A housing cooperative, or co-op, is a legal entity, usually a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinctive form of home ownership that have many characteristics that differ from other residential arrangements such as single family ownership, condominiums and renting.[ The corporation is...
A reverse mortgage is a home loan that provides cash payments based on home equity. Homeowners normally "defer payment of the loan until they die, sell, or move out of the home." Upon the death of homeowners, their heirs either give up ownership to the home or must refinance the home to purchase the title from the reverse mortgage company. Specific rules for reverse mortgage transactions vary depending on...
There is not one design, style or size that embodies a luxury home. It could be a sprawling 15,000-square-foot French manor set on several rolling acres, or it could be a 4,000-square-foot contemporary home nestled into the side of a mountain. Although it's difficult to quantify exactly what luxury means, most buyers think they know it when they see it. Across the United States, sales of luxury homes have...
If you are like most home buyers and sellers, chances are you'll want a qualified real estate agent to help you through the process. Agents act as liaisons between buyers and sellers, and can bring valuable experience, expertise, local knowledge and negotiating skills to the table – all of which can save you effort, time and money. 1. Do you work part-time or full-time as a real estate agent? The...
Real estate salespeople, and other licensees who are required to work for and under the umbrella of a designated broker, are often referred to as real estate agents. In legal language, the term "agent" refers to the strictly defined relationship between a real estate salesperson and the buyers and sellers with whom he or she conducts business. An agent is an individual who is authorized and consents to...
A real estate property that has been purchased with the intention of earning a return on the investment (purchase), either through rent (income), the future resale of the property, or both. An investment property can be a long-term endeavor, such as an apartment building, or an intended short-term investment in the case of flipping (where a property is bought, remodeled or renovated, and sold at a...
A property survey shows the boundaries of the property indicating the lot size, and includes a written description of the property. Property surveys, which resemble a map, are carried out during the original construction of a house and are provided to the buyer at that time. However, if the house you are buying is older you may find that the original survey has long been lost. Sometimes a copy has been...