Real Estate Glossary

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M

metes-and-bounds description

A legal description of a parcel of land that begins at a well-marked point and follows the boundaries, using directions and distances around the tract, back to the place of beginning.

Keyword(s):

minimum level of service

some states are requiring licensees perform some minimum level of service to clients.

mistake

is a narrowly defined tool in contact law that recognizes parties have not reached mutual agreement or meeting of the minds if they are mistaken about a material aspect of the transaction. The mistake must be unintentional and not due to negligence or ignorance. A contract based on mistake would be void. A party cannot claim "mistake" to get out of a contract he or she signed.

Example: A seller has a piece of land for sale. A potential buyer visits the area but views the wrong lot. After entering into the contract the mistake is discovered and the contract is considered void. Neither party could be forced to perform as there was no ‘meeting of the minds’.

modified straight line

is used to estimate accrued depreciation for a single component or an entire structure and provides some improvement in accuracy over the straight line method as it allows a separate calculation for curable physical items and curable functional obsolescence.

In this method, the curable physical depreciation and the curable functional obsolescence is calculated first and then deducted from the cost new of the improvements before the applying the percentage of depreciation to the cost of the remaining incurable improvements. This method assumes that there is generally a uniform decline in value with time.

Keyword(s):

monuments

A fixed natural or artificial object used to establish real estate boundaries for a metes-and-bounds description.

Keyword(s):

mortgage

A conditional transfer or pledge of real estate as security for the payment of a debt. Also the document creating a mortgage lien.

mortgage disclosure improvement act (MDIA)

Effective date of July 31, 2009 changed how buyers and sellers, lenders, mortgage brokers, title agents, and real estate licensees prepare for closing. Lenders and licensees should consider the following:

three business days from loan application to provide the Loan Estimate (LE).
seven business days are required after receipt of the original LE, or a revised LE, before the loan can be consummated.
three business days must be allotted before the signing of loan documents, after the borrower receives the final closing disclosure
three business days will be added to the closing date if there has been a change to the CD resulting an increase to the APR.
in the event that the closing required corrections to the CD, the creditor must provide a corrected CD no later than 30 calendar days after receiving the corrected information.

Mortgage insurance premium (MIP)

FHA program is funded by borrowers through a mortgage insurance premium which amounts to an annual fee of .5 percent to 1.5 percent of the loan balance.

mortgagee

The lender in a morgage loan transaction.

mortgagor

The borrower in a mortgage loan transaction.

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