If you are buying or selling a home, the chances are good you
struggle with the meaning of descriptive real estate terms. Here
are explanations and definitions for more terms.
"Shed Dormers"
These are often seen in Dutch colonial style houses and are flat
roofed dormers. Sometimes these dormers are single windows, but
often they are two or three windows side by side with one flat
roof.
"Blind Dormer Window"
Sometimes builders construct fake dormer windows to add
architectural interest to new houses. They are at attic level
but can't be seen from the attic because the roof of the house
covers access to them.
"Oversize Garage"
Ads often say how many cars a garage will hold. Then they add
the word "oversize" as in "oversize 2-car garage." What is
usually meant is that there is room for storage, or a work bench
in addition to space for the cars. Occasionally it simply means
you can open a car door wide enough to actually get out with
both cars in the garage!
"Gourmet Kitchen"
This phrase is intended to convey the idea that a very good cook
can happily work here. That may or may not be the case, but it
does usually mean that the kitchen is fairly large and
attractive.
"Great Room"
I've seen this used in two distinctly different ways. The first
is to describe a living room, dining room, and kitchen in a very
open floor plan. The area typically has a high ceiling. The
second way I've seen it used is when what we'd normally call a
family room has a high, often coffered, ceiling, a fireplace
with a dramatically massive mantle, and perhaps an upstairs
balcony overlooking it. I think this may stem from the idea of a
"great hall" in old English houses.
If you can get the verbiage down, you'll be way ahead in the
real estate game. Look for future articles on this subject or
visit our site to read more terms.
About the author:
Raynor James is with the FSBO site -
http://www.fsboamerica.org
- homes for sale by owner. Visit our home buying page at
http://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.cfm to see homes for sale by
owner.
