Real Estate & Investing Dictionary
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Mail Address
The address to which a tax assessment bill is sent regarding a property.

Maintenance
Periodic expenditure needed to preserve a property's original status rather than to improve that property. Activity required to compensate for wear and tear.

Maintenance Fee
Monthly assessment by homeowner's association on owners and used for maintenance and repair of common areas.

Management Fee
The cost of professional property management, with a fee typically set at a fixed percentage of total rental income generated by the managed property.

Mansion
A large, imposing, stately home.

Manufactured Gas
Gas, which has been created from coal.

Manufactured Housing
Partially factory-assembled units designed to be transported in parts and then assembled on the site. Prefabricated homes.

Manufacturing Defects
Irregularities, which are happened while the item was being made.

Maps
See Parcel Map, Surveyor’s Map, and ographical Map

Margin
The difference between the interest rate and the index on an adjustable rate mortgage. The margin remains stable over the life of the loan. It is the index which moves up and down

Margin
A constant amount added to the value of the index for the purpose of adjusting the interest rate on an adjustable rate mortgage.

Margin of Security
Buffer amount between the value of the collateral and the principal balance of the obligation.

Market Analysis
Research of the supply and demand condition of the real estate market and specific properties in a specific area to discover future trends.

Market Conditions
Factors that, at a particular point in time, affect the sale or purchase of a home.

Market Price
The actual open market price paid in a transaction where real estate is traded.

Market Rent
Rent that a comparable unit would command if offered in a competitive real estate rental market.

Market Research
Surveys, of the area in which a product or service is to be offered, which are done to determine the cost of doing business, any competition, potential sales, etc.

Market Risk
Uncertainty in the value of real estate due to market, economic, political or other conditions.

Market Segmentation
The process of defining the socio-economic characteristics of the demand for a specific property.

Market Study
Study of real estate activities including demand, price, locational influence and current trends.

Market Value
Independently appraised value of real estate in a free competitive market.

Market Value
The highest price for a property which a buyer is willing to pay, and the lowest price which a seller agrees to accept.

Marketable Title
A title that the court considers to be so free from defect that it will enforce its acceptance by a purchaser.

Markup
The additional amount added to a bid or price and which contain overhead, profit, excess costs, etc.

Master Deed
Deed filed by the developer or converter of a condominium for the purposes of recording all of the individual condominium units owned within a condominium complex.

Master Lease
A controlling lease in an apartment or office building that controls subleases.

Master Plan
Document that describes, in narrative and with maps, an overall development concept including both present property uses as well as future land development plans.

Master Planned Community
Development built according to a plan that includes commercial buildings, educational facilities, homes and community facilities.

Material Defect
Problem in a specific property that could affect the property's value or salability.

Maturity
The date on which the principal balance of a loan, bond, or other financial instrument becomes due and payable.

Maximum Financing
Loan amount within 5 percent of the highest loan-to-value ratio allowable.

Mechanics Lien
A claim made to secure the price of labor done upon and materials furnished for uncompensated improvement.

Meeting of Minds
A condition whereby all parties to contract agree to its terms.

Merged Credit Report
A credit report which reports the raw data pulled from two or more of the major credit repositories. Contrast with a Residential Mortgage Credit Report (RMCR) or a standard factual credit report.

Metes & Bounds
A description of a tract of land beginning at a starting point, following lines and arcs back to the point of beginning, creating a perimeter of the property.

Metes and Bounds
A term used in describing land by setting forth all the boundary lines together with their uncompensated improvement.

Metropolitan Area
Urbanized area in and around a major city.

Mineral Rights
Ownership rights to the minerals or other precious resources, in one's property. The privilege of gaining income from the sale of oil, gas, and other valuable resources found on land.

Minimum Lot Area
The smallest lot area required or allowed for building under the municipal zoning code.

Minimum Rated
Risk In insurance, charging the lowest rate accorded an insurance policy covering a minimum risk classification situation.

Misrepresentation
Making false statements in the course of a business transaction.

Model Furnishings
Interior furnishing included in a model unit, which are chosen to highlight the features of the model unit to show it to its best advantage.

Model Unit (Home)
A representative home, apartment, or office space used as part of a sales campaign to demonstrate the design, structure and appearance of units in a development.

Modification
Occasionally, a lender will agree to modify the terms of your mortgage without requiring you t refinance. If any changes are made, it is called a modification.

Modification
See Loan Modification.

