There are a LOT of terms that we use in real estate! Some are common words, like many of those in this post, but they have specific definitions within our context. Read this second post of the series to see if the definitions listed here match up with what you already know!
Single Family Residence
Generally, a single-family residence is one that contains one set of rooms to live in (kitchen, dining, den, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.), and those rooms are accessible from any of the other rooms. The home is fully-detached and not sharing walls with another fully contained set of rooms for living.
The owner of the residence owns the structure, the land the home is situated on, and any surrounding land that's part of the lot and which was transferred at the time of sale. The homeowner is fully responsible for maintenance of the land and the interior and exterior of the home. (A SFR governed by an HOA may have exceptions to this statement.)
Townhome
A townhome is part of a multi-family residential building and will be attached to another unit on at least one side. Each townhome unit contains only one set of rooms for living. Townhomes are frequently two-story homes.
The owner of a townhome owns the structure and the land underneath the footprint of the home, and possibly some land surrounding the unit. Depending on how the homeowner's association has structured the rules, the owner may be responsible for some portions of exterior maintenance of the unit or none at all. The HOA will likely be responsible for maintaining roads and common areas within the community.
Condominium (Condo)
A condo is also part of a multi-family residential building and it most closely resembles an apartment. Depending on the unit's location in the building, it may be attached to multiple units on multiple sides of the home.
The condo owner owns only what is within the walls of the unit. They don't own any land or exterior portions of the building, and will typically own a share of any common areas within the community. The governing homeowner's association will be responsible for the upkeep of the common areas and exteriors of the buildings.
Heated Living Area (HLA)
HLA refers to the home's square footage. Each multiple listing service (MLS) may have their own definition, but it generally refers to the square footage of the home that is heated and accessible from the other rooms in the home.
As an example, a finished, heated basement that is only accessible by walking out of the home and through another door into the basement cannot be counted in the HLA. In order for that to work, there would need to be a staircase joining the main living areas of the house to the basement, and the stairwell would also need to be heated.
F.R.O.G.
This stands for Finished Room Over Garage and is just like it sounds. A lot of these will have sloped ceilings, and in order for them to count in the HLA, they must meet certain measurement requirements. If a F.R.O.G. is listed in the square footage, it likely meets those criteria, but it never hurts to double check with your real estate agent.
Bedroom
In order for a room to be considered a bedroom, it must have a point of egress (a window that a human can reasonably fit through) and a door. Contrary to popular belief, a bedroom does not have to have a closet.
Bathroom
A full bathroom contains a toilet, sink, a tub and/or a shower. A half bathroom contains only a toilet and a sink.
Foundation types:
Slab- Just like it sounds, this is a poured concrete slab that the house is built on. There is no space between the slab and the floor of the home. This is typically used on a level home site.
Basement- A space between the ground and the main floor of the home is built using concrete blocks for the walls, then the home is built on top of the concrete block walls. The space may be finished or left bare. It may also have a dirt floor if it's an older home, or a poured concrete floor if the home is more modern. The basement ceiling height will likely be a minimum of seven feet.
Crawl space- Literally just enough space to crawl in between the ground and the underside of the main level floor. The space is typically created using concrete blocks, but instead of a basement, they may only be a few blocks high. This can be used to provide level site to build the home, adjusting the block height as needed to compensate for the slope of the land.
Pier or post foundation- This type of foundation is typically found where the foundation needs to heavily compensate for the ground, such as a steep slope or a flood plain. Piers will provide the support to build the home at least one story off the ground, or in the case of a steep slope, offer support to the portion of the house hanging over the mountain. 🙂
Bonus room
If you see this in a listing, it could be there for several reasons. If the home is uses a septic system, it's only permitted for a certain number of bedrooms and that will not change unless the entire system is changed. There may be a space in the home that could be another bedroom, but because calling it such would go against the septic permit, it's called a "bonus room" to highlight the extra space.
A bonus room may also be listed if it was built as an addition to the home, but the proper permits weren't requested. This means the construction wasn't inspected by the appropriate municipality (city or county) and therefore can't be included in the listing as an extra bedroom, per MLS rules.
A bonus room might be listed as such if, though it meets all the proper criteria, calling it another bedroom might not actually benefit the seller. Adding another bedroom doesn't automatically mean the home's value increases. It could actually hurt the sale, depending on the price point of the home and what the market desires.
For example, going from four to five bedrooms in a $350,000 price point is likely not to help a property in the Asheville-area market. People are going to assume the rooms are small because the home won't be that big at the price, or they're going to feel like it's more home than they need or can maintain. The average family is looking for a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom home with a little extra space.
Please note that while I help people buy and sell homes all day long, I am not a licensed general contractor, or any other applicable specialist, and therefore not an expert on building codes, etc. This information is meant be general and not comprehensive, as there are exceptions to every rule. Please ask any questions you may have, and if I can't answer them, I'll connect you to someone who can!
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