Home Buying Glossary

Home Buying Glossary

Are you in the market for a new house or already in the process of buying a house?  There are some terms you should be familiar with:

Assessed Value ­ The value of a real estate property, based on a percentage of the house's overall market value, placed on a property by city or county assessors who  regulate property taxes.

Cash Reserve ­ The amount of money, determined by the lender, held in reserve as an addition to the down payment and closing costs.

Contingency ­ The term referring to any condition which has to be met before an agreement is confining.

Default ­ A failure to meet the legal requirements of an agreement. If homebuyers fail to pay their monthly payments on a mortgage they "default" in their payments.

Escrow ­ The term refers to the funds usually set aside and kept by a neutral third party who uses it to issue tax payments and insurance. (Also ESCROW ACCOUNT)

First Mortgage ­ The term refers to the primary loan taken against the property. The first mortgage has first claim in the event of default.

If you want to learn more terms associated with the home buying process, we encourage you to keep coming back to our blog.

If there are any terms associated with the home buying process that you are unfamiliar with, contact us or leave us your question below.