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Real Living has a real estate glossary that defines some real estate terms.  It’s a start.

As in any industry there is “jargon” words that we use all the time that may not be easily understood to those outside the industry.  You don’t understand all the words used in other industries so why should real estate be different?

Real Living is in 20 states now.  Even before all the expansion of Real Living based in Columbus Ohio you could travel from Dayton to Columbus and the words used to describe something real estate related would be different so the glossary is just a start.  Daytonese may be differenent than Central Ohioese… and Cleveland!

The Real Living Glossary defines escrow:  

“Escrow – The handling of funds or documents by a third party on behalf of the buyer and/or seller.” 

Escrow has to do with “closing” or “settlement.”  From the Real Living Glossary:

“Closing – The completion of documents that transfer property from a seller to a buyer (also referred to as a settlement).”

Escrow is involved in real estate closings, even what we call a “round table” closing in Central Ohio.  “Escrow” closings are the norm in Cleveland if I am not mistaken.  Here in Columbus  when we say to the seller just before the closing “we are closing in escrow”  the seller once they understand what that means to them will respond: “#&*^ *  #!*^”  especially if they are scheduled to close on the home they are buying immediately after the closing on their current home. 

The term “#&*^   *#!*^”   is not defined in the Real Living Glossary.

“Round table” is not in the Real Living Glossary either (remember Real Living is in 20 States and lotsa markets. ) “Round table” is not the shape of the table at the title company who does the closing.  Maybe round tables were common for closings way back when…  Buyer, seller, real estate agents, attorneys and others sit around a table and close the transaction, it is not done in escrow.

The image above is a Real Living e-Postcard and the title of that e-Postcard is “Warning Jargon.”  

“Buy in” or “Buy out” are not in the glossary, that is a relocation term.

“Propped” was a real estate word I remembered from Dayton Ohio in the late 80’s, that I never heard here in Columbus.  A few years ago I had a hard time getting anyone in Dayton to define it for me so maybe the jargon there has changed

“Kick Out Clause” is an expression I have heard from people outside Central Ohio but don’t hear here.  People in Columbus get “bumped” from contingent (a contract contingent on the sale of a home) contracts though.  I think getting “kicked out” may be the same as being “bumped.”

Words like “bumped” aren’t used in the real estate contract of course.  The real estate contract has a long paragraph or many paragraphs describing the situation, the buyers rights, the sellers rights, the obligation of both parties.   Read your contract.

If a word is used in discussing the transaction and you don’t understand it.  Ask 

Search Central Ohio Homes

MyRealLiving.com -  set up your own page  Choose me as your agent if you would like to work together to find a property! 

Find a Central Ohio Home  - Let me help you find your “Dream Home”

Victorian Village Tour of Homes and Gardens - Sunday September 16, 2007.

It’s the 33rd Annual ‘Tour of Homes and Gardens’ in the Victorian Village Neighborhood.  This is a bus tour, which makes all the sense in the world!

$15 for tickets in advance.

“Kiss your $2,500 earnest money deposit goodbye” was the headline of a column by Ilyce R. Glink on Inman  News recently.   It went on to ask “Is there any way buyers can get money back after canceling deal?”

Inman Real Estate News is subscription only so no link to the article.  Sorry.  Ilyce Glink is one of my favorite columnists on Inman News.  You can sign up via Inman News to receive her newsletter too.  I believe her column is still in the Columbus Dispatch on Sundays, in the homes section. 

Back to the  question of the $2500 earnest money deposit:

“Q: We found a house we wanted to buy and put down $2,500 in earnest money on the property. We wanted to close on Aug. 27.

The problem is that now we can’t close because according to the lender we don’t have enough funds.

The commitment letter clearly stated we needed $15,000 in gift funds to close. At the time of loan application, my parents promised to give to us this money, but now, due to unavoidable circumstances, they can’t.

We withdrew from our contract but now the seller’s lawyer is refusing to give us our earnest money back, citing bad faith.

Is there anything we can do to get our cash back? Our current attorney is not handling this matter the way we would have liked.”

Glink’s answer:

A: It isn’t the seller’s fault that you entered into a contract, promised you would close on a specific date, and now, due to a financial problem your parents are having, cannot close on the property.

It’s tough to say this, but you should have made sure that you had the funds you needed to close on the property.

Now that you don’t, you want the seller to give you the earnest money back. But that earnest money was his security that you were going to go through with the deal. He has taken the property off the market while you tried to scrape together the funds for closing. He has lost out on possible buyer interest and may wind up with less money because of your actions.

I don’t know what your contract says, but it’s entirely possible that the seller is entitled to keep your earnest money check as compensation for your canceling the deal. To get the funds back, you’ll have to sue, which may cost more than $2,500. For more details, please talk to a real estate attorney or a litigator.”

The good news in Columbus (Central Ohio) is that the contract is pretty buyer friendly, good news for buyers, bad news for sellers.  Read the contract.  Have your real etate attorney read the contract. 

More good news.  Most buyers do not put up $2,500 in earnest money in Central Ohio.  What is earnest money?

If sale doesn’t close, can money be refunded in FSBO deal

Search for homes

MyRealLiving.com -  your own page  Choose me as your agent if you would like to work together to find a property! 

Find a Central Ohio Home  - Let Me Help You Find Your Dream Home

Douglas Garbe, an associate with Real Living Real Estate Solutions (in Orlando Florida)  shared Green Kitchen 101  on ActiveRain, a real estate network.

Douglas is committed to the environment and conservation.  His “Green Kitchen 101″ post is about how being “Green” around the house can save you green. 

“let us start with the kitchen:

• Buy a water filtration system.  Say no to expensive bottled water.
• Cloth napkins instead of paper… can be used several times before washing.
• Use less single-serve or single-use products… these products are more than 50% packaging.
• buy in bulk.  Avoid useless packaging.
• Always cover your pots when cooking.  It speeds up the process and saves energy.
• Let foods cool before putting them in the refrigerator, so as not to raise internal temperature.
   

If followed through for a whole year, the above six tips save the average home around $750.00 a year”

I am not sure I can do that last one… I am afraid of germs.  I know people used to wait to put food in the refrigerator and then it was considered safer healthwise to put still hot food directly in the refrigerator.  

Douglas’s source:  It’s easy being green, by Crissy Trask.  Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2006

At the Columbus Zoo on a recent visit I was struck again by how much they “preach” being green.  The new Asia Quest Exhibit has a lot about conservation including what we can all do at home, a lot of the same ideas above.  Lots of common sense stuff.

Jumping the gun?  Someone searching for Columbus Beggars Night 2007 ended up on my site in August.

When is Beggars Night 2007? I’ll let you know as soon as I see it….

Last couple of years it’s been on Halloween!

2006 on Columbus Best Blog (the old name for Discover Columbus)

Oct. 19, 2006  - Central Ohio Halloween Happenings

Oct. 21, 2006 - Happy Hallowiener Columbus

Oct. 26, 2006 - Happy Halloween Weekend

Oct. 31, 2006 - Halloween is local

2005 on Columbus Best Blog

Oct. 29, 2005 - Trick or Treat

Oct. 30, 2005 - Best Wishes on Halloween - Carve Your Own Jack O’ Lantern

Wanna buy a haunted house? An unhaunted house?

This post was first published on Discover Columbus which was the original Columbus Best Blog  on RealTown Blogs.