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Real Estate Dictionary Terms - S
Safety Clause
In a listing agreement, a provision that if anyone found by the broker
during his listing period purchases the property within a specified
time after the expiration of the listing, the broker receives his
full commission.
Sale And Leaseback
A transaction in which an owner sells his or her improved property
and, as part of the same transaction, signs a long-term lease to
remain in possession of the premises. A technique in which a seller
deeds property to a buyer for a consideration, and the buyer simultaneously
leases the property back to the seller. A situation in which the
owner of a piece of property sells it and retains occupancy be leasing
it from the buyer.
Sales Comparison Approach
The process of estimating the value of a property by examining and
comparing actual sales of comparable properties.
Sales Contract
A contract between buyer and seller setting out the terms of sale.
Salesperson
An individual licensed to sell property, but who must at all times
be under the supervision and direction of a broker. A person who
performs real estate activities while employed by or associated with
a licensed real estate broker.
Sandwich Lease
A leasehold interest that lies between the primary lease and the
operating lease. Example: A leases to B; B subleases to C; C subleases
to D. C's lease is a sandwich lease.
Sash
A wood or metal frame containing one or more windowpanes.
Satisfaction
Discharge of a mortgage or deed of trust lien from the records upon
payment of the secured debt. Dischange of an obligation or indebtedness
by paying what is due.
Satisfaction Of Mortgage
A document acknowledging the payment of a mortgage debt.
Savings Account
An investor should not place money in a savings account if he wants
to have financial freedom.
Seal
An impression mark or stamp made to attest to the execution of an
instrument.
Second Mortgage
A mortgage that has a lien position subordinate to the first mortgage.
Secondary Financing
A loan secured by a second mortgage or a second deed of trust.
Secondary Market
The buying and selling of existing mortgages, usually as part of
a "pool" of mortgages.
Secondary Money Market
Where loans are purchased and sold.
Secondary Mortgage Market
A market for the purchase and sale of existing mortgages, designed
to provide greater liquidity for mortgages; also called the secondary
money market. Mortgages are first originated in the primary mortgage
market.
Section
A square mile of land, as established by government survey, containing
640 acres. A portion of township under the rectangular (government)
survey system. A township is divided into 36 sections, numbered one
through 36. A section is a square with mile-long sides and an area
of one square mile, or 640 acres.
Secured Debt
An obligation that includes property held as security for the payment
of that debt; upon default, the property may be sold to satisfy the
debt.
Secured Loan
A loan that is backed by collateral.
Secured Party
The party having the security interest in personal property. The
mortgagee, conditional seller, or pledgee is referred to as the secured
party.
Security
The property that will be pledged as collateral for a loan.
Security Agreement
An agreement between the secured party and the debtor that creates
a?security interest in personal property. It replaced such terms
as chattel mortgage, pledge, trust receipt, chattel trust, equipment
trust, conditional sale, and inventory lien. See Uniform Commercial
Code.
Security Deposit
A deposit made to assure performance of an obligation, usually by
a tenant. A sum of cash given as collateral to ensure faithful performance
of specified obligations. A payment by a tenant, held by the landlord
during the lease term and kept (wholly or partially) on default or
destruction of the premises by the tenant.
Security Interest
A term designating the interest of a secured creditor in the personal
property of the debtor.
Seizin
The possession of land under a claim of freehold.
Seller Carry-Back
An agreement in which the owner of a property provides financing,
often in combination with an assumable mortgage.
Senior Lien
A lien that is superior to or has priority over another lien. Also,
the first deed of trust or lein on a property.
Separate Property
Property that is owned by a husband or wife and that is not community
property. It is property acquired by either spouse prior to marriage
or by gift or inheritance after marriage; also, in California, it
is the income from separate property after marriage. Property held
by a married person that is not community property; it includes property
owned before marriage and property acquired after marriage by gift
or inheritance.
