Descriptive Terms in Real Estate Ads - What Do They Mean?

 If you are buying or selling a home, the chances are good you struggle with the meaning of descriptive real estate terms. Here's the first in a series of articles explaining them.

The Wise Seller

Be very truthful if you are a seller advertising your home. Mention your home's best features, but do not exaggerate. If someone comes to look at your home and feels disappointed, they are not apt to buy. You are probably wasting your time and advertising money if your ads mislead.

The Wise Buyer

Take advertisements with a grain of salt and don't get too excited until you've seen the property. Many sellers do not take the advice given above.

Now let's examine some of the terms themselves and what they commonly mean.

"Open Floor Plan"

Describes a home in which rooms open out of each other and it's possible to see from one room to another. Often entertaining rooms (living room, dining room, sun room, entrance foyer) are open to each other, and family living areas (kitchen, breakfast room, family room) are open to each other, while bedrooms have doors and open off a hall in a more traditional way.

"Traditional Floor Plan"

Used to describe a home with rooms opening off a hall or halls. Each room can usually be closed off with a door.

"Split Bedroom Plan"

A term often used to describe a home (usually one level) with the master bedroom on one side of the living areas and the rest of the bedrooms on the opposite side.

"Dormer Window"

A window in an upstairs room that has a slanting ceiling which follows the slope of the roof. The window is in an upright position, but that causes it to stick up above the roof, so it gets its own little roof (usually a gable roof) that is tied into the main roof where they meet at right angles.

If you can get the verbiage down, you'll be way ahead in the real estate game. Look for future articles on this subject or visit our site to read more terms.

About the author:

Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - FSBO homes for sale by owner. Visit our "sell my home" page at http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your own home yourself with a free 1 month listing.

 Raynor James

More Articles 

How To Become A Savvy Real Estate Investor - Jamie Madison
If you’ve turned on the television lately, at some point you'll hear the experts praising the virtues of diversification. Real estate has long been considered a conservative, long-term strategy to growing wealth. While some seasoned real estate...

Hope Ranch Real Estate for '05 through October - Gary Woods
Looking at Hope Ranch Real Estate from where we are in this first week of November 2005 compared to where we were at the same time in 2004 we see some interesting numbers. The number of total Active Listings, those on the market right now is...

The Saga Of An Ideal Real Estate Agent - Nicky Pilkington
Behind the success of a man is a woman, and behind the success of a real estate business is an ideal agent. Indeed, it's the human resource that is considered to be the most important factor for real estate business to succeed. Indeed, real...

Still Hot Real Estate Markets Heating Up, Real Estate Add Reports - Mike Colpitts
There are still hot real estate markets in America, according to the latest survey of real estate markets in Real Estate Add.com. The website offers real estate market information on all 50 States. Despite increasing interest rates and a...

Real Estate on the Internet: Searching and Researching - Cy Yablonsky
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 80% of people interested in purchasing real estate use the Web in their search. If you are looking for homes for sale it can be a very daunting task. The Internet is a very powerful...

Montecito Real Estate from 2000 to 2005 for the first 10 months of each year - Gary Woods
Montecito Real Estate from 2000 to 2005 for the first 10 months of each year There's been a lot written and said about how the numbers of Montecito Real Estate sales are off when you compare them to 2004. Since it's always a good idea to...

Real Estate Investors Turn Back on Thousands of Dollars! - Mark Walters
Those new to real estate investing often fail to take action because they don't have much cash. The truth is that the very best investors got their start when they had little or no money. When you start at the bottom you have to work harder...

Real Estate You Need to Know: Bundle of Rights - Thomas Kinsey Schneider Ph D
Big Yawn When you first read basic material about real estate, you might ask yourself, "great, but how is all this going to help make me rich?" The answer is: if you want to get rich in real estate, you have to understand what you are...

Real Estate: Financial Considerations $$$ - Dan Auito
Raw land as opposed to improved property is much more difficult to finance through traditional lenders. The main reasons are that it generates very little income, development costs can be expensive, there are no buildings or improvements that...

Carpinteria Real Estate for '05 through October - Gary Woods
Car pinteria Real Estate has a lot of diversity. It ranges from the very expensive properties on the beach at Sandyland Cove and Padaro Lane to the older residential stock just inland of the beach. Then the row of Condos along Carpinteria...

The Real Estate Disputes And Partition - Mark Walters
What if two people pooled their resources and began investing in real estate. Like many partnerships things progress smoothly for a while and then a dispute arises. Now they seldom can stand to talk to one another and then only through clenched...

7 Marketing Methods for Real Estate Coaches - Joanne Victoria
You shower, shampoo, dress your best, check to see if you have plenty of business cards, drive about an hour, introduce yourself by saying "Hi, I’m Mary and I’m a coach" and the other person says, "Hi, I’m Jack and I’m a coach, too!". You meet...