Agent – A person authorised to act on behalf of another person. In the case of real estate agencies, this authority must be in writing.

Agents in Conjunction – You  may appoint more than one agent; or an appointed agent may act with another agent who introduces a purchaser or tenant, to your property.  A fee maybe then payable to both agents as they are in conjunction.

Allotment – A small site for home building, sometimes called a block.

Appreciation -An increase in property value triggered by inflation, improvements or increased demand.

Assets – The sum of a person’s real and personal property, including equities.

Auction – Sale of a property in public to the highest bidder at a set time and date.

Body Corporate – The legal administrative group of owners of offices, home units, flats, town houses, etc. for common property.

Bond - In rentals, a sum of money which is paid by the tenant to ensure against damages to the property.

Bridging Finance – A temporary loan to bridge the time-gap between paying for one property and receiving payment from a previous property.

Building Inspection – A thorough inspection by a licensed builder that evaluates the structural and mechanical condition of the property.

Buyers Market - When the demand for property is less than the supply of property the advantage shifts to the buyer.

Buying Commission -The money you pay to an agent for helping you to acquire a specific type of property.

Breach of Contract – Breaking the terms of the contract.

Capital Gain - The profitable difference between your buying price and selling price, now subject to Capital Gains Tax.

Caveat - A warning on the title that a third party may have an interest in the property.

Certificate of Title - The paper that records property ownership, one copy lodged at the Titles Office, the other with the proprietor; when the property is sold, the Titles Office annotates both copies.

CMA – Comparative Market Analysis is a document and agent provide

Commission – An agreed percentage or fixed amount payable to real estate agent for selling a property by the person authorising the sale.  Usually a percentage of the sale price.

Conditional Sale - A Sale that is subject to conditions, usually finance and building and Pest etc.

Contract of Sale – Written agreement setting out the terms and conditions of a property sale.

Cooling Off Period – The buyer pays a deposit of .25% of the purchase price giving the buyer a cooling off period of 5 working days. Within this time the buyer can withdraw from the contract (sale) forfeiting their .25% deposit. As a buyer you cannot be gazumped during the cooling off period.

Counterpart - An identical copy of an original document.

Covenant – An agreement between landlord and tenant, or vendor and purchaser, covering specific things which will be done or cannot be done to a property.

Cover Note – Immediate insurance cover, often issued by an insurance broker on the insurance company’s behalf, for a property which has just been bought.

Conveyancing - Legal process of transferring the ownership of a property from one person to another.

Date of Settlement – The day, under the terms and conditions of the contract, when a vendor is obliged to transfer a property to the purchaser.

Deposit – An amount of money paid as evidence of good faith for the future performance of a real estate transaction. It is normally held by a third party, usually the agent in a trust account. If the purchase is complete, it will be paid towards the purchase price. Usually 5% – 10% of the purchase price of a property.

Depreciation – Drop in a property’s value due to passage of time, deterioration, or changes to neighbouring properties.

Easement -The contractual right of one person to use a portion of another persons land, usually as a drive for access or as a run off for water.

Encroachment – When a building overhangs someone else’s property, or a fence is built over the dividing line between two properties.

Encumbrance -An easement, mortgage, or other liability on a property which impedes its use or transfer.

Equity - The different between the market value of a property and any loans that still have to be paid.

Exclusive Agency - A written contract that gives one real estate agent the exclusive right to sell a property in a specified time period.

Exchange of Contracts - The point at which signed contracts are physically exchanged, legally committing the buyer and the seller to the purchase and sale of a property at an agreed price.

Facade – The front face of a building

FIRB – Foreign Investment Review Board. A Federal Government organisation that provides guidelines for the approval of the purchase of Australian property by persons not ordinarily resident in Australia.

Fittings – Objects that can be removed from a property without causing damage.

Fixtures - Items that can not be removed without being damaged.  Refers to items in or around a property.

Freehold – A property which is owned outright and for unlimited duration.

Gazumping - Gazumping occurs when a seller accepts a buyer’s offer and verbally agrees to sell the property to that buyer but later sells the property to another buyer offering to pay more.

General Law Title – Such a title pre-dates the Torrens Title System under which ownership is government-recorded by Certificates of Title; it is based on a comprehensive history of ownership.

Head Room - The distance from floor to ceiling.

Hectare - The metric measurement of land area equal to 10,000 square metres, or 2.47 acres.

Heritage listed property – A property that has significant heritage impact in a community. A local or state authority can nominate the listing. The listing is placed on a heritage register. Works cannot be undertaken on the property, nor can the building be removed or demolished without the permission of the State Government Heritage Council.

Investment Return - The rate per month (or year) of return on investment produced by rental and resale.

Irrevocable - Cannot be undone

Joint tenant – The term ‘tenant” does not in this context refer to a situation of landlord and tenant, rather it refers to one of two ways in which two or more persons may own land together. The rules of survivorship applies to joint tenancies and where a joint tenant dies then the surviving joint tenant or tenants are automatically entitled to the deceased person’s share of the land. Jointtenants also have equal shares in the land. Joint tenancy is most commonly used where the co-owners are husband and wife.

