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.
-
- Real Estate
Also called “real property.” (1) Land and anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, fences and those things attached to the buildings, such as light fixtures, plumbing and heating fixtures, or other such items that would be personal property if not attached. (2) May refer to rights in real property as well as the property itself.
-
- Recording
The noting in a public office of the details of a legal document - such as a deed or mortgage - affecting the title to real estate. When such an instrument is properly recorded, it is considered to be a matter of public record. Legally, that means that all subsequent purchasers are deemed to have constructive knowledge of that information.
-
- Reinsurance
A contractual relationship between two insurance companies under which one insurer assumes a portion of the risk of the insurance policy written by the other.
-
- Realease
(1) To relieve from debt or security or abandon a right, such as the release of a mortgage lien from a part or all of the land mortgaged. (2) The instrument effecting a release.
-
- Restrictions
Limitations on the use of property imposed or created by deeds or other documents in the chain of title. A restriction, for example, may prohibit the placement of a trailer or the construction of a commercial structure on the property.
-
- Riparian Rights
The rights of owners of lands bordering watercourses which relate to the water and its use.