Mortgage

A mortgage is a lien on a property that secures a promise to repay a loan. The word mortgage is Latin in origin. "Mort" is from the word death and "gage" is from the word meaning a pledge. Mortgage literally translates into "death pledge."
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Bungalow

The Bungalow home style was popular in the U.S. from 1905 to 1930. Bungalows featured a low-pitched roof, wide eaves with exposed roof rafters, decorative braces, and a porch with square columns. The name Bungalow is derived from Bengal, India where houses were called bangla or bangala. The Bungalow has made a recent comeback to some new home neighborhoods.
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Multiple Listing Service

The Multiple Listing Service dates back to the 19th century. On designated days, local real estate board members gathered at "real estate exchanges" to exchange and compile information about their listings. By the early twentieth century, the term "multiple listing" was in use. By the 1920s, hundreds of local multiple listing services were established throughout the country.
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The ranch home

The first ranch style home was designed by Cliff May and built in San Diego, California in 1932. The ranch style typically has a long single story layout with a low-pitched roof. Ranch homes were mass-produced in America's growing suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s. The ranch home is also known as the American Ranch, Western Ranch or California Rambler.
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High U.S. foreclosure rates

Economists have attributed historically high U.S. foreclosure rates to several factors. There are more occurrences of variable rate mortgages, less lender due diligence in underwriting new mortgages, more occurrences of "no document" mortgages, and more occurrences of interest-only mortgages that allow buyers to purchase homes they otherwise could not afford.
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Cost effective improvements

According to most real estate experts, the most cost effective improvements to undertake when selling a home include: new paint, landscaping, a professional cleaning job, and new carpets and appliances.
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Council of Residential Specialists

The Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) is a professional organization that provides knowledge, tools and relationship-building opportunities for residential real estate professionals. CRS offers the Certified Residential Specialist professional designation. CRS was created in 1976 and has over 45,000 members.
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Highest and best use

The highest and best use of a property is the critical factor in determining its value. Highest and best use is defined as land use that is legally permissible, physically possible, financially feasible, and maximally productive. Relatively few properties are ever developed to their highest and best use.
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Timesharing

Timesharing is ownership that involves the acquisition of a specific period of time, or percentage of interest, in a vacation home or condominium. The timeshare concept was started in the French Alps in the late 1960s. In the U.S. it was started in Florida in the early 1970s. Today, it is estimated there are over four million timeshare owners worldwide.
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Home loan history

The typical home loan during the 1930s in the U.S. was for a term of five to seven years at 6 to 8 percent interest requiring a 50% down payment. The buyer paid accumulated interest at the end of the loan period in a single payment. Buyers often had to take out a second mortgage, at rates of up to 18%, just to cover this final payment.
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AIMCO

The Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIMCO) is the nation’s largest owner and operator of apartment communities in the U.S. The Denver, Colorado-based company serves nearly one million residents living in 250,000 units and controls about two percent of the entire U.S. apartment market.
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New York

Dutch traders purchased the island of "Man-a-hatt-a" from the Algonquin Indians in 1621 for $24 worth of beads and other trinkets, marking one of history's most famous real estate sales. Originally called Nieuw Amsterdam by the Dutch settlers, the settlement was renamed New York, in honor of the Duke of York, after the English took control of the island in 1664.
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Paying more for housing

Americans are paying more for housing. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, almost one-third of American households spend over 30% of their income on housing and slightly more than one-eighth spend over 50%. In addition, homeowners are paying higher commuting costs as they move to distant suburbs in order to pay affordable prices for their homes.
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Assessed value

The assessed value of a home is the dollar value assigned by a public tax assessor for the purposes of taxation. The value reflects a property's worth, which is used to compute a tax dollar obligation by multiplying it by a local tax rate. Assessment rates and valuations are not uniform across the U.S. and differ by locality.
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Homeowners insurance

According to data compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the state of Texas has the most expensive homeowners insurance in the nation. Wisconsin has the least expensive homeowners insurance premiums. Most of the difference in premium cost is attributable to weather and the risk of natural disaster.
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Female-owned households

