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:

 

Appraisal ­ - The estimated market value of a property. Appraisals take into account the features of the property and the condition of the local market.

 

Balloon Loans ­ - A type of loan where the regular monthly payment is followed by another payment, called “balloon” payment, of the total remaining balance.

 

Closing -­ (also called a SETTELMENT) IThe official transfer of a property's ownership from a seller to a buyer. It usually has a form of meeting between the seller, the buyer, the settlement agent and the buyer’s and seller’s agents.  At closing, the seller receives the payment for the house, the buyer signs the mortgage (if applicable) and the buyer or/and seller pay closing fees.

 

Depreciation ­- Refers to the decrease of the market value of the property over time (due to market changes, changes of the property due to damages etc.)

 

Fixed-Rate Mortgage ­- A mortgage with payments that stay the same during the entire life of the mortgage. The interest rates of the loan are not influenced by the changes of the market.

 

Origination Fee ­-  A fee paid to the lender at closing to cover the administrative costs of making the mortgage. The fee varies depending on the lender and the type of mortgage.

 

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.