Real Estate Glossary

The act of converting future income into current equivalent value.

The relationship or ratio between the net income from a real estate investment and the value of the investment, usually expressed as a percentage; the rate of interest which is considered a reasonable return on the investment.

The reason a person obligates himself.

Let the buyer beware; the buyer must examine the goods or property and buy at his own risk.

An abbreviation of covenants, conditions, restrictions, rights of way, and recorded easements.

The document which verifies the entitlement of an individual to the benefits of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 by establishing his service record qualifications with the government agency.

Commonly known as C.R.V.; this is the appraisal commitment of the Veteran's Administration used to fix the value of a property being proposed for purchase by a veteran under the GI bill of rights.

A certification based on immediately available public records and issued by a title company, or an opinion rendered by an attorney that the seller has good, marketable and/or insurable title to the property.

Commonly known as C.P.M.; this identification is bestowed upon any property manager who has met the requirements of the Institute of Property Management operated under the auspices of the National Association of Realtors.

A sequential history of the conveyances and records of ownership to a piece of property through the years from the original grant to the present, as revealed through the public records.

Personal property which is tangible and movable.

A mortgage covering personal property.

Civil Law Term: In Louisiana, the system of law as distinct from the common law of other states; handed down from the French and Spanish settlers who established their system of laws before the Louisiana Purchase.

The principal to a real estate transaction who employs the agent.

The time when a transaction is consummated, or the actual signing over of the documents and delivery of the deed; the time after signing when the documents are recorded.

A statement of settlement made by a broker or an escrow company that reflects the financial position of the buyer and seller in that particular real estate transaction.

Any conditions revealed by a title search which may affect or impair the owner's title to property because of their apparent or probable validity.

The only method by which more than one party can own property in Louisiana. Involves undivided fractional interests of ownership, not necessary equal in proportion.

A supplement or addition to a will which adds to, subtracts from, alters, revokes or qualifies the provisions of a will.

A person with equal claim of inheritance; brothers and/or sisters from the same parents. This term is also used to indicate money or preferably real property pledged to guarantee the payment of a debt.

A type of mortgage not defined in the Code which secures a collateral note; this note may then be issued as security for debts incurred now or in some future time.

That which appears to be good title but which is not in fact good title, such as title held under a defective deed.

Mixing money belonging to clients with personal funds.

An agent's compensation for performance of the duties of his agency; in real estate practice, a percentage of the selling price of the property, or percentage of rentals, etc.

In a condominium, land and all parts of a building normally used by all of the owners for their mutual convenience or safety.

Laws which have evolved from general usage and are legally established through court decision.

Common "things" are those which may not be owned by anyone; things such as air and the high seas which may be freely used by everyone conformably with the use for which nature has intended them.

Personal and real property acquired by husband and wife through their joint efforts during marriage and owned equally by them.

Those who are qualified or mentally competent to enter into a contract.

Interest paid both on the original principal and on interest accrued from the time it fell due.

The ownership of property by two or more people.

The process by which property of a private owner is taken for public use, with just compensation to the owner, under the right of eminent domain.

A sale which includes conditions.

The individual outright ownership of a single unit in a multi-unit property together with an interest in the common elements of that property.

A statement of acknowledgment of debt of principal, interest, and other costs. It is a mandatory statement in a collateral mortgage and the words "confess judgment" must appear in the terms of the mortgage.

The merging of ownership of both dominant and servient estates by the same person.

Valuable consideration, a promise or an act of legal value bargained for and received in return for a promise; good consideration, love and affection.

A short term loan for building or repairing properties allowing the disbursement of funds at designated intervals as the work progresses.

Breach of the covenant warranting quiet enjoyment in a lease; when a landlord performs an act depriving the tenant of quiet enjoyment of the premises thereby causing the tenant to move.

Notice given by the public records; legal notice.

A thing which cannot be used without being consumed or its substance changed.

Dependent upon an uncertain future event.

A legal agreement between competent parties for a consideration to perform or refrain from performing certain acts.

One in which, from the conduct of the parties, their mutual promises are implied - consulting a doctor or dentist implies a promise to pay the price of an office visit though no fees are mentioned.

One in which only one party is obligated to do something.

A relatively null contract that is capable of being affirmed or rejected at the option of one of the parties but which is binding on the other.

A mortgage which is not FHA insured, or VA guaranteed.

By contract; voluntary. May be established by judicial act, prescription, or destination of the owner.

The transfer of the title of land from one to another; an instrument which carries from one person to another an interest in land.

Ownership that usually takes the form of shares of stock in a corporation owning the entire building and a proprietary lease giving the stockholder/tenant the right to occupy a unit for which he pays a proportionate share of the maintenance and operating expenses.

A vehicle used to carry on business with its owners having liability only to the extent of their stock ownership considered to be an individual or separate entity.

Pertaining to a right or group of rights of a visible and tangible nature.

A system for compensating inaccuracies in the Government Rectangular Survey System which are caused by the curvature of the earth. Every fourth township line, at 24 mile intervals, is used as a correction line on which the intervals between the north and south range lines are re-measured and corrected to a full six miles.

An agreement to re-convey property where the property has been sold with the intention that it shall serve as security only.

Created by the rejection of an original offer, the counteroffer invalidates the original offer and in effect constitutes a new offer.

An agreement written into deeds and other instruments which promises or guarantees that something shall or shall not be done; an agreement stipulating certain uses or non-uses of property.

A means of estimating a building's value based on the cubic foot construction cost of comparable buildings.

A passage way or street with only one outlet; a blind alley.

The right which a husband has in his wife's estate at her death.