Landlord - The owner of a property for leasing.

Land Usage – Determined by zoning regulations residential, industrial etc.

Lease – The formal arrangements by which one party has use of another’s property in return for rent.

Lessor - The party who grants the lease

Listing -  The properties that an agent has to sell or lease including houses, land, units, townhouses; or commercial, industrial, retail, properties or businesses.

Maintenance – The expenditure required to keep a property in an efficient operating condition.

Managing Agent – A real estate agent authorised by you to manage your property.

Market Price - The price paid for a property it is real, whereas “market value” is only an estimate.

Mezzanine - An intermediary floor, usually between the ground and first floors.

Minor – A person under the age of 18. In Queensland, a minor cannot be registered as the owner of real property. In cases where a minor becomes the owner of real estate (for example under a will), the property is registered in the name of a trustee who will hold the property until the minor reaches 18 years of age.

Mortgage - A document pledging a property as security for the repayment of the money you borrow on the property.

Mortgagee - The lender on the mortage

Mortgagor – The Borrower

Multiple/Open Listing – System of selling the property through many agents.  The buyer pays only one commission.  This goes to the agent who lists the property on an official multiple listing form and is shared between the first agent and the agent who actually finds the buyer.

Offer to Purchase - A formal legal agreement which offers a specified price for a specified property.  The offer may be firm (no conditions attached) or conditional (certain conditions apply).

Option – In selling, the right (secured by a payment) to purchase a property at an agreed price on or before an agreed date.  In leases, the right to renew at a mutually agreed rent.

Passed in – When a property fails at auction to reach the vendors reserve price.  (The highest bidder has the right to meet the reserve price or try to negotiate an acceptable price).

Plot Ratio – The ratio of building area to site area.

Private Sale - The sale of a property without the assistance of a Real Estate Agency.

Private Treaty – The sale of a property through a real estate agent by negotiation.

Property Management - A real estate agent manages properties for landlords ensuring the property complies with legislation and regulations at all times, selecting tenants, collecting rents, arranging maintenance and so on.

Public Liability – The insurance taken by companies and private individuals to protect themselves against claims made by members of the public, who might be injured in some way on the property.

Negative gearing – If the total of deductible outgoings (e.g. interest on borrowings,rates, repairs, management fees) exceeds the income (rent) for a property, then it is said to be negatively geared. Investors often use negative gearing to reduce taxable income as the loss can be deducted from other earnings.

Quantity Surveyor – A professional who calculates the materials required for a construction.  Also helps you to compile your depreciation schedule.

Rateable Value - The estimated value of a property on which rates are assessed.

Real Property - The ownership of physical real estate land and buildings.

Redevelopment – The updating of urban property, usually by demolition and rebuilding.

Rent roll – Those properties that an agency currently manages for their client landlords.

Reserve Price - Price below which an owner is not prepared to at auction.

Restrictive Covenant - Land is sold with,perhaps, the covenant that only one home can be built upon it or that the home must be built at a specified cost or height.

Rezoning - A planning term in which the local authority can alter a planning scheme to allow, say commercial rather than residential building.

Settlement – Completion of sale when balance of contract price is paid to the vendor and the buyer is legally entitled to take possession of the property.

Sole Agency - One agent or agency has the sole rights to sell a property.

Speculator  - A punter who buys property in the ecpectation of selling it later for a higher price.

Stamp Duty - A State Government Tax imposed on the sale of real estate.  It is determined by the sale value, and it varies between states.

Strata Title - The title for a segment of a property, flat, unit, office in which there are several owners.  (Nowadays, a separate Torrens Title is issued).

Subdivision – The division of apiece of property into building lots; inevitably required several official approvals.

Sub-Lease - A property which is already leased is  leased again, but not for a longer period that the unexpired part of the original lease.

Survey – The accurate measurement and description of a piece of land, usually showing structures and contours.

Tenant – Occupant of a property whether it be a house, unit or apartment.

Tenants in common – This form of co-ownership is the alternative to joint tenancy defined earlier. For tenants in common, the rule of survivorship does not apply as each tenant in common is able to dispose of his or her interest in the land either by contract or by a will. The other major distinction is that tenants in common do not necessarily have to own equal shares in the property. For example, one tenant in common may have a one-third interest and the other two-thirds.

Title Deeds - The documents proving ownership of property.

Trust account – A bank account relating to monies received or held by an agent for or on behalf of another person.

Vacant possession – When a property is sold within any existing lease or tenancy agreement it is sold ‘with vacant possession’. There will be no-one in occupation at the time of settlement.

Valuation – A written report by a registered valuer showing opinion of the value of the property.

Vendor - Person offering a dwelling for sale

Vendor Terms Contract – When a property is paid for over time usually a deposit and then regular payments of the balance, plus interest over several years.

Without Prejudice - These words, used during negotiation, mean that any suggestion or plan put forward cannot be used as evidence later if the negotiations fall down.

Yield - The money you derive by way of income or profit from a property deal.

Zoning – The method by which councils or planning authorities control property use residential, industrial etc.