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A due-on-sale clause protects lenders against below-market interest rates. It's a contract provision requiring the seller of the property to repay the mortgage in full when the property is next sold. It is also called an acceleration clause.

The down payment is the amount of cash a homebuyer pays at the time of closing. Typical home loans require a 20% down payment. Some conforming loans will accept a 5% down payment, and FHA loans will accept a 3.5% down payment.

An exclusive listing is used to motivate an agent to sell a property quickly -- within a specific number of months. If they meet that goal, the agent gains a commission regardless of how a buyer is found.

A title examination reviews all public records tied to a property. It generally reviews all previous deeds, wills, and trusts to ensure the title has passed cleanly and legally to every new owner.

If a homeowner doesn’t make a mortgage payment (usually, for more than 90 days), foreclosure is a legal process during which the owner forfeits all property rights. If they are unable to pay off outstanding debt on the property or sell it via short sale, the property enters a foreclosure auction. If no sale is made there, the lender takes control of the property.

Homes listed as for sales by owner (FSBO) are being sold without the help of a real estate agent. The biggest benefit to the seller is they avoid paying commission fees -- but there are few benefits to the buyer.

When you purchase a home, it's also necessary to purchase homeowner’s insurance to cover any losses or damages you might incur, such as natural disaster, theft, or damage. It also protects the homeowner from liability against any accidents in the home or on the property. Insurance payments are usually included in your monthly mortgage payments.

A homeowner’s association (HOA) is usually found when you purchase a condominium, townhome, or other development property. To purchase the home, you must also join the HOA and pay monthly or yearly HOA fees. These fees can cover common area maintenance, repairs, and general upkeep. The more amenities your building offers, the higher the HOA fees typically are.

Conforming loan limits cap the dollar value that can be backed by government-sponsored programs. A jumbo mortgage exceeds these conforming loan limits, which are tied to local median home values. Qualifications for these loans are more stringent and the loans themselves are manually underwritten to mitigate risk to the lender.

Judicial foreclosures are mandatory in some but not all states. They require all foreclosures go through the court system to confirm the debt is in default before putting the property up for auction. The goal of judicial foreclosures is to protect property owners from corrupt lenders.

The period of time in which a borrower cannot repay their loan in full without incurring a penalty fine by the lender.

The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is the mortgage loan balance divided by the home’s value. It shows how much you’re borrowing from a lender as a percentage of your home’s appraised value. The higher your LTV, the riskier you’ll appear during the loan underwriting process because a low down payment denotes less equity or ownership in your property making you more likely to default on your loan.

An MLS is a suite of around 700 regional databases containing their own listings. Each database has its own listings, requires agents to pay dues for access, and allows agents to share listings across regions -- without paying dues to each one. It is widely considered the most comprehensive listing service available.

If a homebuyer makes a down payment of less than 20% of the purchase price of a home or is the recipient of an FHA or USDA loan, they’ll usually be required to pay mortgage insurance. It lowers the risk of a lender giving you a loan, but it also increases the cost of the loan.

The note rate is the interest rate stated on a mortgage note. It is also commonly referred to as the nominal rate or face interest rate.

A no-cost mortgage is a type of refinancing in which the lender pays the borrower’s loan settlement costs and extends a new loan -- usually in exchange for the borrower paying higher interest rates. The mortgage lender then sells the mortgage to a secondary mortgage market for a higher price because of the high interest rate.

Owner financing (also known as seller financing) takes place when a borrower finances the purchase of a home through the seller, bypassing conventional mortgage lenders and financial institutions.

The fee a borrower pays a lender to cover the costs of processing their loan application.

A purchase-money mortgage, also known as owner or seller financing, is issued to the buyer by the seller of a home during the purchase transaction. It is done to bypass a typical mortgage broker or lending channel and allows the buyer to assume the seller’s mortgage.

A purchase agreement demonstrates a buyer’s intent to purchase a piece of property and a seller’s intent to sell that property. The document outlines the terms and conditions of a sale and holds each party legally accountable to meeting their agreement.

A quitclaim deed is a document transferring ownership of property from one party to another. It transfers the title of the property -- but only transfers what the seller actually owns. If two people own a home jointly, one person could only transfer their half of the property via quitclaim. This type of transaction is commonly used when property is being transferred between family members not using traditional real estate channels.

The right of survivorship is employed most often when there is joint ownership or tenancy of a property. It ensures that the surviving owner automatically receives the deceased owner’s share of the property becoming the sole owner of the property.

The right of egress is a person’s legal right to exit a property. The right of ingress is the right to enter a property. It is generally used in rental or easement situations in which the tenant or person to which easement has been granted needs access to a shared driveway, a private road to the property, etc.