Industry Terms Anne Hathaway Would Learn

In real estate and in other industries, proper language is crucial to playing the game well. Remember The Devil Wears Prada? Anne Hathaway’s character had to learn about the history of fashion, the terms and definitions of fashion, and the proper slang of the fashion world before she could succeed and feel comfortable at her position.  In the spirit of Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, let’s explore some real estate terms!

Pre-approval letter

This is both an important term to know, and an important part of the buying process. The pre-approval letter is a letter from your bank. They let you know how much they estimate lending you, once the time comes. This information is cornerstone for your budgeting and decisions making.

Seller Disclosure

This is a document created by the seller of a home, that details all projects, remodels or known issues with the home. It’s not the same as an appraisal, and is certainly no substitute. It does however, add necessary documentation to the home selling process.

Title

A title is the full combination of all legal rights the owner has over the property in question. There is usually a necessary amount of back work done to ensure that the previous owner had actual rights to the title of the property, in the first place.

Under Contract

This term refers to the state of the agreement between buyer and seller. If a house is under contract, the seller cannot enter into a different contract with the same property. It also indicates that buyer and seller have agreed to the specific terms of a contract, which is a binding agreement.