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Glossary of Real Estate Terms

The language of real estate is like that of other industries. Some words and phrases may seem foreign, others are ones that you hear every day. Following is a glossary that hopefully will allow you to better understand the real estate transactions with which you are involved.

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  1. Index
  2. Instrument
  1. Index

    (1) An alphabetical listing in the public records of the names of parties to recorded real estate instruments together with the book and page number of the record. (2) The listing in abstract and title plants of recorded real estate instruments in groups according to land descriptions, known as a geographic index. (3) The alphabetical listing in abstract and title plants, by names of the parties, of all recorded instruments that affect but do not describe particular real estate, such as judgments, powers of attorney, wills and probate proceedings. Such indexes are known by various names, such as “general index,” “judgment index” and “name index.”

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  2. Instrument

    Any written document having a legal effect.

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