Real Estate Dictionary

Majority The age at which an individual is legally entitled to handle his or her own affairs

Margin The amount added to the index on an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) that establishes the adjusted interest rate at a given time

Market value, or Fair market value The most likely price that a piece of property or home can realistically be sold for, and is dependent on the selling price of similar real estate in the area

Marketable title A clear, unencumbered title, reasonably acceptable without the threat of the risk of litigation

Maturity The date on which the principal balance of a loan, bond, or other financial commitment is due and payable

Mechanic’s lien A lien created by statute to allow unpaid contractors, laborers or suppliers who have performed work on or furnished materials for the construction of a building to recover the value of their work

Metes and Bounds Means for describing property by a set of directions and distances, when there isn’t identification based on a surveyed lot number

Minor An individual below the age at which he or she is legally entitled to handle his or her own affairs

Monument of Survey le indications made on natural or man-made objects that indicate the boundaries of a survey

Mortgage A legal document that pledges a property to the lender as security for the payment of a loan or debt

Mortgage broker An individual or company that acts as an agent between borrowers and lenders for the purpose of arranging and negotiating mortgage contracts; who is paid a fee for such service

Mortgage insurance A contract that guarantees the lender against loss caused by a mortgagor’s default on a government or conventional mortgage; such insurance can be issued by a private company or by a government agency, and covers either only a percentage, or the total, of the mortgage loan

Mortgagee The lender in a mortgage transaction

Mortgagor The borrower in a mortgage transaction

Multiple-listing service (MLS) An organization of brokers who share their listing agreements with one another in order to find buyers for their properties more effectively than they could individually