Buyer's Information

• Earnest money: A portion of a down payment given to the seller by a potential buyer indicating the buyer’s intent to complete the purchase of the property.
• Easement: A right to use the land of another.
• Encroachment: A condition that limits the interest in a title to property such as a mortgage, deed restrictions, easements, unpaid taxes, etc.
• Equity: The value of real estate over and above the liens against it. It is obtained by subtracting the total liens from the value.
• Equity mortgage: A mortgage based on the borrowers’ equity in their home rather than on their credit worthiness.
• Escrow: The placement of money or documents with a third party for safekeeping pending the fulfillment or performance of a specified act or condition.
• Federal Housing Administration (FHA): An agency within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that administers loan guarantee programs and loan insurance programs to make more housing available.
• Fannie Mae: Nickname for Federal National Mortgage Corp. (FNMA), a tax paying corporation created by Congress to support the secondary mortgages insured by FHA or guaranteed by VA, as well as conventional home mortgages.
• FHA Insured mortgage: A mortgage under which the Federal Housing Administration insures loans made, according to its regulation, by approved lenders.
• Fixed rate mortgage: A loan that fixes the interst rate at a prescribed rate for the duration of the loan.
• Foreclosure: Procedure whereby property pledged as security for a debt is sold to pay the debt in the event of default.
• Freddie Mac: Nickname for Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (FHLMC), a federally controlled and operated corporation to support the secondary mortgage market. It purchases and sells residential conventional home mortgages.