EARNEST MONEY Down payment made by a purchaser
of real estate as evidence of good faith. A deposit or partial
payment.
EASEMENT A right, privilege or interest
limited to a specific purpose which one party has in the land
of another.
ECONOMIC LIFE The period over which a property
will yield a return on the investment over and above the economic
or ground rent due to land.
ECONOMIC OBSOLESCENCE A loss in value due
to factors away from the subject property but adversely affecting
the value of the subject property.
ECONOMIC RENT The reasonable rental expectancy
if the property were available for renting at the time of its
valuation.
EFFECTIVE AGE OF IMPROVEMENT The number
of years of age that is indicated by the condition of the structure,
distinct from chronological age.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF VALUE The specific day
the conclusion of value applies.
EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE The percentage of
interest that is actually being paid by the borrower for the
use of the money, distinct from nominal interest.
EMINENT DOMAIN The right of the government
to acquire property for necessary public or quasi-public use
by condition; the owner must be fairly compensated and the right
of the private citizen to get paid is spelled out in the 5th
Amendment to the United States Constitution.
ENCROACHMENT
An unlawful intrusion onto
another's adjacent property by improvements to real property,
e.g. a swimming pool built across a property line.
ENCUMBRANCE Anything which affects or limits
the fee simple title to or value of property, e.g., mortgages
or easements.
EQUITY The interest or value which an owner
has in real estate over and above the liens against it. Branch
of remedial justice by and through which relief is afforded to
suitors in courts of equity.
EQUITY BUILD-UP
The increase of owner's
equity in property due to mortgage principal reduction and value
appreciation.
EQUITY PARTICIPATION
A mortgage transaction
in which the lender, in addition to receiving a fixed rate of
interest on the loan, acquires an interest in the borrower's
real property, and shares in the profits derived from the real
property.
EQUITY OF REDEMPTION
The right to redeem
property during the foreclosure period, such as a mortgagor's
right to redeem within either 3 months or 1 year as may be permitted
after foreclosure sale.
EROSION The wearing away of land by the act of water, wind
or glacial ice.
ESCALATION The right reserved by the lender to increase
the amount of the payments and/or interest upon the happening of a certain
event.
ESCALATOR CLAUSE A clause in a contract providing for
the upward or downward adjustment of certain items to cover specified contingencies,
usually tied to some index or event. Often used in long term leases to provide
for rent adjustments, to cover tax and maintenance increases.
ESCHEAT The reverting of property to the State when heirs
capable of inheriting are lacking.
ESCROW The deposit of instruments and/or funds with instructions
with a third neutral party to carry out the provisions of an agreement or contract.
ESCROW AGENT The neutral third party holding funds or
something of value in trust for another or others.
ESTATE As applied to real estate, the term signifies the
quantity of interest, share, right, equity, of which riches or fortune may
consist in real property. The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest
which a person has in real property.
ESTATE OF INHERITANCE An estate which may descend to heirs.
All freehold estates are estates of inheritance, except estates for life.
ESTATE FOR LIFE A possessory, freehold estate in land
held by a person only for the duration of his or her life or the life or lives
of another.
ESTATE FROM PERIOD TO PERIOD An interest in land where
there is no definite termination date but the rental period is fixed at a certain
sum per week, month, or year. Also called a periodic tenancy.
ESTATE AT SUFFERANCE
An estate arising when the tenant
wrongfully holds over after the expiration of the term. The landlord has the
choice of evicting the tenant as a trespasser or accepting such tenant for
a similar term and under the conditions of the tenant's previous holding.
Also called a tenancy at sufferance.
ESTATE AT WILL The occupation of lands and tenements by
a tenant for an indefinite period, terminable by one or both parties.
ESTATE FOR YEARS An interest in lands by virtue of a contract
for the possession of them for a definite and limited period of time. May be
for a year or less. A lease may be said to be an estate for years.
ESTIMATE A preliminary opinion of value. Appraise, set
a value.
ESTIMATED REMAINING LIFE The period of time (years) it
takes for the improvements to become valueless.
ESTOPPEL
A legal theory under which a person is barred
from asserting or denying a fact because of the person's previous acts or words.
ETHICS
That branch of moral science, idealism, justness,
and fairness, which treats of the duties which a member of a profession or
craft owes to the public, client or partner, and to professional brethren or
members. Accepted standards of right and wrong. Moral conduct, behavior or
duty.
ET UX
Abbreviation for "et uxor".. Means "and wife".
EVICTION Dispossession by process of law. The act of depriving
a person of the possession of lands in pursuance of the judgment of a court.
EXCEPTIONS Matters affecting title to a particular parcel
of real property which are included from coverage of a title insurance policy.
EXCHANGE A means of trading equities in two or more real
properties, treated as a single transaction through a single escrow.
EXCLUSION General matters affecting title to real property
excluded from coverage of a title insurance policy.
EXCLUSIVE AGENCY LISTING A listing agreement employing
a broker as the sole agent for the seller of real property under the terms
of which the broker is entitled to a commission if the property is sold through
any other broker, but not if a sale is negotiated by the owner without the
services of an agent.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL LISTING A listing agreement employing
a broker to act as agent for the seller of real property under the terms of
which the broker is entitled to a commission if the property is sold during
the duration of the listing through another broker or by the owner without
the services of an agent.
EXECUTE To complete, to make, to perform, to do, to follow
out; to execute a deed, to make a deed, including especially signing, sealing
and delivery; to execute a contract is to perform the contract, to follow out
to the end, to complete.
EXECUTOR A man named in a will to carry out its provisions
as to the disposition of the estate of a deceased person. (A woman is executrix.)
EXECUTORY CONTRACT A contract in which something remains
to be done by one or both of the parties.
EXPENSES Certain items which appear on a closing statement
in connection with a real estate sale. |