Oregon Real Estate Glossary
The terms you'll meet in your Oregon real estate courses and on the exam — defined the way Oregon license law actually uses them.
A
- Agency
- The legal relationship in which one person, the agent, is authorized to act on behalf of another, the principal, in dealings with third parties.
- Amortization
- The gradual payoff of a loan through regular payments over its term. Each payment covers the interest due and reduces the principal until the balance reaches zero.
- Appraisal
- A professional, supported opinion of a property's value as of a specific date. It is prepared by a licensed or certified appraiser using recognized valuation methods.
- Appraiser
- A trained professional who estimates the market value of real property.
B
- Basis
- For tax purposes, the amount invested in a property: its purchase price plus settlement and closing costs.
- Breach
- The failure to fulfill a promise or obligation in a contract without a legal excuse. It gives the injured party the right to remedies such as damages or specific performance.
- Brokerage
- The business of facilitating the sale, purchase, rental, or exchange of real estate for others in return for compensation.
C
- Client
- A buyer or seller who has entered an agency relationship with a broker and is therefore owed the broker's full representation and duties, unlike a customer.
- Closing
- The final step of a real estate sale, when funds and signed documents are exchanged and title passes to the buyer.
- Closing costs
- The fees and charges a buyer and seller owe at settlement beyond the property's purchase price. They include loan fees, title and escrow charges, prepaid taxes, and insurance.
- Closing Disclosure
- A five-page federal form itemizing the final loan terms, costs, and credits in a mortgage transaction.
- Collateral
- Property a borrower pledges to secure a loan. If the borrower defaults, the lender can take the pledged asset and sell it to recover what it is owed.
- Comparables
- Recently sold properties similar to the one being valued in location, size, age, and features. Their sale prices are adjusted to estimate the subject property's value.
- Comparative market analysis
- A broker's estimate of a home's value built by comparing it to similar nearby properties and adjusting the comparables for differences.
- Condominium
- A form of ownership in which a person holds outright title to an individual unit plus a shared interest in the common elements of the larger property.
- Consummation
- Under federal lending rules, the moment a borrower becomes contractually obligated on the loan, generally when the note is signed.
- Contingency
- A condition written into a purchase and sale agreement that must be met before the deal is binding: a satisfactory inspection or loan approval, for example.
- Corporation
- A business owned by shareholders who hold stock in it.
- Covenant
- A binding promise written into a deed or other agreement, such as a grantor's assurance about the condition of the title being transferred.
- Customer
- A buyer or seller a broker assists without representing them; the broker owes honesty and fair dealing but not the full duties owed to a client.
D
- Deed
- A signed written document that transfers ownership of real estate from one party to another.
- Default
- Failure to keep the promises made in a contract, also called a breach.
- Delivery
- The grantor's act of handing over a signed deed to the grantee with intent to transfer ownership; it must happen during the grantor's lifetime to be valid.
- Down payment
- Money the borrower puts toward the purchase price from their own funds rather than borrowing it.
E
- Earnest money
- A deposit a buyer puts down to show a serious commitment to purchasing a property. It is usually held in a trust account and applied toward the purchase price at closing.
- Easement
- A legal right to use part of another person's land for a specific purpose, such as a driveway or utility line, without owning it.
- Encumbrance
- A claim, right, or liability that another party holds against a property, such as a lien, easement, or deed restriction.
- Equity
- The share of a property's value the owner actually holds, found by subtracting the loan balance from the current market value.
- Escrow
- A process in which a neutral third party holds money and documents and releases them only when both sides of a contract have met the agreed terms.
- Estate
- The nature and extent of a person's ownership or possessory interest in land, deciding who may control or occupy it, now or in the future.
F
- Fair Housing Act
- The 1968 federal law that bans discrimination in the sale, rental, financing, and advertising of housing.
- Foreclosure
- The legal process a lender uses to take and sell a property when the borrower defaults on the loan, applying the sale proceeds to the unpaid debt.