Separate Property
Under community property law, property owned solely by either spouse
before the marriage, acquired by gift or inheritance after the marriage
or purchased with separate funds after the marriage.
Septic Tank
An underground tank in which sewage from the house is reduced to
liquid by bacterial action and drained off.
Servicer
An organization that collects principal and interest payments from
borrowers and manages borrowers’ escrow accounts. The servicer
often services mortgages that have been purchased by an investor
in the secondary mortgage market.
Servicing
The collection of mortgage payments from borrowers and related responsibilities
of a loan servicer.
Servient Estate
That parcel of property which is burdened by and encumbered with
an easement.
Servient Tenement
An estate burdened by an easement. Land on which an easement exists
in favor of an adjacent property (called a dominant estate); also
called a servient estate.
Setback
The amount of space local zoning regulations require between a lot
line and a building line.
Set-Back Ordinance
An ordinance prohibiting the erection of a building or structure
between the curb and the set-back line. (see Building Line)
Settlement Statement
See HUD1 Settlement Statement.
Severalty
Sole ownership of property. Ownership by one person. Ownership of
real property by one person only, also called sole ownership.
Severalty Ownership
Ownership by only one person; sole ownership.
Severance
Changing an item of real estate to personal property by detaching
it from the land; for example, cutting down a tree.
Shake
A hand-split shingle, usually edge-grained.
Sharecropping
In an agricultural lease, the agreement between the landowner and
the tenant farmer to split the crop or the profit from its sale,
actually sharing the crop.
Shared-Appreciation Mortgage (Sam)
A mortgage loan in which the lender, in exchange for a loan with
a favorable interest rate, participates in the profits (if any) the
borrower receives when the property is eventually sold.
Sheathing
Structural covering, such as boards, plywood, or wallboard, placed
over the exterior studding or rafters of a house.
Sheriff's Deed
A deed given by court order in connection with the sale of property
to satisfy a judgement.
Sill
The board or piece of metal forming the lower side of an opening,
such as a door sill or window sill.
Sinking Fund
A fund set aside from the income from property that, with accrued
interest, will eventually pay for replacement of the improvements.
A similar fund set aside to pay a debt.
Situs
The personal preference of people for one area over another, not
necessarily based on objective facts and knowledge.
Small Claims Court
A branch of the Municipal Court. The rules of this court forbid parties
to be assisted by attorneys, dispense with most formal rules of evidence,
and have all trials heard by judges. The monetary limit of cases
before the court is $1,500.
Soil Pipe
Pipe carrying waste from the house to the main sewer line.
Sold To The State
A bookkeeping entry on the county tax rolls indicating that the property?taxes
are delinquent. The entry begins the five-year redemption period,
after which the property may be physically sold to the public for
back taxes.
Sole Or Sole Plate
A structural member, usually two-by-four, on which wall and partition
studs rest.
Span
The distance between structural supports, such as walls, columns,
piers, beams, and girders.
Special Agent
One who is authorized by a principal to perform a single act or transaction;
a real estate broker is usually a special agent authorized to find
a ready, willing and able buyer for a particular property.
Special Assessment
Legal charge against real estate by a public authority to pay the
cost of public improvement, as distinguished from taxes levied for
the general support of government. A tax or levy customarily imposed
against only those specific parcels of real estate that will benefit
from a proposed public improvement like a street or sewer.
Special Warranty Deed
A deed in which the grantor warrants, or guarantees, the title only
against defects arising during the period of his or her tenure and
ownership of the property and not against defects existing before
that time, generally using the language, "by, through or under
the grantor but not otherwise."
Specific Lien
A lien affecting or attaching only to a certain, specific parcel
of land or piece of property.
Specific Performance
A legal action to compel performance of a contract; for example a
contract for the sale of land. A contract remedy by which one party
is ordered by the court to comply with the terms of the agreement.
A legal action to compel a party to carry out the terms of a contract.
Spouse
A person's husband or wife.
