4 percent could push fixed-mortgage rates even higher. Investors typically use a spread of 1.7 percent above the bond yield to estimate interest rates.

With a yield of 4 percent, that might, though not necessarily, mean an interest rate of 5.70 percent at some point down a very short road.

Still, as Joel L. Naroff, of Naroff Economic Advisors, of Holland, Bucks County, noted, rates were expected to remain at historic lows once the effects of the Fed’s departure and investor apathy leveled out.

Given that mortgage rates during the mid-decade housing boom often ranged from 6 percent to 6.5 percent, they have to be considered as part of the whole, rather than by themselves, Naroff said.

“We have been spoiled by the low rates, but they are not sustainable, and the only way to get the market to stand on its own is to get people to become realistic again about prices and rates,” he said.

On the one hand, rising rates may keep people out of the housing market.

A one percentage-point increase in a fixed rate will raise the monthly payment on a $250,000 mortgage by $150, Scarpello said. With tighter credit, even $150 more might push home purchases out of reach for some.

On the other hand, if prospective buyers think rates will rise even more, especially as the federal tax credits race toward an April 30 deadline with little hope of renewal, higher-than-anticipated home sales might result.

The maximum tax credit for first-time buyers is $8,000; for repeat purchasers who haven’t bought a house in more than five years, it tops out at $6,500. Agreements of sale must be signed on or before April 30, with a closing deadline of June 30.

With the recession far from over and unemployment at 9.7 percent nationally, jobs and consumer confidence will determine the ultimate effect of the tax credits on recovery of the housing market.

But as a study released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association reports, the recession so far has served to reduce the pool of buyers needed to push the market toward growth.

Despite a population increase of 3.4 million from 2005 to 2008, 1.2 million households were lost, which has helped contribute to the current excess of single-family houses and apartments, said Gary Painter, an associate professor at the University of Southern California, who conducted the study.

“Given the strong tie between unemployment rates and household formation, household formation will likely return to normal levels by 2012 as unemployment rates decline over the next two years,” Painter said.

“The housing and mortgage industries will feel the impact of this reduction in the number of households for years to come.”

(3/1/2010 - 3/31/2010 – *Residential Homes Only **Statistics include Medford Lakes, NJ)

Sold Medford, NJ Homes Market Statistics:

• 12 Homes Sold in March.
• Average Days on Market: 119 days
• Average Original List Price: $409,383
• Average Sold Price: $382,958
• Highest Sold Price: $555,000
• Lowest Sold Price: $95,000

Sold Medford, NJ Homes by Address:

• 5 Ivy Ln, Medford, NJ  -  Sold Price:  $272,500
• 7 Little John Dr, Medford, NJ  -  Sold Price:  $330,000
• 15 Keswick Path, Medford, NJ  -  Sold Price:  $357,000
• 65 Wrentham Dr, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $360,000
• 19 Sherwood Dr, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $400,000
• 58 N Lakeside Dr W, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $419,000
• 12 S Lakeside Dr W, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $425,000
• 5 Hampshire Way, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $437,500
• 124 N Lakeside Dr E, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $459,500
• 7 Newberry Ct, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $485,000
• 6 Amesbury Parke, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $555,000
• 79 Cherokee Trl, Medford, NJ  – Sold Price:  $95,000

Current Medford, NJ Housing Market Conditions:

• Number of Homes Listed in March:  76 homes
• Total Number of Active Homes for Sale:  267 homes 
• Pending Home Sales:  23 homes

Looking to sell your Medford, NJ home? Contact your Medford NJ real estate expert for more information on how we can help: steve.torelli@gmail.com or (856) 290-5205.

Proudly serving the entire South Jersey real estate market including Burlington County, Camden County & Gloucester County.  

The Federal Housing Administration will announce more-stringent lending requirements and higher borrower fees on Wednesday to cushion against rising defaults and stave off the need for a taxpayer bailout of the agency.

The FHA, which has taken on a major role in the housing market during the economic downturn, doesn’t lend money to home buyers, but insures lenders against default on loans that meet FHA criteria. In exchange for that backing, borrowers who take out FHA-backed loans must pay an upfront insurance premium, currently set at 1.75% of the total loan amount. The premium can be rolled into the loan.

The FHA is set to raise that fee to 2.25%, the second increase in the past two years, according to people familiar with the matter. The value of the FHA’s reserves to cover losses has fallen to $3.6 billion, about 0.5% of the $685 billion in loans outstanding, down from 3% a year earlier. Congress requires the agency to maintain a 2% capital-reserve ratio. If the larger upfront fee had been in place last year, the FHA would have boosted its reserves by more than $1 billion.

Also to boost the reserve, the FHA will ask Congress to increase a separate insurance fee that borrowers pay annually, people said. If the agency were to run short of cash to cover projected losses, it likely would have to ask Congress for money for the first time ever.

FHA officials declined to comment.

The FHA, which backs as many as half of all new loans in certain housing markets, has come under fire for insuring loans with little or no money down as home prices have plunged over the past three years. With its reserves falling, the agency has been forced to walk a tightrope between protecting taxpayer dollars and helping to facilitate the housing recovery.

The FHA will keep minimum down payments at the current 3.5% level for most borrowers. But the agency will require riskier borrowers with credit scores below 580 to make a minimum 10% down payment. While the FHA doesn’t have a credit-score cutoff, most lenders require a minimum 620 score.