H
- HUD
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the federal agency that administers housing programs and enforces the Fair Housing Act.
J
- Judgment
- A court's final decision that resolves a lawsuit and fixes the rights and obligations of the parties, including any money one party must pay another.
L
- Legal description
- A precise written identification of a parcel's boundaries, using a recognized survey method, exact enough to transfer the land in a deed. It is not the same as a street address.
- License
- Permission to use another person's land for a specific purpose while the owner keeps control. It can be given orally, is revocable at any time, and is not an interest in the land.
- Lien
- A monetary claim recorded against property to secure payment of a debt, letting the creditor force a sale if the debt goes unpaid. It is a type of financial encumbrance.
- Listing agreement
- A contract between a seller and a real estate firm authorizing the firm to market a property and find a buyer. It works much like an employment contract for the firm's services.
- Loan Estimate
- A three-page federal form a lender must give a mortgage applicant within three business days of application. It lays out the loan's key terms, projected costs, and risks.
- Loan-to-value ratio
- How big a mortgage is compared with the price or worth of the property securing it, shown as a percentage (LTV).
M
- Market value
- The most probable price a property should bring in a competitive, open sale. It assumes both a willing buyer and a willing seller act knowledgeably and free of undue pressure.
- Material fact
- Information important enough that it could affect a reasonable buyer's decision or the property's value, such as a structural problem or a lien.
- Mutual acceptance
- The point at which a buyer and seller have agreed to all terms of an offer, forming a binding contract. Many purchase timelines are counted from this date.
N
- NAR Settlement
- A 2024 legal agreement resolving antitrust claims against the National Association of Realtors.
P
- Personal property
- Movable belongings that are not permanently attached to land, which the owner may take along when the real estate is sold. Also called chattels or personalty.
- Point
- A fee equal to one percent of the loan amount, paid to the lender at closing. On a $700,000 loan, one point costs $7,000; borrowers may pay points to lower the interest rate.
- Possession
- Physical occupancy and control of a property.
- Principal
- The person who authorizes an agent to act on their behalf; in real estate, the buyer or seller who has engaged a broker to represent them.
- Promissory note
- A signed written pledge by which one person (the maker) agrees to pay a set sum to another, at a future date or in installments, often with interest.
- Purchase and sale agreement
- The written contract in which a buyer and seller set the price, closing date, contingencies, and other terms for transferring a piece of real estate.
Q
- Quitclaim deed
- A conveyance that transfers only whatever interest the grantor happens to hold, with no promise that the title is good or even that the grantor owns anything.
R
- Real property
- Land plus everything permanently attached to it (buildings, fixtures, and growing things). It also includes the legal rights and privileges that come with owning the land.
- Regulation Z
- The federal rule that carries out the Truth in Lending Act, requiring lenders to disclose credit terms and costs.
- Rescission
- The canceling of a contract that returns both parties to the positions they held before it was made, as if the agreement never existed.
S
- Section
- In the government survey system, a block of land one mile square and containing 640 acres. Thirty-six of them make up a township.
- Statute of Frauds
- A rule requiring certain contracts, including those for the sale of real estate, to be in a signed writing to be enforceable.
- Subject to
- A transfer in which the buyer takes over the seller's existing loan payments but does not assume personal liability for the debt.
T
- Title
- The bundle of legal rights that establishes who owns a piece of property and may sell or use it. It shows the extent of a person's ownership or other interest in the real estate.
- Title company
- An insurance company that examines whether the ownership rights being transferred are actually transferable.
- Title insurance
- A one-time-premium policy that reimburses the holder for losses caused by defects in a property's ownership history.
W
- Will
- A written, witnessed document that directs how a person's property and assets are to be distributed after death. It also names who should carry out those instructions.
Z
- Zoning
- Local government rules that divide land into districts and control what may be built and how each parcel may be used.