Sunday mornings with the real estate section of the newspaper can be overwhelming for home buyers and sellers. Figuring out the short form of popular home features requires an inquisitive mind. Mark Nash, author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home, takes the guesswork out of listing sheets and residential real estate classifieds.
BOOM! 3/2 FSTH,S/E Exp.,Wbfplc,2 Tan.Gar,SS Kit.,Motv. 1031 Sell. mid 5’s
What it actually says: New on the market, 3 bed, 2 bath, single pay townhome with southern and eastern exposures, wood burning fireplace, 2 tandem garage parking spaces, stainless steel kitchen appliances. Motivated seller needs to sell to meet guidelines for a 1031 exchange. Price $550,000.
What it really means: Either a contract fell through (buyers walked out) or sellers took the property off the market due to illness, repairs, or vacations. There are no homeowners association assessments because the townhome is fully owned. Indoor garage parking spaces are end-to-end or tandem. The seller who has not occupied the property because it is a 1031 exchange needs to sell within a short period of time to meet tax guidelines. Yes, the price is fifty thousand over half a million dollars.
The increase in real estate prices in recent years has created a new real estate discourse. The shorthand used by agents can be hard for home buyers and sellers to decipher, but don’t be fooled by the lack of zeros in prices or the use of friendly words instead of the actual choice. It sounds a lot less expensive if you’re looking in the 1.1 to 1.5 range than a million, hundred thousand to one million, five hundred thousand. Also, “top repair” sounds better than it really is: tired. “As is” translates to buyer beware.
Here are some additional abbreviations that home buyers and sellers should be familiar with when interacting with real estate agents.
A/G. Above the ground. Pools that are above ground or grade.
Accompany accommodation. Listing agent must show property.
AC Air conditioning. W for windows, AC for central air.
Accessories app. Kitchen and laundry.
Apt. Supplement. Shown by appointment only, please do not ring the bell unannounced.
approx. Approximately. Check everything that is approximate.
How is.
asm. Evaluation. Annual, quarterly or monthly HOA fees to owners.
Att. Attach. Any condominium, co-op, duplex, townhome, or two-bedroom apartment that is attached to another unit.
HAVE. Prosecutor and inspection. Period defined under the terms of the purchase contract where both parties can have the contract reviewed by an attorney and the buyers can conduct an inspection of the property at their expense.
Bsmt. base. Below ground or ground level.
Licensed in letters. Bathroom. Either half (no shower/tub), three-quarter (shower no tub), or full (tub and/or shower).
Br. Bedrooms. To qualify you usually have to have a window and closet otherwise a sitting room or office.
BOOM. Back to the market. It was available, it went off the market, and now it’s back in stock.
building building. Such as skyscrapers (more than eight stories) or mid-rise (5-8 stories) or low-rise (2-4 stories).
Cab. cabinets. Kitchen or other built-in storage.
cancel Cancelled. A list is no longer available.
crypt. Carpet. Wall to wall and studded.
THAT. Central air conditioner. Originally integrated with ductwork or retrofitted as a space-pak (spc pk).
CLD. Closed. A property that has been sold and the buyers have received title.
constant Construction. New, recent or quality.
CTG. Share. A property is under contract with provisions that must be followed. Buyers must sell their home (home sale=HS) or receive a mortgage commitment (mort).
Cooperative. Cooperative. A form of ownership of an apartment (apt) or commission paid to a real estate broker procuring a buyer for a property.
Det. Separated. A building that is not attached to another.
Noise. Dining room. A separate space not combined (combo) with a living room.
address Addresses. Directions to a specific property address.
D/N. Dishwasher. Built-in (an accessory) or portable (personal property).
Dist. District. School (sch) or historical (hist).
SUN. days on the market The length of time a property has been on the Multiple Listing Service (mls).
Drv. Driveway. Below is a description of the material that covers the driveway.
Eg Expired. A property listing period has passed.
excl. Exclusions. Vendors are taking the grandmothers lamp in the breakfast room (brkft).
Exp. Exposure. Address faces house or unit. E=East, W=West, S=South, N=North
ext. Exterior. Features on the exterior of a building and grounds.
Family Family. Family room. Please note that the use of this word may violate fair housing laws.
