Property jargon - March

Selling and buying property can be overwhelming enough without being bamboozled by property jargon and terminology. At Wishart Estate Agents, our straight-talking approach aims to cut through all of this.

In this monthly post, you’ll find a number of words and phrases broken down into simpler terms:

• Mortgage: A loan for the purpose of purchasing a property, which is paid back to the money lender in instalments with interest.
• First-time buyer: A person who has never owned or purchased a property before.
• Buyer: The person or people purchasing a property.
• Agreement in principle: An estimate of how much money somebody can borrow from a money lender for a mortgage.
• Surveyor: A qualified expert who specialises in examining property to identify any positives or negatives that may affect the property value.
• Building survey: A report into the physical state of a property.
• Chain: Several property sales and purchases that are dependent on each other.
• EPC: An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) shows the energy efficiency of a property and gives an indication of energy costs. A property will be given an energy-efficiency grade between A and G, with A being the most efficient and G being the least efficient.
• Stamp duty: Is a tax charged to buyers when purchasing a residential property or piece of land. This tax applies to both freehold and leasehold properties, whether bought outright or with a mortgage.

Of course, we are always just at the end of the phone if you have any queries or questions, no matter how big or small, regarding your buying/selling journey.

Tadcaster office: 01937 534474

York office: 01904 404558