Descriptive Terms In Real Estate Ads - What Do They Mean?
By Raynor James, Fri Dec 9th

If you are buying or selling a home, the chances are good youstruggle with the meaning of descriptive real estate terms.Here's the first in a series of articles explaining them.

The Wise Seller

Be very truthful if you are a seller advertising your home.Mention your home's best features, but do not exaggerate. Ifsomeone comes to look at your home and feels disappointed, theyare not apt to buy. You are probably wasting your



time andadvertising money if your ads mislead.

The Wise Buyer

Take advertisements with a grain of salt and don't get tooexcited until you've seen the property. Many sellers do not takethe advice given above.

Now let's examine some of the terms themselves and what theycommonly mean.

"Open Floor Plan"

Describes a home in which rooms open out of each other and it'spossible to see from one room to another. Often entertainingrooms (living room, dining room, sun room, entrance foyer) areopen to each other, and family living areas (kitchen, breakfastroom, family room) are open to each other, while bedrooms havedoors and open off a hall in a more traditional way.

"Traditional Floor Plan"

Used to describe a home with rooms opening off a hall or halls.Each room can usually be closed off with a door.

"Split Bedroom Plan"

A term often used to describe a home (usually one level) withthe master bedroom on one side of the living areas and the restof the bedrooms on the opposite side.

"Dormer Window"

A window in an upstairs room that has a slanting ceiling whichfollows the slope of the roof. The window is in an uprightposition, but that causes it to stick up above the roof, so itgets its own little roof (usually a gable roof) that is tiedinto the main roof where they meet at right angles.

If you can get the verbiage down, you'll be way ahead in thereal estate game. Look for future articles on this subject orvisit our site to read more terms.

About the author:Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - FSBO homes forsale by owner. Visit our "sell my home" page athttp://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your own homeyourself with a free 1 month listing.

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