What you need to know: Real Estate Jargon
Pop Quiz! Who helps you sell a house, a listing agent or a selling agent? What’s the difference between a condo and a townhome? If you know the answers to these two questions you are far more in-the-know than most of your peers. If you’re in the majority, let us demystify some of real estate’s most common jargon.
Listing Agent vs. Selling Agent: A listing agent helps you list your home for sale. A selling agent helps you buy a home and is often referred to as “buyer’s agent”.
Condo vs. Townhome: The difference lies in what you own. If you buy a condo, you own the inside of your home only. The exterior, land and common areas are owned by the association. If you have a townhome, you own the interior, exterior and land under it.
Under Contract vs. Pending: Both words mean that a property is under contract; however, once a property reaches “pending” status the homeowners are no longer accepting showings. A house can go from “under contract” to “sold” without ever having entered “pending” status if the homeowners are willing to accept showings all the way up to the closing.
DOM vs. CDOM: This one is confusing so stay with me here. On August 1st my house is put up for sale. On August 10th (10 days later) I change my mind about selling and I cancel my listing. On August 15th I change my mind again, and put my house back up for sale again. Today is August 31st (16 days since I decided to put my house back on the market), my Days on Market (DOM) is 16 and my Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) is 26 (10 + 16).
Pre-Qualified vs. Pre-Approved: Pre-qualified is when a lender has possibly pulled your credit and has glanced at your overall financial position and gives you an estimate of the amount they would be willing to lend you to buy a house. Pre-approval, on the other hand, means you have a tentative commitment from the lender. They have already pulled your credit, looked at actual financial documentation, run your application…etc. The latter carries more weight with sellers and agents.
Living Room vs. Family Room: In homes with more than one, the family room is where you hang out, watch TV and spend most of your time. The living room is the more formal one with the expensive white sofa that the kids aren’t allowed to touch.
Heard a real estate word you weren’t sure of? Contact one of our seven licensed agents to get the inside scoop!
