E

Earnest Money
Money given by a buyer to a seller as part of the purchase price, in order to bind a transaction or to assure payment.

Easement
A right of way giving people other than the owner access to a property. If there is one of these on the house you're considering, make sure you understand what it is, or you may have troops of 1953 alien-landing devotees plodding through your back yard on the way to that sacred corn field just next door.

Encroachment
1) An improvement that intrudes illegally on someone else's property. 2) defensive lineman getting overanxious in a football game.

Encumbrance
Anything which limits the title to a property, such as leases, mortgages, easements, or other restrictions.

Entitlement
The VA home loan benefit is known as entitlement. It is also known as eligibility.

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)
A federal law that requires lenders and other creditors to make credit equally available without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status or receipt of income from public assistance programs.

Equity
The value an owner has in real estate over and above the obligation against the property. In other words, that portion of the property which the owner actually owns, having already paid for it. (It's also referred to as the owner's interest.)

If a homeowner owns a house valued at $200,000.00 and has a mortgage of $50,000.00, the homeowner's equity is $150,000.00 (the value less the mortgage). As the value of the house increases or decreases, the homeowner's equity increases or decreases accordingly. The lender's equity is always equal to the value of the outstanding loan.

Escrow
Funds that are set aside and held in trust, usually for payment of taxes and insurance on real property.

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