Every word somebody has used at you.

A C D E F L P R S T U V

Amortization

How a loan gets paid off over time. Early on, most of what you pay is interest and only a little touches what you borrowed. That flips as the years go by. It is worth seeing once, because it explains why paying a bit extra early does more than paying a bit extra late.

Appraisal

An independent person decides what the house is worth, because the lender is not going to lend more than the thing is worth. If it comes in under the price you agreed, that is a problem with a few known solutions and it is not the end of the deal.

Asset depletion

A way of qualifying that treats what you have saved as though it were an income stream, for people whose money is no longer arriving as a paycheck. It is the answer to the question I get more than any other, which is how somebody qualifies once they have retired.

Certificate of eligibility

The document that proves you are entitled to use the Department of Veterans Affairs home loan benefit. Getting hold of it is usually quick and it is one of the first things worth doing, because it turns a question into a fact.

Closing costs

Everything you pay to make the sale happen that is not the price of the house. Fees for the loan, the title work, the appraisal, taxes and insurance paid up front. They are not a surprise if somebody shows them to you early, and there is no reason not to.

Contingency

A condition in the contract that lets you step back without losing your deposit if something specific does not happen. The inspection, the appraisal, your own loan being approved. Removing one makes your offer stronger and makes you less protected, and that is a real trade rather than a formality.

Conventional loan

The ordinary kind, not backed by a government program. It is the one most people end up with and the one everything else gets compared to.

Debt to income ratio

What you owe every month set against what you earn every month, as a percentage. It is the number that decides more than most people realise, and it is also the one that moves most easily. Paying off a small loan can do more than saving for months.

Down payment

What you put in yourself. Twenty percent is the number everybody has heard and it is not a rule. There are programs that ask for a good deal less, and putting less down changes other things rather than closing the door.

Earnest money

The deposit you put down when your offer is accepted, to show you mean it. It is not an extra cost. It comes off what you owe at the end. You can lose it if you walk away for a reason the contract does not allow, which is why the contract matters.

Escrow

A neutral third party holds the money and the documents until everybody has done what they promised. The word also gets used for the account that collects your taxes and insurance monthly so you are not hit with them all at once. Two meanings, same idea: somebody else holds it so nobody has to trust anybody.

FHA loan

A loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration. It generally allows a smaller deposit and is more forgiving about credit history, and it has its own insurance cost in exchange. Worth looking at, not automatically better.

Funding fee

A one time charge on a loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs, usually called a VA loan, that the program takes instead of monthly mortgage insurance. It is not the same for everybody, and some people do not pay it at all. Most people have never had it explained to them. They have only had it appear.

Loan estimate

A standard form every lender has to give you, laid out the same way, so that two offers can actually be compared side by side. It exists precisely so nobody can hide anything in a different column. Use it that way.

Pre-approval

A lender has looked at your actual paperwork and said what it is willing to lend you. It is not the same as pre-qualification, which is a lender taking your word for your numbers and doing some arithmetic. Sellers know the difference and so should you, because one of them carries weight in an offer and the other one does not.

Private mortgage insurance

Usually shortened to PMI. Insurance that protects the lender, not you, and which you pay for, generally when you put down less than a fifth of the price. It is not a punishment and it does not last forever. Ask when it comes off, because there is an answer.

Rate lock

An agreement that holds your terms in place for a set number of days while the sale goes through, so they cannot move underneath you. It has an expiry date, which is the part people forget.

Seller credit

The seller agreeing to put money towards your closing costs. Their money spends exactly the same as yours does. Most of the deals I close include one, and asking is free.

Shift differential

The extra you are paid for working the hours nobody wants. Nights, weekends, holidays. It is real income and it can be counted, but it does not sit on a pay stub the way a salary does, so it takes somebody knowing where to look.

Subsequent use

The plain way of saying you can use your Department of Veterans Affairs home loan benefit again. People believe it is a once in a lifetime thing. It generally is not, and knowing that is often the difference between staying put and moving.

Title insurance

Cover against somebody turning up later with a claim on the house you just bought. An old unpaid bill, a boundary nobody checked, a name on a deed from decades ago. It is dull right up until the day it is not.

Underwriting

The part where somebody at the lender goes through everything properly and decides. It is where the requests for one more document come from, and it is why they sometimes ask for a thing you already sent. Nobody is being difficult. They are being checked too.

VA loan

The home loan program run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, for people who served and for some surviving spouses. It is the benefit most people know the name of and fewest know the shape of. I used it myself before I ever wrote one.