Decoding Real Estate Listings – A Short Guide to Lingo and Acronyms

April 28, 2011 by
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Real estate ads are usually full of acronyms and terms that are unfamiliar to first-time buyers. Here’s a cheat sheet to let you in on the lingo.

4B/2B: four bedrooms and two bathrooms

assum fin: assumable financing

bedroom: usually a sleeping area with a window and a closet, but the definition varies in different places

bathroom: There are three types of bathrooms: a full bathroom is a room with a toilet, a sink and a bathtub; a three-quarter bathroom has a toilet, a sink and a shower; a half bathroom or powder room has only a toilet and a sink.

closing costs: the entire package of miscellaneous expenses paid by the buyer and the seller when the real estate deal closes. These costs include the brokerage commission; mortgage-related fees; escrow or attorney’s settlement charges; transfer taxes; recording fees; title insurance and so on. Closing costs are generally paid through escrow.

CMA: comparative market analysis or competitive market analysis. A CMA is a report that shows prices of homes that are comparable to a subject home and that were recently sold, are currently on the market or were on the market but did not sell within the listing period.

contingency: a provision of an agreement that keeps the agreement from being fully legally binding until a certain condition is met. One example is a buyer’s contractual right to obtain a professional home inspection before purchasing the home.

dk: deck

expansion pot’l: expansion potential means that there’s extra space on the lot or the possibility of adding a room or even an upper level, subject to local zoning restrictions.

fab pentrm: fabulous pentroom, a room on top (but under the roof) that has great views

FDR: formal dining room

fixture: anything of value that is permanently attached to or a part of real property. Fixtures include installed wall-to-wall carpeting, light fixtures, window coverings, landscaping and so on. Fixtures are a frequent subject of buyer and seller disputes. When in doubt about who will have ownership of fixtures, get it in writing.

frplc, fplc, FP: fireplace

gar: garage

gard: garden

grmet kit: gourmet kitchen

HDW, HWF, Hdwd: hardwood floors

hi ceils: high ceilings

in-law potential: potential for a separate apartment, subject to local zoning restrictions

large E-2 plan: one of several floor plans available in a specific building

listing: an agreement between a real estate agent and a home owner that allows the agent to market and arrange for the sale of the owner’s home. The word ” listing” is also used to refer to the for-sale home itself. A home being sold by the owner without a real estate agent isn’t a ” listing,” it’s called a FSBO (for sale by owner).

lo dues: low homeowner’s association dues. Do your research to find out just how ” low” the dues actually are compared to other dues in the area.

lock box: locked key-holding device affixed to a for-sale home so real estate professionals can gain entry into the home after obtaining permission from the listing agent

lsd pkg: leased parking area; it may come with additional cost

MLS: Multiple Listing Service. An MLS is an organization that collects, compiles and distributes information about homes listed for sale by its members, who are real estate agents. Membership isn’t open to the general public, although selected MLS data may be sold to real estate listings Web sites. MLSs are local or regional. There is no MLS covering the whole country.

nr bst schls: near the best schools

personal property:movables, such as appliances and furniture

pot’l: potential

pvt: private

pwdr rm: half bathroom or powder room

real property: real estate is legally called “real property”

REALTOR®: a real estate agent or sales associate who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Not all real estate agents are REALTORS®.

title insurance: an insurance policy that protects a lender’s or owner’s interest in real property from assorted types of unexpected or fraudulent claims of ownership. It’s customary for the buyer to pay for the lender’s title insurance policy.

upr: upper floor

vw, vu, vws, vus: view(s)

If you need anything else demystifying – feel free to drop me an email or give me a call.

Filed Under: Buying

Five Home Improvements That Don’t Always Add Value to Your Home

April 28, 2011 by
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Not-So-Sure-Fire Improvements

  • Adding a pool
  • Adding high-end accessories
  • Adding wall-to-wall carpeting
  • Adding elaborate landscaping
  • Adding new windows

Everywhere you look these days, folks are sprucing up their homes. Although interest rates are rising, consumers are still enamored with the home improvement craze î º and with good reason. They have a lot invested. Balances on home-equity lines of credit have soared 71 percent to $543.2 billion over the last two years, according to an analysis by Equifax Inc. and Moody’s Economy.com. Although some of this money was spent on consolidating high-interest credit card debt, vacations, and college tuitions, a large portion was earmarked by homeowners for improvements to increase the value of their homes. The problem, however, is that many of their investments may fail to recoup even half of their original spend.