Square Footage Of Building
An appraiser always uses the exterior dimensions to calculate the
square footage of a building.
Square-Foot Method
The appraisal method of estimating building costs by multiplying
the number of square feet in the improvements being appraised by
the cost per square foot for recently constructed similar improvements.
SRA
The Society of Real Estate Appraisers.
Stare Decisis
A fundamental principle of law, which holds that courts should follow
prior decisions on a point of law. A proper decision is a binding
precedent on equal or lower courts having the same facts in controversy.
Statute
A written law.
Statute Of Frauds
The state law that provides that certain contracts must be in writing
in order to be enforceable in the courts. Examples: real property
leased for more than one year or an agent's authorization to sell
real estate. A law that requires certain contracts (including most
real estate contracts) to be in writing to be enforceable. That part
of a state law that requires certain instruments, such as deeds,
real estate sales contracts and certain leases, to be in writing
to be legally enforceable.
Statute Of Limitations
A statute that requires lawsuits to be brought within a certain time
to be enforceable. The basic periods are one year for personal injury,
two years for oral contracts, three years for damages to real or
personal property, four years for written contracts, and three years
from date of discovery for fraud. That law pertaining to the period
of time within which certain actions must be brought to court.
Statutory Lien
A lien imposed on property by statute, a tax lien, for example--in
contrast to an equitable lien, which arises out of common law.
Statutory Redemption
The right of a defaulted property owner to recover the property after
its sale by paying the appropriate fees and charges.
Steering
An illegal procedure where individual buyers, who are usually minorities,
are only shown properties in specific neighborhoods. The illegal
practice of channeling home seekers to particular areas, either to
maintain the homogeneity of an area or to change the character of
an area, which limits their choices of where they can live.
Stepped-Up Basis
A higher, increased tax value of property given as the result of
most sales or taxable transfers. The tax basis is used in computing
capital gains and losses on the transfer of property.
Stop Notice
A notice served on the owner of property or custodian of funds. It
requests, with certain penalties for noncompliance, that any funds
due to a general contractor be paid to the claimant, laborer, or
materialman.
Straight (Term) Loan
A loan in which only interest is paid during the term of the loan,
with the entire principal amount due with the final interest payment.
Straight Mortgage Or Deed Of Trust
A mortgage or deed of trust in which there is no reduction of the
principal during the term of the instrument. Payments to interest
are usually made on an annual, semiannual, or quarterly basis.
Straight Note
A promissory note that is unamortized. The principal is paid at the
end of the term of the note.
Straight-Line Depreciation
An accounting procedure that sets the rate of depreciation as a fixed
percentage of the amount to be depreciated; the percentage stays
the same each year.
Straight-Line Method
A method of calculating depreciation for tax purposes, computed by
dividing the adjusted basis of a property by the estimated number
of years of remaining useful life.
String, Stringer
A timber or other support for cross-members. In stairs, the support
on which the stair treads rest.
Studs Or Studding
Vertical supporting timbers in walls and partitions.
Subagent
One who is employed by a person already acting as an agent. Typically
a reference to a salesperson licensed under a broker (agent) who
is employed under the terms of a listing agreement.
Subchapter-S Corporation
A corporation that, for federal tax purposes only, is taxed similarly
to a partnership. The corporate entity is disregarded for most federal
tax purposes, and the shareholders are generally taxed as individual
partners.
Subdivider
One who buys undeveloped land, divides it into smaller, usable lots
and sells the lots to potential users.
Subdivision
A housing development that is created by dividing a tract of land
into individual lots for sale or lease. A tract of land divided by
the owner, known as the subdivider, into blocks, building lots and
streets according to a recorded subdivision plat, which must comply
with local ordinances and regulations.
Subdivision And Development Ordinances
Municipal ordinances that establish requirements for sub- divisions
and development.
Subdivision Plat
See Plat Map.
Subjacent Support
Support that the soil below the surface gives to the surface of the
land.
