Real Estate Glossary Terms

• Appraisal

  An Appraisal is the evaluation of a real estate property made by a neutral third party expert known as an Appraiser. There are a number of reasons a home Appraisal is done: -   To develop a realistic market price-  To set the property market value at the time of death of its owner, w ...

• Locking The Loan

  An option exercised by the borrower, at the time of the loan application or later, to 'lock in' the rates and points prevailing in the market at that time. When lenders 'lock/' they commit to lend at a specified interest rate and points, provided the loan is closed within a specified 'lock period ...

• Prepayment Penalty

  A charge imposed by the lender if the borrower pays off the loan early. The charge is usually expressed as a percent of the loan balance at the time of prepayment or a specified number of months' interest. Some part of the balance, usually 20%, can be prepaid without penalty. Usually, the penalty ...

• Nontraditional Reinsurance

  Types of reinsurance instruments under which the amount of risk transferred is more limited than under traditional risk reinsurance instruments. The limitations on risk transfer take the form of an aggregate dollar amount or loss ratio limits according to the reinsurance coverage in effect. Premiums ...

• Tort

  In general, a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, for which a court will provide a remedy in the form of a suit for damages. Torts include negligent acts or omissions on the part of a defendant. Liability insurance is designed to cover an insured (defendant) for unintentional tort acts. ...