BUYING a home can be exciting, but with all the housing jargon prospective buyers are exposed to it can easily turn into a frustrating experience.
Recent figures show more than 40 per cent of people looking into buying a home say jargon confuses them.
House hunter numbers are rising and first-time buyers now make up a quarter of the market. With this in mind the National Association of Estate Agents has released a jargon-busting list to assist house hunters with the buying process.
Mark Hayward, president of the NAEA, said: "It can be easy to forget that language and terms used when speaking with colleagues can be confusing and difficult to understand to buyers. Many have a limited knowledge of the vocabulary around buying and selling a home and will often find it off-putting.
"Agents must remember to take time to explain terminology to those taking their first steps on the property ladder."
Here are some definitions of the more common terms surrounding house buying.
Chain
The sequence of buyers and sellers. Because most sellers are also buyers there can often be a chain of people waiting on each other
Completion date
When the transaction is complete and ownership of the property passes from the seller to the buyer
Conveyancing
The legal process where all the issues arising from the sale or purchase of a house is taken care of
Disbursements
Payments made by your solicitor to other people on your behalf, such as stamp duty
Exchange of contracts
The point both parties are committed to the transaction, before this point the buyer and seller can walk away at any time
Freehold
Ownership of the land and any property that stands on it
Leasehold
Ownership of property for a certain length of time. This is common for flats and maisonettes and usually involves payment of ground rent and maintenance charges
Building survey
A report into the physical state of the property, also sometimes referred to as a full structural survey
Vendor
The seller of the property