Some housing analysts have pushed for higher down payments on FHA-backed loans, and a bill in Congress would raise down payments to 5%, from the current 3.5%.

Instead, the FHA will reduce the amount of money that sellers can kick in for closing costs to 3% of the sale price, down from the current level of 6%. The higher cap led to abuses where sellers “heavily marked up the purchase price,” says Lou Barnes, a mortgage banker in Boulder, Colo.

The FHA is also set to announce a series of measures to boost its ability to oversee and take action against lenders that originate loans with FHA backing.

“Mortgage lenders will find the new rules painful but necessary,” says Howard Glaser, an industry consultant. He says the rules were overdue given that “an ‘anything goes’ environment” had prevailed in recent years as former subprime brokers migrated into FHA-backed loans.

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Posted by: Steven Torelli – Heritage Realty of South Jersey, LLC
Licensed New Jersey Real Estate Agent.
Cell: 856-290-5205    Office: 856-817-1220  x103     Toll Free: 888-590-2017
steve.torelli@gmail.com

Medford, NJ Real Estate Expert.

First time buyers face a learning curve that can feel overwhelming if the right level of support and education is not available. It’s not enough to merely educate one’s self on buying strategies, mortgage application, and closing process. Buyers must also navigate through a sea of unfamiliar legalese, home building lingo and real estate specific jargon.

The glossary below is by no means complete and is no substitute for the careful guidance of an experienced real estate agent, but it can serve as a good primer for consumers getting their feet wet in real estate for the first time.

Agency  -  The relationship of trust that exists between buyers or sellers and their agents. The agency is formed via a written contract.

Amortization  -  The process of paying the principal and the interest on a mortgage through regularly scheduled payments.

Appraised Value  -  A licensed appraiser’s opinion of the current market value of a property.

Assessed Value  -  A tax assessor’s determination of the value of a home in order to calculate a tax base.

Breezeway  -  A roofed passage way with open sides.

Capital improvement  –  Any improvement that extends the life or increases the value of a piece of property.

Comparable sales  -  Recent sales of similar properties in nearby areas and used to help determine the market value of a property. Also referred to as “comps.”

Contingency  -  A provision of an agreement that keeps the agreement from being fully legally binding until a certain condition is met. One example is a buyer’s contractual right to obtain a professional home inspection before purchasing the home.

Dry Rot  -  Decay of seasoned wood caused by fungus.

Earnest Money Deposit  –  A deposit made by the potential home buyer as evidence of good faith that he or she is serious about buying the house.

Easement  -  A right or interest in the use of the land of another which entitles the holder to some use, privilege or benefit, such as to place power lines, pipe lines or roads.

Abbreviations in Listing Advertisements
The agent shorthand found in listing ads can baffle the average consumer. Below are some of the most common acronyms and abbreviations found on listings.

AGP  –  Above Ground Pool
ATT – Attached
CA, CAC -Central Air Conditioning
CH/BW – Chain Link/Barbed Wire
EIK – Eat-in-kitchen
FDR – Formal dining room
FP – Fireplace
FSBO – For Sale By Owner
Gar – Garage
HDW/HWF/Hdwd – Hardwood Floors
HVAC – Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
IGP – In-ground pool
MLS – Multiple Listing Service
NC – New construction
PSF – Per Square Foot
SFD – Single Family Detached
Upr – Upper floor
w/d – washer/dryer
wic – walk-in-closet Egress – The exit point from a property.

Escrow – An item of value, money, or documents deposited with a third party to be delivered upon the fulfillment of a condition. For example, the earnest money deposit is put into escrow until delivered to the seller when the transaction is closed.

Energy Star – A joint program through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that sets energy efficiency guidelines for products, homes and businesses.

Equity – A homeowner’s financial interest in a property. Equity is the difference between the fair market value of the property and the amount still owed on its mortgage and other liens.

Fixtures – Those parts of a property affixed to structures or land, usually in such a manner that they cannot be independently moved without damage to themselves or the property housing supporting or pertinent to them. Fixtures are usually included in a sale and commonly include but are not limited to items such as carpets and awnings.

Full Disclosure – In real estate, revealing all the known facts which may affect the decision of a buyer or tenant. A broker must disclose identified defects in the property for sale or lease.

Green building – Also known as sustainable building or environmental building, this definition varies depending on the agency or group. Generally it means to construct a building to the highest environmental standards by minimizing the use of energy, water and materials. A green building, for example, might have skylights, recycled building materials and solar panels.

Ingress – The entry point to a property.
 
Lien – A legal claim against a property that must be paid off when the property is sold. A mortgage or first trust deed is considered a lien.

MLS (Multiple Listing Service) – An MLS is an organization that collects, compiles and distributes information about homes listed for sale by its members, who are real estate brokers. MLS’s are local or regional.
Private mortgage insurance (PMI) – Mortgage insurance that is provided by a private mortgage insurance company to protect lenders against loss if a borrower defaults. Most lenders generally require PMI when the amount borrowed exceeds 80% of the purchase price or home’s value.

Plat – A plan, map or chart of a tract or town site dividing a parcel of land into lots.

Subdivision – An area of land laid out and separated into lots, blocks, and building sites, and in which public facilities such as streets, alleys, parks, and easements for public utilities are also planned.

Sweat equity – used to describe the contribution made to a project by people who contribute their time and effort.

Title – A legal document evidencing a person’s right to or ownership of a property.

Title company – A company that specializes in examining and insuring titles to real estate.