Subject To
Burdened by and liable for an obligation. A method of taking over
a loan without becoming personally liable for its payment .
Subject To Mortgage Or Deed Of Trust
When a grantee takes a title to real property subject to a mortgage
or deed of trust, he or she is not responsible to the holder of the
promissory note for the payment of any portion of the amout due.
The most that he or she can lose in the event of a foreclosure is
his or her equity in the property. In neither case is the original
maker of the note released from his or her responsibility. (See also
Assumption of Mortgage or Deed of Trust.)
Sublease
A lease given by a tenant. The leasing of premises by a lessee to
a third party for part of the lessee's remaining term. See Subletting.
Subordinate
To make subject or junior to.
Subordinate Financing
Any mortgage or other lien that has a priority that is lower than
that of the first mortgage.
Subordination
Relegation to a lesser position, usually in respect to a right or
security.
Subordination Agreement
In a mortgage or deed of trust, a provision that a later lien shall
have a priority interest over the existing lien. It makes the existing
lien inferior to a later lien, in effect exchanging priorities with
that later lien.
Subordination Agreement
A written agreement between holders of liens on a property that changes
the priority of mortgage, judgment and other liens under certain
circumstances.
Subordination Clause
Senior lien that makes it inferior to what would otherwise be a junior
lien.
Subrogate
To substitute one person for another's legal rights to a claim or
debt.
Subrogation
The substitution of another person in place of the creditor with
regard to an obligation.The substitution of one creditor for another,
with the substituted person succeeding to the legal rights and claims
of the original claimant. Subrogation is used by title insurers to
acquire from the injured party rights to sue in order to re- cover
any claims they have paid.
Substantative Law
The laws describing rights and duties. Differs from procedural law,
which only describes how to enforce and protect rights.
Substitution
An appraisal principle that states that the maximum value of a property
tends to be set by the cost of purchasing an equally desirable and
valuable substitute property, assuming that no costly delay is encountered
in making the substitution.
Subsurface Rights
Ownership rights in a parcel of real estate to the water, minerals,
gas, oil and so forth that lie beneath the surface of the property.
Succession
The inheritance of property.
Successor In Interest
The next succeeding owner of an interest in property. The transferee
or recipient of a property interest.
Suit For Possession
A court suit initiated by a landlord to evict a tenant from leased
premises after the tenant has breached one of the terms of the lease
or has held possession of the property after the lease's expiration.
Suit To Quiet Title
A court action intended to establish or settle the title to a particular
property, especially when there is a cloud on the title.
Superior Court
The principal trial court of the state; a court of unlimited monetary
and subject matter jurisdiction, and an appeal court for decisions
of municipal courts and small claims courts.
Supreme Court
The highest court in the California and the federal court structure.
This court is almost exclusively an appeals court, accepting (by
certiorari) only those cases that, in the court's descretion, involve
issues of significant magnitude and social importance.
Surety
One who guarantees the performance by another, a guarantor.
Surety Bond
A legal document issued to assure the completion of an act by another
person.
Surface Rights
A legal interest in the use or occupation of the top of land as opposed
to subsurface or mineral rights.
Survey
A drawing or map showing the precise legal boundaries of a property,
the location of improvements, easements, rights of way, encroachments,
and other physical features. The process by which a parcel of land
is located on the ground and measured. A pictorial depiction of land
and the improvements on it and shows boundary lines with measurements
and bearings, buildings, easements, etc.
Sweat Equity
Contribution to the construction or rehabilitation of a property
in the form of labor or services rather than cash.
Swing Loan
This is a short term equity loan.
Syndication
A group of individuals pooling their resources to purchase property
through the holding vehicle of a partnership, corporation, or other
association. Each individual owns share in the legal entity formed
to acquire and hold title to the property. This is an alternitive
method to finance and purchase real estate. This allows an investment
in real estate with out having to do any of the work.
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