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Common Joe 'n Jane Real Estate Wiki

Your down-to-earth guide to mastering real estate exam terms and concepts! We've stripped away the industry jargon and complex language, breaking down intricate ideas into bite-sized, easy-to-digest pieces for all the common "Joe 'n Jane's" out there.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Facilitator: A facilitator in real estate is someone who helps both sides of a deal get things done without favoring one party over the other. They're like a helper who makes sure everyone is on the same page and that the transaction moves... (Read more)
Fair Financing Laws: Fair Financing Laws are rules that make sure everyone has an equal chance to get a loan for a house, no matter their background or personal details. These laws prevent discrimination and help people have a fair shot at buying... (Read more)
Fair Housing Laws: Fair Housing Laws are rules that make sure people have an equal chance to rent or buy a home, no matter their race, religion, or other personal characteristics. These laws prevent discrimination in housing and help everyone have a fair... (Read more)
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC): The FDIC, or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, is a government organization that protects people's money in banks. If a bank goes out of business, the FDIC makes sure that people don't lose the money they had in their accounts up to a... (Read more)
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC): The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) is a government group that checks on banks and other financial companies to make sure they are following rules and acting responsibly with... (Read more)
Federal Financial Institutions Regulatory Agencies (FFIRA): Federal Financial Institutions Regulatory Agencies (FFIRA) are a group of organizations that make sure banks and other financial companies follow the rules and play fair. They keep an eye on these companies to protect people like you and me when... (Read more)
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac): The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, also known as Freddie Mac, is a Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) created to act as a clearinghouse for mortgages. It helps ensure there's enough money available for banks and other lenders to... (Read more)
Federal Housing Administration (FHA): The Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, is a government agency that helps people buy homes by providing insurance on loans made by approved lenders. This insurance makes it easier for lenders to offer loans to people who might not qualify for... (Read more)
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae): The Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae, is a government-sponsored organization that helps make it easier for people to get home loans by buying and guaranteeing mortgages... (Read more)
Federal Reserve Board: The Federal Reserve Board is a group of seven people appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate. They are in charge of overseeing the Federal Reserve System, which is responsible for managing our country's money... (Read more)
Federal Reserve System (The Fed): The Federal Reserve System, often just called the "Fed," is like the big boss of banks in the United States. It's in charge of making sure our country's money and banking system works well and stays stable. They can control interest rates and... (Read more)
Federally Related Transaction (FRT): A Federally Related Transaction (FRT) is when someone is buying, selling, or refinancing a property, and it involves a financial organization that the government regulates. In these cases, the government requires a professional appraiser... (Read more)
Fee Simple: Fee Simple is when you own a property completely, and you can live in it, sell it, or give it away whenever you want. However, the government still has some power over the property, like taxes, taking it back if nobody inherits it, or using it... (Read more)
Fenestration: Fenestration is a fancy word for the arrangement, design, and placement of windows and doors in a building. It's all about how they look and where they are put to make the building attractive... (Read more)
Fiduciary: A fiduciary is a person, like a real estate agent, who is trusted to act in the best interest of their client. They have a special responsibility to be honest, loyal, and put the client's needs first when helping them buy or sell... (Read more)
Fiduciary Duties: Fiduciary duties are the important responsibilities that someone like a real estate agent has when they're trusted to act in the best interest of their client. These duties include being honest, loyal, putting the client's needs first, and... (Read more)
Financial Benefit: Financial benefit means making money from something you own. In the world of real estate, it's when you earn money from your property, like through rent or by selling it for more than you... (Read more)
Financial Institutions Reform Recovery Enforcement Act (FIRREA): The Financial Institutions Reform Recovery Enforcement Act, or FIRREA for short, is a set of rules that help control how banks and other financial institutions work, especially when they deal with buying and selling mortgages to others in a... (Read more)
Fixed Expense: A fixed expense or cost is a type of expense that stays the same and doesn't change, even when the number of people using a building or service goes up... (Read more)
Fixture: A fixture is something that used to be personal property, like a thing you can move around, but becomes part of the real estate when it's attached to the property in a way that makes... (Read more)
Flat Rent Lease: A "Flat Rent Lease" is a type of agreement between a person who owns a place (like a house or an apartment) and someone who wants to live there for a certain period of time. In this agreement, the person living in the place pays the owner a... (Read more)
Foreclosure: A "foreclosure" is a situation where someone borrowed money from a bank to buy a house, but they couldn't pay back the money as they agreed. So, the bank takes over the house and sells it to get their money back. It's not a happy event for... (Read more)
Four Components of Change: The Four Components of Change refer to the stages that neighborhoods or areas go through over time. It's like the life cycle of a butterfly: first, it's a caterpillar (growth), then it forms a chrysalis (equilibrium), turns into a... (Read more)
Four Great Forces: The Four Great Forces are things that can change how much a property is worth. They're like the ingredients in a recipe that make a cake taste different. These forces are social (how people live and interact), economic (jobs and money),... (Read more)
Freehold Estate: A Freehold Estate is a type of property ownership where you have the rights to the land and the buildings on it for an... (Read more)
Full Service Lease: A Full Service Lease is a rental agreement where the landlord takes care of most of the extra costs, like maintenance and utilities, so the tenant only has to pay the rent. It's like going to a restaurant where the meal comes with drinks... (Read more)
Function or Intended Use: Function or Intended Use refers to the reason an appraisal report is created, which guides how the information in the report will be used. It's like having a set of instructions that tell you how to use the information you have to reach... (Read more)
Functional obsolescence: Functional obsolescence happens when a feature of a property is no longer useful or desirable because people's needs or preferences... (Read more)
Future Value of $1: The "future value of $1" is a term used to describe how much a deposit of one dollar (or any specified amount) will grow in a certain amount of time. It's like planting a seed and watching it grow into a big tree... (Read more)
Future Value of $1 Per Period: The "future value of $1 per period" is a term used to describe how much a series of payments of one dollar (or any specified amount) will grow over time. It's like saving a little bit of money every week or month, and watching it grow into a... (Read more)

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