Sunday mornings with the real estate section of the newspapers can be daunting for home buyers and sellers. Discovering the abbreviation for popular home features requires an inquiring mind. Mark Nash, author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home takes the guesswork out of listing sheets and classified ads for residential real estate.
BOM! 3/2 FSTH, S / E Exp., Wbfplc, 2 Tan.Gar, SS Kit., Motv. 1031 Sell. Mid 5
What It Really Says: Back to the Market, 3 Bed, 2 Bath, Single Pay Townhome with South and East Exposures, Wood Burning Fireplace, 2 Tandem Parking Spaces, Stainless Steel Kitchen Appliances. The motivated seller needs to sell to meet the guidelines for a 1031 exchange. Price $ 550,000.
What it really means: Either a contract failed (buyers walked away) or sellers took the property off the market due to illness, repairs, or a vacation. There are no homeowners association reviews because the townhome is single-fee property. Indoor garage parking spaces are end-to-end or tandem. The seller who has not occupied the property because it is a 1031 exchange needs to sell in a short period of time to meet tax guidelines. Yes, the price is fifty thousand more than half a million dollars.
The rise in real estate prices in recent years has created a new real estate discourse. The shorthand used by agents can be difficult for home buyers and sellers to decipher, but don’t be fooled by a lack of zeros in prices or the use of friendly words in place of actual choice. It sounds much less expensive if you search in the range of 1.1 to 1.5 than a million, one hundred thousand to one million, five hundred thousand. Also, “repair-superior” sounds better than it really is: tired. “As is” translates to buyer beware.
Here are some additional abbreviations that home buyers and sellers should become familiar with when interacting with real estate agents.
A / G. Above ground. Pools that are above ground or above grade.
Accom. Accompany. The listing agent must show the property.
A / C. Air conditioning. W for windows, AC for central air.
Apl. Accessories. Kitchen and laundry room.
Appointment Appointment. Shown by appointment only, do not ring the doorbell without notice.
Approx. Approximately. Check everything that is approximate.
How is it.
Assmt. Evaluation. Annual, quarterly, or monthly homeowner association charges to homeowners.
Att. Attach. Any condo, cooperative, duplex, townhome, or two-story that is attached to another unit.
I HAVE. Lawyer and inspection. Defined period under the terms of the purchase contract where both parties can have a lawyer review the contract and the buyers can carry out an inspection of the property at their own expense.
Bsmt. Basically. Below ground or ground level.
Licensed in letters. Bath. Either half (no shower / bathtub), three quarters (shower without bathtub) or full (bathtub and / or shower).
Br. Bedrooms. To qualify, you generally must have a window and a closet; otherwise, a study or office.
BOM. Back to the market. It was available, it was off the market and now it is available again.
Edif. Building. Such as high-rise (more than eight stories) or mid-rise (5-8 stories) or low-rise (2-4 stories) buildings.
Cab. Kitchen cabinets or other built-in storage.
Canc. Cancelled. There is no longer a list available.
Crpt. Carpet. Wall-to-wall and studded.
THAT. Central air conditioner. Originally ducted integrated or retrofitted as space-pak (spc pk).
CLD. Closed. A property that has been sold and the buyers have received title.
Const. Building. New, recent or quality.
CTG. Share. A property is under contract with provisions that must be met. Buyers must sell their home (home sale = HS) or receive a mortgage commitment (mort).
Cooperative. Cooperative. A form of ownership of an apartment (apt) or a commission paid to a real estate agency that gets a buyer for a property.
Det. Separated. A building that is not attached to another.
Noise. Dining room. A separate space not combined (combo) with living room.
Dir. Addresses. How to get to the address of a specific property.
D / W. Dishwasher. Integrated (an accessory) or portable (personal property).
Dist. District. School (sch) or historical (hist).
SUN. Days on the market. The time a property has been in the Multiple Listing Service (mls).
Drv. Driveway. Below is a description of the material covering the driveway.
Ex. Expired. A listing period has passed for a property.
Excl. Exclusions The vendors bring the grandmothers’ lamp in the breakfast room (brkft).
Exp. Exhibition. Home address or unit faces. E = East, W = West, S = South, N = North
Ext. Exterior. Features on the exterior of a building and the grounds.
Fam. Family. Family room. Be aware that using this word may violate fair housing laws.
