Estate Agent Jargon Buster
Buying, selling or renting can be a nerve-wracking time. With lots of terms and phrases to get your head around it can sometimes feel like another language! We’ve put together an ABC of expressions you might need to know to make your process a little easier!
Appraisal- An appraisal is carried out by an estate agent to determine the value of a property.
Bridging loan- A bridging loan is a temporary loan given to help buy a new property before the previous property is sold.
Chain- A chain refers to the number of property sales linked together, whereby the exchanging of contracts must take place at the same time! (Chain Free= the buyer is not dependent on another sale).
Deeds- The legal documents that assign ownership of a property.
Early Repayment Charge- This is a charge that may be made by the lender if the borrowers pay off the mortgage amount before the end of the agreed term of the loan.
Freehold- The outright ownership of the property and land which it stands on.
Guarantor- This is a person who agrees to guarantee that they will repay loan or debt if you default on the payment.
Home Buyers Report- A survey to help determine if the property has any structural problems or any unwelcome hidden issue, both on the interior and exterior of the property.
Instruction – Whereby you give the estate agent the right to sell your property.
Joint tenants- When two or more people co-habit a property and are both on the tenancy agreement.
Leasehold- This is when the leaseholder is granted the right to use the land or property for a given amount of time.
Maintenance charge- A maintenance charge is often stated in the initial contract when renting a property. The charge covers the cost of maintaining the property.
Negative equity- This is whereby someone owes more money to the lender than the property is worth.
Offer of advance- The formal offer of a mortgage from a lender.
PCM- Stands for per calendar month generally relating to the rental rate of a property.
Repayment Mortgage- Both capital and interest on the loan are paid off in monthly instalments
Stamp duty- A tax paid by buyers on completion of a sale for properties over £250,000. The stamp duty amount can range from 5% - 12% (for a main residence) depending on the price of the property.
Title Deeds- The legal documents which set out the ownership of a property
Under offer- When a property is under offer contracts have not yet been exchanged but the vendor has accepted an offer. Either party can still withdraw at this stage.
Valuation Survey- This is a survey carried out by the lender to ensure the property value is not less than the proposed loan amount.