Households headed by women represent one of the fastest growing segments of the housing market. According to a recent Fannie Mae study, by 2010, female-owned households are projected to increase to almost 31 million, nearly 28 percent of all households in the country.
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Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp, also known as Freddie Mac, was established as a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress in 1970. Freddie Mac provides a secondary market for conventional home loans with the goal of keeping money flowing to mortgage lenders, allowing lower housing costs and better access to home financing for consumers.
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Environmental awareness

Environmental awareness is putting more focus on building environmentally friendly homes. Incentives and standards for homebuilding are being adopted across America to make homes and neighborhoods more green. Industry and policy experts suggest eco-friendly building materials and design methods will save energy and reduce carbon emissions produced from America's residential buildings.
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Discounts on homeowner insurance

Insurance companies offer discounts on homeowner insurance premiums for such things as impact-resistant or noncombustible roof; three consecutive claim-free years; additional policies such as auto coverage; full replacement cost coverage; senior citizen homeowner; burglar, fire, and smoke alarm systems; sprinkler systems; fire extinguishers, and home security devices.
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GPS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) was completed by the U.S. Department of Defense in the early 1990s. The GPS system is available for use by anyone, free of charge. With a GPS receiver, people are able to instantly know their location on the planet - latitude, longitude, and altitude - to within a few hundred feet.
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North American lands

The North American lands discovered by Europeans in the 15th and 16th century had been occupied for centuries by native nations and tribes. The Europeans claimed and parceled out land, and established land ownership and title. In contrast, the natives generally viewed land as part of a larger universe. Individual land ownership did not exist, since all were entitled to the fruits of nature.
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The prime rate

The prime rate is the interest rate charged by banks to their most prominent and stable business customers. The prime rate is affected by the Federal Reserve's federal funds rate and discount rate. The Federal Reserve attempts to control inflation by increasing the prime rate when the economy is growing too fast and lowering it when the economy is too sluggish.
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The first street lights

Streetlights are used as beacons at street intersections, for lighting up roadways and for security. The first street lights were hanging lanterns used in London in 1417. Ben Franklin introduced streetlights to colonial America in Philadelphia. The city of Baltimore was the first city to incorporate gas-powered streetlights on its streets in 1816.
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Hold-open title insurance policy

A hold-open title insurance policy is a good money saving idea when buying a property to be sold again within two years. For an additional small fee on top of the title policy, the title company will hold a title commitment open for a year or more in anticipation of another sale, effectively covering both transactions.
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Log homes

Log homes are booming in popularity. During the 1980s there were about 7,000 log homes built annually in the U.S. That figure today has grown to over 25,000 annually. According to the publication "Luxury Housing Trends", log homes have become a status symbol. Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, and Bill Gates are all log homeowners.
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Foreclosure

Foreclosure is the legal process reserved by a lender to terminate the borrower's interest in a property after a loan has been defaulted. A judicial foreclosure results in a court-supervised sale of the property to cover the unpaid balance of a delinquent debt. A non-judicial foreclosure is the process of selling real property under a power of sale in a mortgage or deed of trust that is in default.
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Limited-documentation mortgages

Limited-documentation mortgages are available for homebuyers who do not want to disclose their financial information, as is the case with a conventional mortgage application process. Mortgage lenders offering limited-documentation mortgages usually charge a higher interest rate and require a substantial down payment from a borrower with excellent credit history.
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Residential elevators

Industry experts are seeing a growing market of homeowners installing residential elevators for convenience. Some high-end homebuilders are providing elevators as standard features. In addition to convenience, home elevators increase a home's value, take less space than a stairway, and are relatively maintenance free.
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Conformity

The real estate principle of conformity is the idea that a house will more likely appreciate in value if its size, age, condition and style are similar to, or conform to, other houses in the neighborhood.
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Wetlands

Wetlands are bogs, ponds, estuaries, and marshes. Among other benefits, wetlands provide natural water quality improvement, flood protection, and shoreline erosion control. The number of wetlands in the lower 48 U.S. states has decreased from an estimated 220 million acres in the 1600s to 105 million acres today. Land development during the 1950s to 1970s caused major wetland losses in the U.S.
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Neighborhood life cycle

Neighborhoods typically go through four stages called the neighborhood life cycle. Growth: the neighborhood gains favor as property values increase. Stability: property values remain the same. Decline: diminishing demand with decreasing property values. Revitalization: renewal, modernization and increasing demand and property values.
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