Final. Finished. Basements can be completely finished (full fin) or partially finished (partial fin).
Fplc. Fireplace. The fireplaces can be gas (gas fplc) or wood (wb fplc).
Flr. I usually. As a master bedroom on the first floor (1st floor mstr).
Grdn. Flower gardens or garden level. It can describe an exterior landscape or an interior living standard that is partially below ground level.
Gar. Garage. An enclosed space for storage.
GFA. Gas forced air. A type of heating system.
Grt. Good room. A combined family (combo), kitchen and breakfast room.
Hdwd. Laminate flooring. Be careful with the softer woods that fall into this category. Bamboo and poplar cannot suffer the same wear and tear as maple and oak. Diagonal hardwood (d / hdwd) and parquet (parq) are other options.
HVAC. Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. Refers to an all-in-one heating and cooling system.
H / War. Home warranty. Sellers have purchased a home warranty to protect buyers from repair costs.
Hr. Hour. 24 hour notice to tour a property.
Incl. Includes. Any item that is considered personal property (personal property) that sellers leave at the home.
In t. Inside. How to decorate (decorate) or design professionally (pro).
Team. Kitchen. That is easy.
L. List price. The advertised price of a home.
Liv. Living room. A formal room typically adjacent to the main entrance of a home.
Loc. Located or location. Location rules in residential real estate.
LL. Lower level. A nice word for basement.
LO listing office. The broker to contact regarding a specific listing.
Maint. Maintenance. It can apply to the amount of work to maintain a home or what is included in the homeowners association charges to homeowners.
MOUNTAIN. Market time. Just like the days on the market.
Mstr. Master bathroom or bedroom. The designated space where the owners bathe and sleep.
Mech. Mechanical systems. The cooling, electrical, heating and plumbing systems of a house.
MONTH. Month. Monthly rates or rent month to month.
From c. Office. Home office (hom ofc) or office space (ofc spc).
O / M. Out of the market. A property that has been removed from the Multiple Listing Service.
Prkg. Parking lot. Options (opt) include off-street (off-street), space (spc), or covered (covd).
Hanging. Earring. When a property in the MLS is under contract and close to closing or escrow.
Priv. Private Pvt. Entrance (entr) or way (rd).
Poss. Possession. The date a buyer can occupy (occ) a property.
PCHG. Change of price. The price has been motivated lowered or raised (difficult sellers).
Room Rm.
S. Sale price. The recorded price for which a property was sold.
Scrnd. Projected. Lanai (lan) or porches (by).
Dry. Safety. System (sys) or building. Gold a deposit (dep).
Sep. separate. Entrance or room not combined with another.
Sing Fam. Single family home. Single family Home.
Slider. Sliding doors). Usually refers to sliding glass or patio doors (pat).
Square feet Square feet. Check all square footage measurements on home marketing materials.
Stye. Story. Describe the number of levels in a house.
Stye. Style. The architectural character of a house. Colonial (Col), rancho (ranch) or traditional (trad).
Tx. Taxes. Property taxes for the last achievable year (2005 = 05) (year).
Until the end. Along the. Hardwood floors in all bedrooms.
TH. Town house. Terraced house.
Trans. Transport. Convenient for buses, trains or roads (highways).
U / C. According to the contract. A property has a fully executed purchase contract.
Utility User (s). Cable, electric, gas, oil and telephone services rendered to a household.
Wine. Classic. A house that was built before WWII.
W / D. Washer and Dryer. Side by side (SBS) or stackable (stk).
W /. With. Wood burning fireplace with gas starter. Wbfp with gas Str.
Wbfp. Fireplace.
Yard. Yard. Front, rear or side garden areas.
And what about those capitalized initials after the names of real estate agents on their business cards, called professional designations? Here is a sample.
ABR accredited buyer representative. Home buyers should seek the designation of Accredited Buyers Representative. The Council of Real Estate Agents trains experienced real estate agents to specifically represent the real estate consumer.
CRS Certified Residential Specialist. Agents holding the CRS designation have additional education and sales experience with a focus on the latest in real estate professionalism, sales techniques, and marketing.
GRI Graduate Realtor (R) Institute. REALTOR® Institute graduates earn the GRI designation by completing a national advanced education program consisting of residential marketing, cost basis, appraisal methods, investment and taxes in real estate, construction, exchanges, capital gains, and mortgage programs.