Moratorium of Interest
A time during the term of a loan wherein no payment of interest due is made.

Mortgage
A legal document that pledges a property to the lender as security for payment of a debt. Instead of mortgages, some states use First Trust Deeds.

Mortgage
An instrument in writing, duly executed and delivered, that creates a lien upon real estate as security for the payment of a specified debt, which is usually in the form of a bond.

Mortgage
Document which specifies a specific amount of money, which is to be used for purchase of a home, using the property as collateral, whereupon a lien is placed on the property as security for repayment of the debt.

Mortgage Acceleration Clause
Provision in a mortgage, which gives the lender the right to demand repayment of the entire loan, under certain circumstances, such as default, property sale, change of title, or refinance.

Mortgage Amortization
Repayment of a loan on a scheduled installment basis.

Mortgage Banker
For a more complete discussion of mortgage banker, see "Types of Lenders." A mortgage banker is generally assumed to originate and fund their own loans, which are then sold on the secondary market, usually to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. However, firms rather loosely apply this term to themselves, whether they are true mortgage bankers or simply mortgage brokers or correspondents.

Mortgage Broker
A mortgage company that originates loans, then places those loans with a variety of other lending institutions with whom they usually have pre-established relationships.

Mortgage Broker
A company that receives payment from a lender for matching the lender with borrowers who meet the lender's criteria.

Mortgage Commitment
A formal indication, made by a lending institution, that it will grant a mortgage loan on property in a certain specified amount and on certain specified terms.

Mortgage Company
A company that makes home loans to borrowers. Most mortgage companies sell the loans they have on the secondary market to loan buyers, but continue to service the loans under contracts, collecting payments from borrowers and handling trouble with the loan, such as default and foreclosures.

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation - MGIC
A major private insurer of mortgage loans in the United States.

Mortgage Instrument
The legal paperwork to create a mortgage.

Mortgage Insurance - MI
Insurance that covers the lender against some of the losses incurred as a result of a default on a home loan. Often mistakenly referred to as PMI, which is actually the name of one of the larger mortgage insurers. Mortgage insurance is usually required in one form or another on all loans that have a loan-to-value higher than eighty percent. Mortgages above 80% LTV that call themselves "No MI" are usually a made at a higher interest rate. Instead of the borrower paying the mortgage insurance premiums directly, they pay a higher interest rate to the lender, which then pays the mortgage insurance themselves. Also, FHA loans and certain first-time homebuyer programs require mortgage insurance regardless of the loan-to-value.

Mortgage Insurance Premium - MIP
The amount paid by a mortgagor for mortgage insurance, either to a government agency such as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or to a private mortgage insurance (MI) company.

Mortgage Lien
The right of a mortgage lender to force a sale of the mortgaged property if the borrower fails to repay the loan as agreed.

Mortgage Life and Disability Insurance
A type of term life insurance often bought by borrowers. The amount of coverage decreases as the principal balance declines. Some policies also cover the borrower in the event of disability. In the event that the borrower dies while the policy is in force, the debt is automatically satisfied by insurance proceeds. In the case of disability insurance, the insurance will make the mortgage payment for a specified amount of time during the disability. Be careful to read the terms of coverage, however, because often the coverage does not start immediately upon the disability, but after a specified period, sometime forty-five days.

Mortgage Reduction Certificate
An instrument executed by the mortgagee, setting forth the status of and the balance due on the mortgage as of the date of the execution of the instrument.

Mortgagee
The lender in a mortgage agreement.

Mortgagees Title Policy
A title insurance policy that will pay off the lender''s loss if the title to the mortgaged property fails.

Mortgagor
The borrower in a mortgage agreement.

Motion to Lift Stay
A formal request to a bankruptcy court to dissolve an automatic stay that prevents a lender from foreclosing. Once the motion is granted, the lender may proceed to foreclose unless the borrower can keep up the payments.

Multidwelling Units
Properties that provide separate housing units for more than one family, although they secure only a single mortgage.

Multiple Dwelling
More than one dwelling unit sharing a common wall and roof.

Multiple Listing
Arrangement where the real estate listings of many local agents are provided.

Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
Service combining the listings, in one database, of all the available homes, except those being sold by the owner, in a specific area.

Multiple Listing Service - MLS
A multi-realty service whereby members of the local Board of Realtors exchange their listings.

Multiple Offers
More than one offer to purchase a property, which usually occurs in a seller's market.

Municipality Code
A coded value (typically representing an abbreviation) for the parish, county or township.
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