Ever go to your friend's or spouse's work party and find yourself dozing off while listening to their lame inside work related jokes? The conversations are typically loaded with work jargon and terms that really do not mean anything to you. Well, guess what?  Us real estate agents do the exact same thing. My wife occasionally catches me using our "Realtor Secret Code Words" while explaining the real estate world. So you can now put away your decoder rings because I am going to break the Da Real Estate Code for you all:

• DOM (Days on the market): how many days the home has been listed on the market.

• CDOM (Cummulative days on the market): Sometimes a home is taken off the market and relisted under a different Multiple Listing Service (see below) number which resets the DOM but not the CDOM. The CDOM is great to really see how long the home has been for sale.

• MLS (Multiple Listing Service): This is where the homes are magically listed for sale by real estate agents. 

• WO (Walkout basement): A full-sized door in the basement leading outdoors. Typically has full-sized windows.

• LO (Lookout basement): No outside door, but has large windows. The windows aren't egress, as that is listed as a "full" basement.

• BR (Bedroom): Some agents use this as an abbreviation for bathroom but typically this is reserved for the bedroom.

• HW (Hardwood): Used with flooring, as in "hardwood floors." No further explanation needed on this one.

• FP (Fireplace): Again, self-explanatory....Or at least I hope it is.

• Lastly, there can be moderate confusion when reading home information sheets with the bathroom descriptions. Luckily you have continued reading this blog and now will be massively intelligent when it comes to the lavatory.

The bathroom involves 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and full descriptions. There are four components that construct a bathroom: toilet, sink, shower and tub. If the bathroom has a tub/shower combination, that constitutes as two components. So here we go:

-1/4: A bathroom that has only one of the four components. This is very rare to find in a house.

-1/2: A bathroom that has two of four components. This is usually a toilet and sink.

-3/4: A bathroom that has three of four components. I think of a toilet, sink and shower when I read the home has a three-quarter bathroom. On occasion I've seen a toilet, sink and a plain tub in a 3/4 bathroom, but again this quite random.

-The full bathroom is the Grand Poobah, having all four components. When there is a sink, toilet and a tub/shower combination it is a full bathroom, just like one that has a stand alone shower, toilet, sink and a tub seen in many owners' bathrooms.

There are tons of Realtor jargon and abbreviations, but at least now you are just a bit more educated in the real estate realm and a wiser home seller/buyer. I am excited to offer everyone a free market snapshot of your own address. This email is spam-free and will put you in the know about your neighborhood. Click HERE to receive your free personalized market snapshot.