End. Finish. Basements can be completely finished (full fin) or partially finished (part fin).
fplc. Fireplace. Fireplaces can be gas (gas fplc) or wood burning (wb fplc).
flr. Flat. As the first floor master bedroom (1st flr mstr).
grdn. Flower gardens or garden level. It can describe an exterior landscape or an interior living level that is partially below ground level.
Gar. Garage. A closed space for storage.
GFA. Gas forced air. A type of heating system.
grt. Good room. A combined family (combo), kitchen and breakfast room.
HDWD. Laminate flooring. Beware of softer woods that fall into this category. Bamboo and poplar cannot withstand the same wear and tear as maple and oak. Diagonal hardwood (d/hdwd) and parquet (parq) are other options.
HVAC. Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. It refers to an all-in-one heating and cooling system.
H/War. Home warranty. Sellers have purchased a warranty on the home to protect buyers from repair costs.
Hour. 24 hour notice to tour a property.
included Includes. Any items considered personal property (personal property) that are left in the home by vendors.
in t. Inside. As in decoration (decor) or professionally (pro) designed.
team. Kitchen room. That is easy.
L. List price. The advertised price of a house.
Book. Living room. A formal room typically adjacent to the main entrance of a house.
Loc. Located or location. Rental rules in residential real estate.
LL. Lower level. A nice word for base.
Quotation office LO. The brokerage to contact regarding a specific listing.
Maintenance Maintenance. It can apply to the amount of work to maintain a home or what is included in the HOA charges to homeowners.
MOUNTAIN. market time. Just like the days in the market.
Mr. Master bath or bedroom. The designated space where the owners bathe and sleep.
mechanical Mechanical systems. The refrigeration, electricity, heating and plumbing systems of a home.
MONTH. Month. Monthly installments or month-to-month rentals.
From c. Office. Home office (hom ofc) or office space (ofc spc).
O/M. Off the market. A property that has been removed from the Multiple Listing Service.
Prq. Parking lot. Options (opt) include off street (off-st), space (spc) or covered (covd).
Hang up. Slope. When a property on the MLS is under contract and close to closing or escrow.
priv. private private. Entrance (entr) or path (rd).
Pos. Possession. The date a buyer can occupy (occ) a property.
PCHG. Change of price. The price has been lowered or raised (difficult sellers).
Room.
S. Sale price. The recorded price for which a property was sold.
scrnd. projected. Lanai’s (lan) or porches (by).
Dry. Security. System (sys) or building. Or a deposit (dep).
separate sep. Entrance or room not combined with another.
Sing with Family. single family home. A detached house.
Slider. Sliding doors). Usually refers to sliding glass patio (pat) doors.
square feet Square feet. Please check all square footage measurements in housing marketing materials.
Stye. History. Describes the number of levels in a house.
Stye. Style. The architectural character of a house. Colonial (Col), ranch (ran) or traditional (trad).
Tax. Taxes. Property taxes for the last (2005=05) possible year (year).
Along. Along the. Wood floors in each room.
TH. Town house. Terraced house.
Trans. Transportation. Convenient to buses, trains or hwys.
U/C. According to the deal. A property has a fully executed purchase contract.
User Utility(s). Cable, electricity, gas, oil and telephone services provided to a dwelling.
Wine. Ancient. A house that was built before World War II.
washer/dryer Washer and dryer. Side by side (SBS) or stackable (stk).
W/. With. Wood-burning fireplace with gas start. Wbfp with gas Str.
Wbfp. Fireplace.
Yard. Yard. Front, rear or side garden areas.
And what about those capitalized initials after real estate agents’ names on their business cards, called Professional Designations? Here is a sample.
ABR Accredited Buyers Representative. Homebuyers should seek the Accredited Buyer’s Representative designation. The Council of Realtors trains real estate agents with experience in specifically representing the real estate consumer.
CRS Certified Residential Specialist. Agents holding the CRS designation have additional education and sales experience with a focus on the latest in real estate professionalism, sales techniques, and marketing.
GRI Graduate Realtor® Institute. REALTOR® Institute graduates earn the GRI designation by completing a national advanced education program consisting of residential marketing, cost basis, methods of appreciation, investments and taxes in real estate, construction, trading, capital gains and mortgage programs .
