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Short Sale Glossary
| Appraisal | An opinion of assets value. |
| Assessed Value | Value placed on property by the county it’s in for the purpose of computing property taxes. |
| BPO | Broker's Price Opinion. A method of appraisal in which selling prices of similar properties are used as the basis for arriving at the value estimate. Institutional sellers usually rely on a BPO prepared by a real estate agent/broker and a professional appraisal to determine a listing price or allow a short sale to proceed. |
| Certificate of Sale | A certificate issued to a buyer at a foreclosure/judicial sale |
| Certificate of Title | This certificate is issued to a buyer 10 days after the foreclosure sale. |
| Certified Funds | Same as cash. Buyer's monies must be brought to the closing in this form. Certified Check. |
| Closing | The final accounting of the real estate sale. The closing Statement outlines the costs on both the buyers and the seller's side of the transaction. |
| Comparative Market Analysis | A method of appraisal in which selling prices of similar properties are used as the basis for arriving at the value estimate. Typically provided to clients by real estate agents. |
| Contingent | Dependent upon conditions or events. There are conditions sellers will consider in an offer to purchase such as the ability of the buyer to obtain a mortgage or perform inspections. If buyer isn’t satisfied these contingencies can be used to back out of the contract. |
| Contract | A promise by two or more parties for performing, or refraining from performing, some specified act(s) in exchange for lawful consideration. |
| Default Judgment | Against someone because they failed to show up in court. |
| Deficiency Judgment | Decision requiring a borrower to pay the lender the difference between the mortgage balance and the amount realized at the foreclosure sale. |
| Earnest Money | An amount of money given with the offer to purchase as a "good faith" gesture of the buyer's serious intent. |
| Escrow | The deposit of funds with a bonded neutral third party with instructions to carry out the provisions of a contract. |
| Fee Simple | Complete legal ownership of a property. |
| Federal Housing Administration (FHA) | Federal agency that administers FHA insured loans. |
| Federal Tax Lien | An obligation to the federal government as a result of non-payment of taxes. |
| F.N.M.A. | Abbreviation for the Federal National Mortgage Association affectionately known as "Fannie Mae", an agency which buys blocks of loans from banks. Due to its size, Fannie Mae Foreclosures make up a significant percentage of our Florida inventory. |
| F.H.L.M.C. | Abbreviation for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation affectionately known as "Freddie Mac", an agency performing a similar function to Fannie Mae and now much larger. Special financing is offered on Freddie Mac Foreclosures. |
| Foreclosure | Forced sale of property due to delinquency in mortgage payments. A foreclosure sale terminates all rights of the mortgagor. |
| G.N.M.A. | Government National Mortgage Association affectionately known, as Ginnie Mae is an agency in the secondary mortgage market dealing primarily in recycling VA and FHA mortgages. Grantee. The buyer. |
| HAMP | Home Affordable Modification Program If you can no longer afford to make your monthly loan payments, you may qualify for a loan modification to make your monthly mortgage payment more affordable. Millions of borrowers who are current, but having difficulty making their payments and borrowers who have already missed one or more payments may be eligible. |
| HUD | Abbreviation for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, an agency that oversees FHA. FHA foreclosures are called HUD Homes. |
| Institutional Lender | Financial institutions whose loans are regulated by law such as banks, credit unions and commercial loan agencies. |
| Involuntary Lien | A lien imposed against property without the owner's consent such as taxes, special assessments, federal income taxes, etc. |
| Junior Lien | A lien that does not have first priority making the property security for payment of a debt. |
| Lien | An encumbrance using the property as security for the payment of a debt or obligation of the property owner. |
| Lis Pendens | is Latin for "suit pending.” This may refer to any pending lawsuit or to a specific situation with a public notice of litigation that has been recorded in the same location where the title of real property has been recorded |
| Mechanic's Lien | A lien placed on property by laborers or material suppliers who have contributed to an improvement. |
| Mortgage | a loan secured by a mortgage on real property |
| Mortgagee | The lender. |
| Mortgagor | The borrower. |
| MLS | Multiple Listing Services run by local Realtor associations. |
| Notice of Default | A notice filed to show that the borrower under a mortgage is in default due to lack of payment. |
| Points | A charge made by the lender for loaning money. One point equals one percent of the loan. |
| Portfolio Loan | Loan originated and held in house as part of a lender's investments. |
| PMI | insurance payable to a lender or trustee for a pool of securities that may be required when taking out a mortgage loan. It is insurance to offset losses in the case where a mortgagor is not able to repay the loan and the lender is not able to recover its costs after foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged property |
| Pre-foreclosure | Period between when a borrower becomes delinquent and the property is foreclosed upon. |
| Principal | A person acting for him/herself in a transaction. Also the amount of a loan exclusive of interest. |
| Qualifying | Process of demonstrating a person is credit worthy and has enough money to buy a property. |
| Quiet Title | Legal process to eliminate title problems. |
| Quitclaim | A form of deed in which the grantor is giving the grantee rights to a property but makes no warranties about rights others may have. |
| Realtor | A broker or sales agent who is a member of a local real estate board affiliated with the National Association of Realtors (NAR). |
| R.E.O. | An abbreviation for Real Estate Owned most commonly used to describe properties acquired in foreclosure and owned by institutions. |
| Right of Redemption | Right to buy a property back for a limited period of time (usually 10 days) after a foreclosure sale. |
| Secondary Mortgage Market | Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae were originally chartered by the federal government to stimulate the economy by either buying or recycling packages of loans from financial institutions. |
| Sheriff's Deed | Deed given by court order to satisfy a judgment. |
| Short Sale | In some instances in Florida a lender may agree to adjust the amount owed in order to get the property sold. |
| Special Warranty Deed | See warranty deed. "Special" indicates there are limitations. |
| Title | Evidence that an owner is in lawful possession; instrument evidencing ownership. |
| Title Insurance | Policy written by a title company to protect a property owner against loss if the title is imperfect. |
| Title Search | Process to determine validity of the title to real estate.Assures the title conveyed is good and possession will be undisturbed. |
| Warranty Deed | Assures the title conveyed is good and possession will be undisturbed. |