Real estate

Vocabulary and conversation

Real estate agents
real estate agent (usually buying, selling and renting)

real estate broker (usually just for buying and selling)

these professionals usually work by commission (take a percentage of the deal)

Rent / rental / renter
● Verb to rent (past: rented)
● Rent a property, rent a car, rent a venue
● Verb to pay rent (past: paid rent)
● Pay rent to the landlord
● Pay rent every 1st of the month
● Rental car, rental property (adjective)
● Renter is a person who rents a property
● you have three rental options:
● 1) rent = pay month to month, and can leave with little notice
● 2) lease or let = sign a contract for a specific time. At the end of the lease, you
can become a renter or you can extend your contract
● 3) sublease or sublet = when the tenant rents the place to a third party for a
limited amount of time. This needs to be officially allowed in the lease
agreement.
Give a deposit
● with rentals, you always need to make or give a deposit

= money you put down

= if you miss a payment or cause damage to the property, the landlord will take it
out of your deposit

= if you do everything properly, you will usually get the full deposit back at the end
of the contract with interest
Types of deposit
● first and last month

= in most places in the United States, there is usually a deposit of first and last
month's rent

● Security deposit
Breach of contract
● breach of contract

= break the agreement (leave the property before the contract expires, break the
rules, do some damage)

= it is a big deal, because this entitles the owner of the property to proceed with
litigation
Litigation or liability?
● litigation
= legal action (take you to court, file a lawsuit, sue)
= the lawsuit could involve money you owe them, money for the time they lost, money
they are spending on lawyers they are hiring, etc

● liability
= a person or company that is considered a liability is one who is costing money, making
someone else lose money, is a risk
Eviction procedures versus vacating a property
● evict
= expel = kick out (by the law)
an eviction procedure is a legal action against a tenant to legally force them out of the
property, due to breach of contract

● vacate
= a legal term meaning when they refuse to renew or extend your contract and ask you to
leave by the end of your ongoing contract
A vacancy
● vacancy

= an empty unit you can move in

= no vacancies (no empty units)

bills
● utility bills

= water, gas, electric, internet (phone? - mobile phone and landline)

Tenant versus landlord
● tenant
= person who occupies a property without ownership rights

● landlord or landlady
= the owner of the property that rents or leases it
● the landlord can nominate a superintendent or property manager
● superintendent = apartment (does general cleaning and maintenance work)
● property manager = the same job, but in a condominium (takes care of the
common areas: hallways, elevator, lobby, gym)
Occupant versus tenant
● occupancy = date you are allowed to move in to your place

● occupant = the owner (never the tenant) who takes over a property
Estate versus real estate
● estate = everything you own (your house, your car, your computer, your
furniture, your jewellery etc)

● real estate = just properties

Types of property
● a property can be either commercial or residential

residential = to live in

commercial = to use for business

the local authority decides what type of property it will be

Apartment or condo?
American English: apartment is different from condo the difference is about ownership

apartment =

An apartment is a rental property that is usually owned (not just managed) by a property management company, located in a residential building,
complex, or community – whatever the situation may be. In an apartment building, all of the units are the same, the owner is the same, and the
tenants all follow the same guidelines for renting a unit in the complex. Every tenant reports to the same property manager, who can typically be found
in the leasing office with employed leasing agents (to assist current residents and lease other units) at the front of the community or within the
complex.

condominium =

A condominium (what us cool kids – and everyone else – like to call a “condo”) is a private residence that is rented out to tenants like yourself. A
condo is typically located in a residential building or community, but the unit itself is privately owned by an individual who becomes the landlord of that
property. The owner of the condo has full say as to who is approved to rent their unit, so renting a condo is more of a personal, one-on-one process
than renting, say, an apartment.

So, what makes a condo different from an apartment? In terms of physical attributes, nothing. The difference between the two stems from ownership.
You now know that an apartment is housed within a complex (filled with other apartments) that is owned by a single entity, often a corporation, and
then leased out to individual tenants.
Own a property versus owe money
● own a property

= when officially it belongs to you

● owe money

= when you officially need to pay someone or a bank back

mortgage
● mortgage
= when you didn't pay the full amount (total cost) of the property
= most people take a mortgage
= it offers better interest rates than a regular loan from a bank
= pay the bank every month in two parts: you pay the principal plus interest
= when you take a mortgage, you can try to negotiate the interest rate (the profit
the bank makes in each installment)
Down payment and pay-offs
● with a mortgage, you will often need to put (down) a down payment

● if you have money to pay off all your debt, the bank will charge you a penalty
fee (because they are losing the interest that had hoped to make from your
contract)

= early termination
Property tax that homeowners pay
● the value of the property tends to go up with time
= appreciate

● in most places in the United States and Canada, only homeowners pay
property tax (not the tenants)
(although this may vary)