Glossary

A contract for the sale of property in which the buyer pays in installments, taking possession of the property immediately, but not taking title until the purchase price has been paid in full. Also called an installment land contract or land sales contract.

A written agreement between the property owner and a tenant that stipulates the payment and conditions under which the tenant may possess the real estate for a specified period of time.

1) An estate that gives the holder (the tenant) only a temporary right to possession. without title. 2) A way of holding title to a property wherein the mortgagor does not actually own the property but rather has a recorded long-term lease on it

The penalty a borrower must pay when a payment is late. On a first trust deed or mortgage, this is usually after fifteen days.

An alternative financing option that allows home buyers to lease a home with an option to buy. Each month's rent payment may consist of not only the rent, but an additional amount which can be applied toward the down payment on an already specified price.

A property description, recognized by law, which is sufficient to locate and identify the property without oral testimony. Official definition of the boundaries of a parcel of real estate that is on file at the county recorder’s office

A term which can refer to the institution making the loan or to the individual representing the firm. For example, loan officers are often referred to as "lenders".

A person's financial obligations. Liabilities include long-term and short-term debt, as well as any other amounts that are owed to others.

Insurance coverage that offers protection against claims alleging that a property owner's negligence or inappropriate action resulted in bodily injury or property damage to another party. It is usually part of a homeowner's insurance policy.

A nonpossessory interest in property, giving the lienholder the right toforeclose if the owner doesn’t pay a debt owed to the lienholder; a financial encumbrance on the owner’s title. A legal claim against a property that must be paid off when the property is sold. A mortgage or deed of trust is considered a lien.

For an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), a limit on the amount that the interest rate can increase or decrease over the life of the mortgage.

An agreement by a commercial bank or other financial institution to extend credit up to a certain amount for a certain time to a specified borrower.

A cash asset or an asset that is easily converted into cash.

A sum of borrowed money (principal) that is generally repaid with interest.

Also referred to by a variety of other terms, such as lender, loan representative, loan "rep," account executive, and others. The loan officer serves several functions and has various responsibilities: they solicit loans, they are the representative of the lending institution, and they represent the borrower to the lending institution.

How a lender refers to the process of obtaining new loans.

After you obtain a loan, the company you make the payments to is "servicing" your loan. They process payments, send statements, manage the escrow/impound account, provide collection efforts on delinquent loans, ensure that insurance and property taxes are made on the property, handle pay-offs and assumptions, and provide a variety of other services.

The percentage relationship between the amount of the loan and the appraised value or sales price (whichever is lower).

An agreement in which the lender guarantees a specified interest rate for a certain amount of time at a certain cost.

clause in a promissory note or land contract that prohibits prepayment before a specified date, or prohibits it altogether.

The time period during which the lender has guaranteed an interest rate to a borrower.

A parcel of land; especially, a parcel in subdivision.

The type of legal description used for platted property. The description states only the property’s lot number and block number in a particular subdivision. To find out the exact location of the property’s boundaries you consult the plat map for that subdivision at the county recorder’s office

A cladding joint design in which a series of interlocking baffles prevents drops of water from penetrating the joint by momentum.

A coating that dries extremely quickly through evaporation of a volatile solvent.

Planks placed between soldier beams to retain earth around an excavation.

A large-diameter wood screw with a square or hexagon head.

As a verb, to bond together in layers; as a noun, a material produced by bonding together layers of material.

A glazing material consisting of outer layers of glass laminated to an inner layer of transparent plastic.

See glue laminated timber.

A platform in or at either end of a stair.

A connection in which two pieces of material are overlapped before fastening.

A force acting generally in a horizontal direction, such as wind, earthquake, or soil pressure against a foundation wall.

The horizontal component of the force produced by an arch, dome, vault, or rigid frame.

A low-range sealant based on a synthetic latex.

(Rhymes with "math"). A base material to which plaster is applied.

(Rhymes with "bathe.") A machine in which a piece of material is rotated against an edged tool to produce a shape, all of whose cross sections are circles; a machine in which a log is rotated against a long knife to peel a continuous sheet of veneer.

(Rhymes with "rather.") One who applies lath.

A finish ceiling panel that is installed merely by lowering it onto the top of the metal grid components of the ceiling.

(Rhymes with "bead.") In masonry work, a corner or wall end accurately constructed with the aid of a spirit level to serve as a guide for placing the bricks in the remainder of the wall.

A vertical pipe for conducting water from a roof to a lower level.

The moving portion of a door.

A chamber in which glass is annealed.

Diagonal bracing nailed into notches cut in the face of the studs so it does not increase the thickness of the wall.

A saw cut that produces a level surface at the lower end of a sloping rafter.

A steel plate placed in grout on top of a concrete foundation to create a level bearing surface for the lower end of a steel column.

A device for lifting a block of stone by means of friction exerted against the sides of a hole drilled in the top of the block.

A cost that takes into account both the first cost and costs of maintenance, replacement, fuel consumed, monetary inflation, and interest over the life of the object being evaluated.

A method of building multistory sitecast concrete buildings by casting all the slabs in a stack on the ground, then lifting them up the columns with jacks and welding them in place.

A sheet of glass.

A length of thin sheet metal formed into a stiff shape and used as a wall framing member.

The natural cementing substance that binds together the cellulose in wood.

A sedimentary rock consisting of calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, or both.

A finish ceiling whose exposed face is made up of long, parallel elements of sheet metal.

A piece of marble doweled and cemented to the bck of another sheet of marble.

Wire stretched across wall studs as a base for the application of metal mesh and stucco.

A resilient floorcovering material composed primarily of ground cork and linseed oil on a burlap or canvas backing.

A beam that carries the load of a wall across a window or door opening.

Gunnable sealant.

See light.

The weight of snow, people, furnishings, machines, vehicles, and goods in or on a building.

A weight or force acting on a structure.

Supporting a super-imposed weight or force.

A disk placed under the head or nut of a high-strength bolt to indicate sufficient tensioning of the bolt by means of the deformation of ridges on the surface of the disk.

A synthetic rubber strip compressed around the edge of a piece of glass or a wall panel by inserting a spline (lockstrip) into a groove in the strip.

A short rafter, running at an angle to the other rafters in the roof, which supports a rake overhang.

A construction of numerous sloping, closely spaced slats used to prevent the entry of rainwater into a ventilating opening, or to diffuse air.

See low-emissivity coating.

A surface coating for glass that permits the passage of most shortwave electromagnetic radiation (light and heat), but reflects most longer-wave radiation (heat).

Glass formulated with a low iron content so as to have a maximum transparency to solar energy.

A method of constructing a reinforced masonry wall in which the reinforcing bars are grouted into the wall in increments not higher than 4 feet (1200 mm).

A sealant that is capable of only a slight degree of elongation prior to rupture.

A roof that is pitched at an angle so nearly horizontal that it must be made waterproof with a membrane rather than shingles; commonly and inaccurately referred to as a flat roof.

A heavy-duty lifting device that uses a tower-mounted boom that may rotate in any vertical plane as well as in a horizontal plane.