--- title: "A–Z Glossary of Housing Terms" url: https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/ description: "An A to Z glossary of housing, mortgage and conveyancing terms, written for this index and cross-linked to the pages that explain each subject at length." --- # A–Z Glossary of Housing Terms [Index](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/) › Reference Every term below is defined in the wording of this index. Where a subject has its own page, the definition is a summary of it rather than a substitute. Jump to a letter - [A](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-a) - [B](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-b) - [C](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-c) - [D](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-d) - [E](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-e) - [F](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-f) - G - H - [I](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-i) - J - K - [L](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-l) - [M](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-m) - N - O - [P](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-p) - Q - [R](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-r) - [S](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-s) - [T](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-t) - [U](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-u) - V - [W](https://minneapolisrealestatereview.com/glossary/#letter-w) - X - Y - Z ## AA ### Absorption rate The rate at which listed dwellings are taken off the market by buyers over a given period. Divided into inventory it produces months of supply. ### Adjustable rate A mortgage interest rate fixed for an initial period and then reset periodically against a published index plus a fixed margin, within stated caps. ### Amortisation The schedule by which a level loan payment is divided between interest and principal, with the principal share rising over the life of the loan. ### Appraisal A lender-commissioned opinion of a property's value, used to decide how much may be advanced against it. It is not the same as the contract price. ### Assessment The value placed on a property by a public authority for the purpose of levying property tax. It frequently differs from market value. Back to the alphabet ## BB ### Bungalow A low, wide house of the early twentieth century with a broad porch, overhanging eaves and a compact plan. The dominant type across much of the city's south side. Back to the alphabet ## CC ### Closing The meeting at which funds are disbursed, documents are signed and the deed is recorded, completing a transfer of ownership. ### Closing costs The one-off charges payable on completion, including lender fees, title work, recording fees and apportioned taxes. ### Comparable A recently sold property genuinely substitutable for the subject, used as evidence when estimating value. ### Contingency A condition written into a purchase contract allowing a party to withdraw if a stated event does not occur by a stated date. Back to the alphabet ## DD ### Days on market The number of days a property has been publicly listed. A visible figure that later buyers read as a signal. ### Deed The instrument that transfers title in land from one party to another and is entered in the public record. ### Dormer A structure projecting from a sloping roof to carry a window, used to make attic space habitable. Back to the alphabet ## EE ### Earnest money A deposit accompanying an offer, held by a third party and credited at closing, which demonstrates that the offer is serious. ### Easement A right held by another party to use part of a parcel for a stated purpose, such as access or utility lines. It survives a sale. ### Encroachment A structure that extends across a boundary onto adjoining land, typically discovered by survey. ### Encumbrance Any recorded claim or restriction limiting the interest being sold, including liens, easements and covenants. ### Equity The difference between what a property is worth and what is owed against it. ### Escrow The holding of funds or documents by a neutral third party pending completion of conditions; also the account from which taxes and insurance are paid. Back to the alphabet ## FF ### Fixed rate A mortgage interest rate that does not change for the life of the loan, leaving rate risk with the lender. ### Foursquare A two-storey cubic house under a hipped roof with four principal rooms per floor, common in pre-war districts. Back to the alphabet ## II ### Inventory The number of dwellings currently listed for sale in a defined market. Back to the alphabet ## LL ### Lien A claim recorded against a property to secure a debt. A mortgage is voluntary; tax and judgment liens are not. ### Listing A property publicly offered for sale, and by extension the record describing it. ### Lot A parcel of land as defined on a recorded plat, with fixed dimensions that constrain what may be built. Back to the alphabet ## MM ### Months of supply Inventory divided by the absorption rate: how long the listed stock would last at the current rate of sale. ### Mortgage insurance A charge protecting the lender against borrower default, commonly required where the deposit is small. Back to the alphabet ## PP ### Plat The recorded map dividing a tract of land into numbered lots, streets and easements. ### Points A fee paid at closing, expressed as a percentage of the loan, to obtain a lower interest rate. ### Principal The sum borrowed, as distinct from the interest charged for borrowing it. Back to the alphabet ## RR ### Radon A naturally occurring soil gas that can accumulate in enclosed lower levels; measured by a timed test rather than by visual inspection. ### Redlining The mid-twentieth-century practice of grading neighbourhoods by lending risk and withholding ordinary mortgage credit from those graded lowest, overwhelmingly where Black residents lived. Now unlawful; its effects on housing stock remain visible. ### Restrictive covenant A private rule recorded against land when it was subdivided, limiting what may be done with it. Racial covenants of this kind are void and unenforceable. Back to the alphabet ## SS ### Setback The minimum distance a building must stand from a lot line. ### Split-level A post-war plan whose floors are offset by half a storey rather than stacked. ### Survey A measured examination establishing where the legal boundaries of a parcel lie and whether structures agree with the record. Back to the alphabet ## TT ### Title The legal ownership of an interest in land, evidenced by the recorded chain of transfers. ### Title insurance A policy covering losses from defects in title that a search did not reveal. One policy protects the lender, a separate one the owner. ### Title search An examination of the public record for anything limiting the interest being sold. Back to the alphabet ## UU ### Underwriting The lender's assessment of whether a borrower can repay and whether the security is adequate. Back to the alphabet ## WW ### Walk-through A final inspection shortly before closing to confirm the property is in the agreed condition. Back to the alphabet