website created
by
Works of Joy
Glossary of Real Estate Terms
L
| Landscape |
| A home's surroundings can range from a shrub-studded emerald lawn to a native-plant xeriscape. It is one major component of curb appeal. |
| Landscape architect |
| A professional who holds a degree in landscape architecture, which involves training in horticulture, landscape design and planning. |
| Landscape contractor |
| A professional who carries out the plans of a landscape architect or a landscape designer. |
| Landscape designer |
| A landscape designer has training in horticulture and landscape planning, but does not necessarily hold a degree. |
| Late charge |
| A fee a lender imposes on a borrower when the borrower does not make a payment on time. |
| Late payment |
| A payment a lender receives after the due date has passed. |
| Latent defect |
| An invisible problem in a piece of propertysuch as bad wiring, termite damage or lead paint |
| Lead |
| A metallic chemical element present in older dwellings, primarily in the form of lead-based paint and lead plumbing. Exposure to lead has been found to be a health risk. |
| Lease |
| A binding agreement that contains the terms and conditions of a renter's occupancy. |
| Lease option |
| A lease that contains the right to purchase the property for a specific price within a certain time frame |
| Leasehold estate |
| An arrangement in which the borrower does not own a specific piece of property but possesses a long-term lease . |
| Legal blemish |
| Blemishes on a piece of property, such as a zoning violation or fraudulent title claim. |
| Legal description |
| A specific way of identifying and locating a piece of real estate that is acceptable to a court. |
| Lender |
| A bank, savings institution or mortgage company that offers home loans. |
| Letter of intent |
| A formal statement by a buyer that they intend to purchase the property for a certain price on a certain date. |
| Leverage |
| The use of a small amount of cash--a 5 percent or 10 percent down payment--to buy a piece of property. |
| Liabilities |
| A borrower's debts and financial obligations. |
| Liability insurance |
| A policy that protects owners against any claims of negligence, personal injury or property damage. |
| Lien |
| A claim laid by one person or company on the property of another as security for money owed. |
| Life cap |
| A limit on the amount that a loan rate can move during the term of the mortgage. For example, the rate on an ARM that begins at 5 percent and has a lifetime cap of six percentage points cannot rise above 11 percent, even if rates on fixed rate mortgage soar to 20 percent. |
| Life-cycle cost analysis |
| An analysis of a building project's expected operating, maintenance and replacement costs calculated by an architect. |
| Limited partnership |
| Real estate syndicates and other investment groups use this type of ownership. A general partner makes the group's investment decisions, oversees the investment and is principally liable for any losses. |
| Lintel |
| A horizontal piece over a door or window that carries the weight of the structure above it. |
| Liquid assets |
| Cash and all other assets that can be converted to cash relatively quickly. Liquid assets can include money in savings and checking accounts, money-market accounts, and most certificates of deposit. |
| Liquidated damages |
| When a real estate deal goes awry, one party often is entitled to liquidated damages, a sum of money set out in the purchase contract in that event. |
| Listing |
| A piece of property placed on the market by a listing agent. |
| Listing inventories |
| The known number of houses for sale within a given market. |
| Live-in partnership |
| An arrangement in which two unrelated people purchase a home. |
| Live-work space |
| An officially designated dwelling in which the occupant conducts a home-based business or enterprise. |
| Load-bearing wall |
| A wall that supports not only its own weight, but the weight of other parts of a home. Also called a bearing wall. |
| Loan application |
| The first step toward in submitting a home loan requires the borrower to itemize basic financial information. |
| Loan application fee |
| A fee charged by lenders to for making a loan application. |
| Loan commitment |
| A promise by a lender or other financial institution to make or insure a loan for a specified amount and on specific terms. |
| Loan officer |
| An official representative of a lending institution who is empowered to act on behalf of the lender within certain limits. |
| Loan origination fee |
| Most lenders charge borrowers an origination fee--or points--for processing a loan. A point is one percent of the total loan amount. |
| Loan processing fee |
| A fee charged by some lenders for gathering information to enable the lender to process the loan. |
| Loan term |
| The amount of a time set by the lender for a buyer to pay a mortgage. Most conventional loans have 30-year or 15-year terms . |
| Loan -to-value ratio |
| A technical measure used by lenders to assess the relationship of the loan amount to the value of the property |
| Lock-in |
| When interest rates are volatile, many borrowers want to "lock in" an interest rate and many lenders will oblige, setting a limit on the amount of time the lock-in is in effect. |
| Loft |
| A living space not partitioned into rooms or a small space built above a larger room. |
| Log cabin |
| Homes constructed of rough-hewn timbers and a standard housing form in the early European settlement of the U.S. |
| Low density |
| A low concentration of housing units in a specific area. |
| Low-ball offer |
| An offer made to a seller that is substantially below market value. The longer a property stays on the market, the more likely there are to be such offers. |
| Low-documentation loan |
| Mortgages that require only minimal verification of income and assets. |
| Low-down-payment loan |
| A home loan that requires the borrower to make only a small down payment before obtaining the financing needed to purchase a house |
