RAM – REVERSE ANNUITY MORTGAGE – A MORTGAGE under which someone who owns a home FREE AND CLEAR receives monthly payments from a lender for a period of time, usually less than ten years. At the end of the MORTGAGE TERM, the owner agrees to REFINANCE the LOAN or sell the property to pay off the LOAN.
REMIC – REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE INVESTMENT CONDUIT – A PARTNERSHIP, TRUST, CORPORATION or separate pool of ASSETS, the purpose of a REMIC is to hold a fixed pool of MORTGAGES and issue interests in itself to MORTGAGE INVESTORS.
REIS – REAL ESTATE INFORMATION SYSTEMS – A large data bank that includes historical RENTAL RATES on more than 100,000 PROPERTIES.
REIT – REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST – An INVESTMENT SYNDICATE with at least one hundred members which is strictly regulated by federal law and has certain TAX advantages.
REO – REAL ESTATE OWNED – PROPERTY acquired by a lender through FORECLOSURE and held in INVENTORY.
RESPA – REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT – A federal law ensuring that the buyer and seller in a residential REAL PROPERTY transaction are each aware of their SETTLEMENT costs and requires the use of the UNIFORM SETTLEMENT STATEMENT which details the financial particulars of the transaction.
RM – RESIDENTIAL MEMBER – A designation conferred by the AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS.
RNMI – REALTORS NATIONAL MARKETING INSTITUTE – An affiliate of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS mainly concerned with educational programs and literature for members.
RRM – Renegotiated Rate Mortgage
RTC – RESOLUTION TRUST CORPORATION – Supervised by the FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION, a federal agency created by FIRRA to manage and resolve INSOLVENT SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS placed into its conservatorship or receivership.
R VALUE – Generally applying to insulating materials, exterior walls, roof, windows and doors, a measure of the heat conductivity of material. The higher the R value, the better the material serves as insulation from heat transfer.
R/W – Right-of-Way
SAM – SHARED APPRECIATION MORTGAGE – A MORTGAGE in which, in exchange for receiving a below-market INTEREST RATE, the lender is promised a certain portion of the VALUE that the PROPERTY will increase over time.
SAP – STATUTORY ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES – Differing from the GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES (GAAP), principles required by STATUTE which must be followed by an INSURANCE company when submitting its FINANCIAL STATEMENTS to the various state INSURANCE departments.
SARA – SUPERFUND AMENDMENTS AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT – Law that confirmed the continued existence of SUPERFUND. SARA put more teeth into CERCLA, though SARA provides an innocent landowner defense for a buyer who conducted a Phase I environmental study before the acquisition, with negative results.
SBA – SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION – A federal government agency in Washington, D.C. that encourages small business.
SEC – SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION – The federal Agency created in 1934 to carry out the provisions of the Securities Exchange Act. Generally, the agency seeks to protect the investing public by preventing FRAUD, MISREPRESENTATION, manipulation and other abuses in the securities market.
SIOR – SOCIETY OF INDUSTRIAL AND OFFICE REALTORS – Affiliated with the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, an organization whose members are mainly concerned with the sale of factories, warehouses and other INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY.
S&LA – SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION – Depository institutions that specialize in originating, servicing and holding MORTGAGE LOANS, primarily on OWNEROCCUPIED, RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
SMSA – STANDARD METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA – Also known as METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA (MSA) – One or more counties having a population of at least 50,000. See also CONSOLIDATED METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA.
SRA – SENIOR RESIDENTIAL APPRAISER – The highest designation once awarded by the SOCIETY OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS. SREAS could exchange this designation for the MAI
SREA – 1) SENIOR REAL ESTATE ANALYST – A designation conferred by the SOCIETY OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS; 2) SOCIETY OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS – Also known as THE SOCIETY – A professional APPRAISAL organization.
SRPA – SENIOR REAL PROPERTY APPRAISER – A designation conferred by the SOCIETY OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS.
SYD – SUM-OF-YEAR-DIGITS DEPRECIATION – A tax and accounting method of allocating the cost of an ASSET over its useful life. It requires a fraction to be computed each year, which is applied against the DEPRECIABLE amount. The numerator is the number of years left to be DEPRECIATED and the denominator is the sum of the year’s digits of the DEPRECIABLE life.
TDR – TRANSFERABLE DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS – A type of ZONINGORDINANCE that allows owners of property zoned for low-density DEVELOPMENT or conservation use to sell development rights to other PROPERTY owners. The development rights purchased permit the landowners to develop their PARCELS at higher densities than otherwise. The system is designed to provide for low-density uses, such as historic preservation, without unduly PENALIZING some landowners.
TIL – TRUTH-IN-LENDING LAW – Federal law which requires a FULL DISCLOSURE of a LOAN amount, FINANCE CHARGES and APR.
TIS – TENANT IMPROVEMENTS – Those changes, typically to retail, office or industrial property, to accommodate the specific needs of a TENANT which include moving interior walls or PARTITIONS, carpeting or others negotiated in the LEASE.
UCC – UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE – A body of law which attempts to standardize and regulate the transfer of PERSONAL PROPERTY particularly in COMMERCIAL transactions or transfers in bulk.
ULI – URBAN LAND INSTITUTE – A nonprofit organization providing research and information on LAND use and DEVELOPMENT. Among the many publications of the ULI are the periodical Urban Land and Environmental Comment and several development guides for specific type of land use.
URAR – UNIFORM RESIDENTIAL APPRAISAL REPORT – A standard form for reporting the APPRAISAL of a DWELLING. Required for use by the major SECONDARY MORTGAGE purchasers, it provides numerous checklists and appropriate definitions and certifications that are printed on the form.
USAP – UNIFORM STANDARDS OF APPRAISAL PRACTICE – A set of requirements covering research and reportings promulgated by the APPRAISAL FOUNDATION and adhered to by its members.
USPAP – A set of requirements covering research and reportings promulgated by the APPRAISAL FOUNDATION and adhered to by its members.
VA – VETERANS ADMINISTRATION– An agency of the federal government that guarantees LOANS made by approved lending institutions.
VA LOAN – Also known as a GI LOAN – For a home to be used as the PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE, a home LOAN guaranteed by the U.S. VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
(VA) under the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 and later. The VA guarantees repayment to the LENDER in the event of DEFAULT. The guaranty is sixty percent of the loan but not more than $27,500.
VRM – VARIABLE RATE MORTGAGE – A LOAN in which the INTEREST RATE may vary or float periodically throughout the TERM of the LOAN. The INTEREST fluctuations are based on a pre-selected INDEX.
WCR – WOMEN’S COUNCIL OF REALTORS – An organization affiliated with the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, devoted to preparing women in REAL ESTATE for their emerging roles in society, to encouraging members to productive careers in REAL ESTATE and to developing leadership potential. Publishes The Real Estate Scene (monthly) and The WCR Communiqué (quarterly).
YTM – YIELD TO MATURITY – The internal RATE OF RETURN on an INVESTMENT which considers all inflows and outflows of INVESTMENT returns and their timing.