You can’t contemplate home improvement in a vacuum. While a media room is one of today’s hottest remodeling projects, if your house is in dire need of an additional bathroom, then theater-style seating and soundproof walls will most likely be a wash at resale. If watching the latest blockbuster with your family in the comfort of your own home is worth more to you than whether you will recoup 60 to 80 percent of the project’s cost at resale, then go for it. But don’t expect potential buyers to get lathered up about the built-in surround sound system when the insect-damaged front deck is in need of serious attention. Below are five home improvements that don’t always increase the value of your home.

Swimming Pools

You may envision hours of summer leisure and family fun. Potential homebuyers see maintenance, expense, and LAWSUITS. If you want to spend $75,000 on an in-ground pool and are prepared to get nothing in return for that investment î º except the pleasure of cooling off every night after work î º then go right ahead. Pools are actually one investment that can actually lower the value of your home. It is not uncommon today that a contingency of sale is that the current home seller must dismantle the above-ground pool or fill in an in-ground pool before the buyers will sign on the dotted line.

High-end Accessories

Unless your home is of similar quality throughout, don’t over-improve one or two rooms with high-end accessories to the exclusion of everything else. You won’t recoup even half the money you spend on a restaurant-quality cook top, a whisper-quiet dishwasher, and imported Italian floor tiles if you only have one bathroom with pitted vinyl flooring, a leaky faucet, and bedrooms that haven’t had a change of paint since the 1960s. A rule of thumb is to keep everything in your home of similar style and quality and keep your home within the top 25 percent of other homes in your neighborhood.

Wall-to-wall carpeting

Beat-up wall-to-wall carpeting may detract from the value of your home, but ripping it all out and replacing it with new carpeting isn’t necessarily the solution. First of all, good-quality carpet is getting more expensive î º upwards of $15 to $25 a square yard, and that doesn’t include installation. The other problem is that your choice of carpeting color and style may not match the decorative vision of any potential homebuyers. It might be better to remove the carpeting and take the money you would have spent on replacing it and spend it on refinishing your hardwood floors instead. Then you can add small area or hallway rugs where they make the most fashion and comfort sense. These can be either kept in place or removed during home showings when it comes time to sell.

Elaborate Landscaping

Other than a pleasing-looking lawn and plantings that complement rather than over-power your home, landscaping doesn’t necessarily add a whole lot of value to your home. It is mainly for own enjoyment. Elaborate gardens that will need extensive care  may not recoup even a quarter of your investment at resale. Hardscape, such as stone walls and fences, is attractive, but most buyers won’t even consider them in the value equation.

New Windows

With energy prices on the rise, installing replacement windows is an improvement many homeowners are considering. However, double-hung windows can cost anywhere between $200 and $300 and, unless you’re a DIY wizard, you will have to pay someone to install them. With energy savings and an estimated resale value that hovers around 85 percent, according to Remodeling Magazine, standard replacement windows make sense in some cases. If your windows are in poor shape, with cracked and/or loose panes, sashes that are difficult or impossible to operate, and glass that just won’t come clean no matter how much you scrub, replacing windows can provide you with a good return on your investment. However, if your windows are in good shape, your return will be much lower.

If you are thinking of making some improvements to your home I would be happy to help you decide which offer the best return, just drop me and email or give me a call.

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How To Choose your New Neighborhood

April 28, 2011 by
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When evaluating a neighborhood you should investigate local conditions. Depending on your own particular needs and tastes, some of the following factors may be more important considerations than others:

  • quality of schools
  • property values
  • traffic
  • crime rate
  • future construction
  • proximity to schools, employment, hospitals, shops, public transportation, prisons, freeways, airports, beaches, parks, stadiums and cultural centers such as museums and theaters

Neighborhood Search Strategies for Limited Budgets

If you’re a first time-buyer with limited financial resources, it’s wise to buy a home that meets your primary needs in the best neighborhood that fits within your price range. You can maximize your home purchase location by incorporating some of the following strategies into your neighborhood search:

  • Upcoming neighborhoods: Look for communities that are likely to become “hot neighborhoods” in the coming years. They can often be discovered on the periphery of the most continuously desirable areas.
    Check for planned future development such as additional transit; new community services such as pools and theatres; and chain stores planning to move in.
    Look for a home in a good neighborhood that is a bit farther out of the city. If commuting is a concern, purchase a home that is close to public transportation.
  • Neighborhood demand: Look at the neighborhood demand by asking your real estate agent whether multiple offers are being made, whether the gap between the list price and sale price is decreasing and whether there is active community involvement. You can also drive around neighborhoods and see how many “sale pending” and “sold” signs there are in a particular area.
  • Co-ownership: Look into purchasing a condominium or co-op, rather than a house, in a desirable neighborhood. This way you still may be able to purchase in a prime area that you otherwise could not afford.

As a Realtor I can offer you neighborhood information to guide you and help narrow your home search by identifying neighborhoods that are right for you.

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