How many of these real estate terms do you know?

The spread of real estate investment and development companies, and the growth of constructions sector to be the second most pivotal economic sector in GCC countries after oil production signified the role of real estate portals and publications conveying properties information to masses of followers inside and outside GCC.

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These portals and publications include of course many professional terms of real estate sector which need explanation especially for youth who recently entered this field.

We will try here to mention some of the most important real estate terms with brief explanations. The terms are split into three main divisions: Real estate market terms, real estate sectors, and types of properties.

Market terms

Anyone who might be interested in the world of real estate will encounter these real estate terms while reading about market performance, main transactions and agreements.

Raw Land: Blank undeveloped land which doesn’t contain any structural or infrastructural facilities such as water, sanitation, electricity, etc.

Authorized Scheme: A land divided to a number of land plots.

Auction: Event for displaying a property for sale on a number of investors in the same place who compete to win its ownership by providing a number of bids, the best bid owns the property.

Appraising: The process of defining a certain price for an apartment displayed for sale. The pricing process is undertaken by professional appraisers.

Real estate loan: Loan granted by a bank or financial institution to finance purchasing or building a real estate unit for any mean.

Lease Purchase Contract: It’s a sort of real estate finance systems adapted in many places around the world including GCC region. This system stands on an agreement between benefactor and property owner entitling the benefactor to pay a certain amount of money every month to own the whole property after an agreed period of time.

Common land: A land owned collectively by a number of persons who can equally take advantage of it.

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Real estate sectors:

The real estate market is divided to many sectors including hospitality, residential, retail, and offices sectors.

Retail Sector: Properties built to be commercial centers for selling different kinds of commodities including garments, and food, as well as restaurants, and shopping centers.

Hospitality Sector: Properties built to host guests and tourists either hotels, resorts, or hotel apartments.

Residential Sector: Properties built for residence. It’s the dominant part of real estate and it is split to many kinds of properties like villa, apartments, and penthouses.

Offices Sector: Properties built to be administration offices. It is branched to many sorts varying from small towns’ municipalities to skyscrapers in city centers.

Types of properties:

Real estate market comprises from various products satisfying customers’ diverse tastes and needs.

Penthouse: Residential unit lies on the top floors of high buildings and features many distinctive characteristics that separate them from average apartments like design, architecture, and facilities.

Apartment: Self-contained unit in a building extended on limited space and contains more than one room. Apartments’ prices vary according to space, quality, design, and location.

Townhouse: New housing unit introduced in many areas around the world. The townhouse lies on a small space and is often consisted of multiple floors, it’s usually terraced or semi-detached with other units of the same kind.

Villa: Separate house comprised from two or more floors and lies on extended space. Villas are mostly located in rural areas or resorts apart from city centers.

Studio: Small apartment mainly consisted of one bedroom, kitchenette, living room, and bathroom.

General real estate terms

These important real estate terms and definitions are a must-understand before starting looking for a new home.

Broker: A broker has a broker’s license and has education beyond what laws require of real estate agents. Brokers understand real-estate law, construction, and property management. Real estate agents are required to work under the supervision of a broker.

Listings: This word is one of the real estate terms you’re likely to encounter. A listing on a website shows information about the home, such as the type, price, space and number of bedrooms & bathrooms. At Weetas we offer the most up-to-date listings. In a competitive real estate market, you can miss out on a good deal if you use sites that don’t show all the homes for sale or rent.

Closing costs: Closing costs are an assortment of fees, including fees charged by: a lender, the title company, attorneys, insurance companies, taxing authorities, homeowner’s associations, real estate agents, and other closing settlement-related companies. These closing costs are typically paid at the time of closing a real estate transaction.

Fixed Rate & Adjustable Rate Mortgages: Conventional loans include fixed rate and adjustable rate mortgages. A fixed rate mortgage has a predetermined interest rate throughout the life of the loan, the most common are for 15 and 30 years. An adjustable rate mortgage has a variable interest rate, and the most common are for 5, 7, or 10 years. Adjustable rate mortgages can make financial sense if you’re planning to sell or refinance your home before the introductory period ends, but if you’re planning to own your home longer than five years it’s less risky to choose a fixed rate loan. Make sure to shop around so you can get the best mortgage possible, which will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Blind offer: Blind offer is most commonly used in a highly competitive area and/or circumstance, and used as an attempt to be first and win quickly. It’s when a buyer makes an offer on a property they haven’t seen, even when it was possible to see it.