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GLOSSARY of American & Mexican Real Estate Terms

R

Rate Lock

A commitment issued by a lender to a borrower or other mortgage originator guaranteeing a specified interest rate for a specified period of time at a specific cost.

Rate of Return

A percentage relationship between the investment price or equity invested and the composite returns.

Real Estate – Bienes Raices, Bienen Inmuebles

Land and anything permanently affixed to it, including buildings.

Re-entry

The right of the landlord to repossess leased property following the violation of the terms in the lease.

Ready, Willing and Able

Someone fully qualified to enter into a transaction.

Real Estate

Land and all man-made improvements both on and to the land, plus all tangible interest in the real property. Surface, subsurface and air rights.

Real Estate Agent – Agente de Bienes Raices o Agente Inmobiliario

A person licensed to negotiate and transact the sale of real estate.

Real Estate Commission

The state regulatory body whose duty it is to carry out the real estate license laws in a particular state.

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)

A method of pooling investment money using the trust form of ownership if certain tax requirements are met. One advantage of the REIT is the avoidance of corporate tax (thus no double taxation) + many more.

Real Estate Market

The mechanism by which rights and interests in real estate are sold, prices set, supply adjusted to demand, space allocated among competing alternate uses, and land-use patterns set.

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)

A law which covers most mortgage loans made for one to four-unit residential property. It requires the lender to provide the loan applicant with pertinent information so that the borrower can make informed decisions as to which lender will be used to finance the purchase.

Real Property

Refers to land and improvements both on and to the land, and also to the physical aspects of real estate, including surface, air and subsurface rights plus, bundle of rights.

REALTOR®

A registered trademark of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. It is used by brokers and salespersons who hold active membership in the association.

Receipt – Recibo

Written acknowledgment of the receipt of money, or delivery of a thing of value, without containing any affirmative obligation upon either party to it; a mere admission of a fact, in writing.

Receiver

A court-appointed person who is charged with preserving a property, collecting rents and doing anything necessary to maintain the property’s condition.

Reciprocity

The recognition that states give whereby a licensee of one state can be involved in real estate transactions in other states.

Reconveyance – Retransferencia

The act of to convey back to a previous position or owner.

Recorder

The public official who keeps records of transactions that affect real property in the area. Sometimes known as a “Registrar of Deeds” or “County Clerk.”.

Recording – Registrar

The noting in the registrar’s office of the details of a properly executed legal document, such as a deed, a mortgage note, a satisfaction of mortgage, or an extension of mortgage, thereby making it a part of the public record.

Rectangular Survey

Method of land description used in about 30 states based on imaginary lines of longitude (meridians) and latitude (base lines); also referred to as the US government survey system.

Redemption Period

The right of a mortgagor (borrower) to make good on the default within a specified time and receive the property back.

Redlining

The practice of some lending institutions that restricts the number of loans or the loan-to-value ratio in certain areas of a community, i.e., it is illegal for a lending institution to require a higher down payment because the home the borrower is buying is located in a racially mixed area.

Refinance Transaction

The process of paying off one loan with the proceeds from a new loan using the same property as security.

Refinancing

A description of an extension of the existing financing either through the same lender or through a new financial arrangement.

Registry – Registro

A register, or book authorized or recognized by law, kept for the recording or registration of facts or documents.

Regulation Z

Issued by the Federal Reserve System to implement the Truth-In-Lending Law (National Consumer Credit Protection Act). Applies to credit and interest rates.

Release – Cancelacion de Credito

To give up in favor of another.

Remaining Balance

The amount of principal that has not yet been repaid. See principal balance.

Remaining Term

The original amortization term minus the number of payments that have been applied.

Remainder-man

The person who has a future interest in a life estate once the present estate terminates.

Renegotiable Rate Mortgage

A renegotiated loan where the maturity is fixed (for example, 30 years) but the interest rate, and hence the monthly payment, is renegotiated periodically (for example, every 3 or 5 years).

Rent – Alquilar

The payment made for the use of land.

Rent Loss Insurance

Insurance that protects a landlord against loss of rent or rental value due to fire or other casualty that renders the leased premises unavailable for use and as a result of which the tenant is excused from paying rent.

Repayment Plan

An arrangement made to repay delinquent installments or advances.

Replacement Cost

The cost of substituting a similar structure with utility equivalent to the subject property but constructed with modern materials.

Replacement Reserve Fund

A fund set aside for replacement of common property in a condominium, PUD, or cooperative project — particularly that which has a short life expectancy, such as carpeting, furniture, etc.

Reproduction Cost

The cost of exactly duplicating a structure using the same material and design.

Resale – Reventa

Exists where a person who has sold goods or other property to a purchaser sells them again to someone else.

Rescission

Repealing a contract either by mutual consent of the parties to the contract or by one party when the other party is in breach of the contract.

Resident Manager

An employee of the property management firm and its representative on the premises.

Restriction – Restriccion

Any limitation on the use of property.

Restricted Zone – Zona Restringida

The Mexican Constitution regulates the ownership of the land and establishes that ” . . . in a zone of 100 kilometers along the border or 50 kilometers along the coast, a foreigner cannot acquire the direct ownership of the land”. These areas are known as the “Restricted or Prohibited Zones”.

Restrictive Covenant

A clause in a deed which restricts use of property for a specified time.

Reversion

A future interest in the grantor, which occurs whenever the owner of real estate conveys an estate of lesser duration than the owner has.

Reversionary Interest

A future interest a person has in property after present possession is terminated.

Revocation

The nullification of an offer to contract by the original offeror.

Revolving Debt

A credit arrangement, such as a credit card, that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved line of credit when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due.

Right – Derecho

In a narrower signification, an interest or title in an object of property; a just and legal claim to hold, use, or enjoy it, or to convey or donate it, as he may please.

Right of First Refusal

A provision in an agreement that requires the owner of a property to give another party the first opportunity to purchase or lease the property before he or she offers it for sale or lease to others.

Right of Ingress or Egress

The right to enter or leave designated premises.

Right of Ownership – Derechos de Propiedad

The right to have or hold as property.

Right of Re-entry

The right retained when a fee simple on condition subsequent exists; also referred to as the power of termination.

Right of Redemption

The legal ability to buy back one’s property within the time specified in each state after a judicial sale by paying the debt, interest and certain costs.

Right of Survivorship

Upon the death of a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety the interest does not pass to the tenant’s heirs but to the other join tenant(s).

Riparian Rights

A legal right of a landowner who owns land next to a natural watercourse to reasonable use of whatever water flows past the property.

Run with the land

Certain restrictions, easements and covenants are part of the ownership of land and thus are not terminated when title is transferred but remain in effect from owner to owner.