Real Estate Terms

Click on a link below for an alphabetized list of Real Estate and Mortgage Terms.

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Sale-leaseback
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.

Second mortgage
A mortgage that has a lien position subordinate to the first mortgage.

Secondary market
The buying and selling of existing mortgages, usually as part of a "pool" of mortgages.

Secured loan
A loan that is backed by collateral.

Security
The property that will be pledged as collateral for a loan.

Seller carry-back
An agreement in which the owner of a property provides financing, often in combination with an assumable mortgage.

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.

Settlement statement
See HUD1 Settlement Statement

Subdivision
A housing development that is created by dividing a tract of land into individual lots for sale or lease.

Subordinate financing
Any mortgage or other lien that has a priority that is lower than that of the first mortgage.

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.

Sweat equity
Contribution to the construction or rehabilitation of a property in the form of labor or services rather than cash.