Real Estate Terms and Definitions

Fair Market Value The price which a willing buyer will pay a willing seller for a piece of real estate. Ginnie Mae Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA); a government-owned corporation overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ginnie Mae pools FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed loans to back securities for private investment Assumable mortgage A mortgage that can be transferred from a seller to a buyer; once the loan is assumed by the buyer the seller is no longer responsible for repaying it; there may be a fee and/or a credit package involved in the transfer of an assumable mortgage. PMI Private Mortgage Insurance; privately-owned companies that offer standard and special affordable mortgage insurance programs for qualified borrowers with down payments of less than 20% of a purchase price. Condominium A form of ownership in which individuals purchase and own a unit of housing in a multi-unit complex; the owner also shares financial responsibility for common areas. Lease A lease is an agreement between a landlord, property owner or property manager and a tenant. The agreement covers issues such as rental amount and length of time the lease is in effect. The rental amount may include or exclude property taxes, garbage pickup fees, utility costs, property maintenance and other expenses. After Appraisal Part of the appraisal of a property from which only a portion of that property is acquired for the planned project. This type of acquisition is often referred to as a "partial acquisition." Federally Assisted Projects A federally assisted project is one which receives Federal reimbursement or payment of some project expenses such as planning, construction, right-of-way acquisition, and property management. Fair Housing Act Fixed-rate mortgage A mortgage with payments that remain the same throughout the life of the loan because the interest rate and other terms are fixed and do not change.

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	Did You Know?
	Property easement is a right to use some part of a property for a specific purpose An express easement may be contained in the deed to the property or in another document. Some examples include: A utility company can run power lines on a property,Adjacent property owners may enter into an agreement to share a common driveway that extends over both properties. An implied easement or prescriptive easement may arise when a use of property continues for a certain period of time.