Most professions have terms or phrases that are specific to their industry. They may even use some common words but they mean totally different things in the context of their work life. Abbreviations and slang are used in every day conversations in their office environment. But what if you’re an outsider? Would you know what they meant or would it be as if they were speaking in a foreign language? Here are 10 real estate terms that are commonly used in the industry that the consumer may not understand or know the meaning of, even if they think they do. CO – Certificate of Occupancy. In new construction (or a total “gut” renovation), the local authority (typically the Building or Codes division) will inspect the property when it is deemed to be complete. If they feel it is up to standards and complete enough to be occupied, they will issue a Certificate of Occupancy. Typically you will not be able to close on a new construction or totally renovated property if the Certificate of Occupancy or CO has not been issued.DOM – Days on Market. Different areas and MLS’s (see #3) may have different ways to calculate the number of days on market of a property. Most will either be from date of listing to date of contract OR date of listing to close date.MLS – Multiple Listing Service – not Major League Soccer. The MLS is where most real estate agents will enter a property that they have listed for sale. This is one of the places they will search to find properties that match Buyer’s criteria. Some areas have more than one MLS. This is important to know in case you live in an area that is close to more than one MLS that covers areas close by. You won’t want to miss out on potential Buyers because your agent is only a member of one MLS. Most MLS’s syndicate their listings to many other websites (like Realtor.com, Zillow, etc.) but you do not want to limit your exposure in any way.REALTOR©. (Pronounced REAL-TOR) This one may surprise you. Not all real estate agents are REALTORs. A person receives a license stating that they are allowed to represent Buyers and Sellers as a real estate agent. Only members of the National Association of Realtors are allowed to call themselves a REALTOR©. This is important because REALTORs must adhere to a Code of Ethics that real estate agents do not. See my blog “10 Questions to ask your Real Estate Agent” to read more about this.Pre-qual. Prequalification from a lender. A pre-qualification is not the same as a pre-approval. A prequalification is typically derived from a potential Buyer...

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I have a very close woman in my life that says she worries about things so that they don’t happen. Haha – I don’t know if that works but it makes her feel like she’s doing something to help everything go right. A lot of us tend to want to control things. We want to control emotions, situations, relationships, and outcomes. But we may just be causing ourselves more anxiety and stress than if we would just breathe. I’m not saying we don’t move forward and take action steps toward a certain goal, but not get caught up in trying to control things that are out of our control. I had a life coach a couple of years ago (one of the best things I ever did for myself, by the way). She had me make a list of everything I could control. It was very eye opening. See, apparently, I have trust issues and the need for control goes hand in hand with trust. I realized that I can only control myself. My own thought and my own actions. This is tough for a lot of us to accept and fully understand. When we can finally grasp this, it can help us in every aspect of our lives. Our country is divided right now. Emotions are heightened and people seem to think they can change people’s thoughts, ideals, and beliefs with a single post on social media. I saw a post that said (I’m paraphrasing), “No matter who wins the election, I’m still going to get up, go to work, and live my life.” Will your daily life be affected? It could. You may have to pay more taxes. Laws may change. We could even lose some freedoms. But look at what getting angry, worrying, and walking around in total negativity will do for you. The same is true in real estate – you know I couldn’t not bring it around to real estate, right? If you are a Buyer, there are certain things you will do to prepare to buy a house. If you are a Seller, you have a different set of tasks. You hire someone that you have confidence in – then you must let go. You may be anxious and that’s understandable. Just don’t try to manage – or worse – micromanage the people and the process. It will only cause you to be stressed and not to enjoy any of the process. Let me tell you, buying or selling a house and moving is stressful enough on its own. It doesn’t need you making things up in your head and getting over emotional. I’m a highly spiritual person and believe that things don’t...

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