44 Common Real Estate Abbreviations and Acronyms
Are you confused about real estate abbreviations or listing terminology? Do you feel like real estate agents are trying to confuse you with real estate terms and real estate acronyms?
If you’re working with real estate brokers in the search of a new home, most likely you are receiving MLS® real estate listings via the new Keystone Matrix® system. My buyers are always asking me to explain what some of the real estate abbreviations or real estate terminology stands for, so I thought I might create this post to help everyone out.
Generally from the top of the listing sheet on down, here is the list of abbreviations
Real Estate Abbreviations List
DOM: Days On Market reflects how many days since the home has been listed by the agent
TYPE: This refers to one of the 4 different types of homes the listing service is displaying. They are:
RD = Residential Detached. This is the most common type of house, the one most people think of when looking at homes.
SA = Single Attached (Side by Side). These are two residences which share one common wall. They are cheaper to build, and therefor less expensive to purchase as well
TH = Townhouse. Usually found in rows of 4, 6 or even more. One long building which has a number of separate homes. The end units share one wall, while all interior units actually share 2 common walls.
MH = Mobile Home. Generally means a home which is located in a mobile home park. Careful here, as a ‘mobile home’ might actually be firmly attached to a foundation, and thus become real property.
TAX AMOUNT: This is supposed to be the TOTAL GROSS property taxes, including all Education Taxes, Local Improvements etc. As an owner-occupant, you would qualify for a $700 Provincial Rebate
RMA: Means Rooms Above Ground level. This indicates the total number of rooms such as any formal dining room, kitchen and living room, but NOT bathrooms or powder room, etc.
BDA: Bedrooms Above Ground. Includes the master bedroom and all secondary bedrooms located above ground level
TBD: Total Bedrooms (including basement bedrooms). This is how you can tell how many bedrooms are in the basement. Simply subtract the BDA from the TBD and see that the basement has 2 bedrooms, for example. Careful here: Just because a property sellers are listing it as a bedroom, does not necessarily mean it fits the legal description of a bedroom.
FB: Number of full Bathrooms (a “FULL” bathroom has at least 3 pieces, so for example: toilet, sink and shower, or toilet, sink and tub)
HB: Number of half Bathrooms (a half bath might have only 1 piece, such as a toilet, or just a sink, but most often has 2 pieces)
EN: Ensuite, which refers to a bathroom that is accessible from a bedroom directly
Exterior: Refers to the exterior surface of the home’s walls. Most common in Winnipeg is stucco, but could also include brick, siding (including vinyl and aluminum siding) and wood.
Foundation: Most common is concrete, but older homes often feature STONE or sometimes Cinderblock or even brick. In the 1980s there was a fad for ‘Preserved Wood’ foundations.
Heating: Most common is ‘forced air’ which indicates central heat (preferred). Other options might be Hot Water (radiators) or electric (baseboard heaters).
Heating Fuel: Indicates whether it is gas or electricity. Some new home builders are making the switch to electric furnaces. Careful as even in our province, producing heat with electricity is substantially more expensive than producing it with natural gas.
Basement: Full. This means that the area size of the foundation is the same as the main floor. It does not mean the basement is finished, as this is indicated in another section.
Other options for the basement category are: crawl, slab, half and 3/4. Real estate professionals should be able to point out the differences, benefits and shortcomings, of each type of basement construction.
Square Feet: I’ve had clients try to add up all the room measurements of a listing, and come to the conclusion that the 1,200 ft home is really just 850 square feet. While they are correct, this is not how buildings are measured and advertised.
The proclaimed total square footage of a house is the OUTSIDE measurements which includes all 4-season living space, excluding the garage. It includes ONLY the areas above ground, so for example the main floor, second floor and third floor if there is one. It does NOT include the basement, UNLESS there is a crawl space under that part of the basement.
For further explanation, see this article on how homes are measured. and remember that different provinces and states might have different rules.
Garage – AT or DT. This refers to the car garage which can be either attached or detached. Confusion here sometimes as an ‘attached garage’ might be physically attached, but not have a direct door leading into the house.
S/S: Showings Start date. NO showings can occur BEFORE that date
OTP: Offer To Purchase date. That the is FIRST date when offers can be considered.
In addition to the above listing terms, you will probably come across many of the next acronyms used by the listing agent in their advertisements
Real Estate Acronyms
A/C or C/Air: Central Air Conditioning
APPL: Appliances (personal property)
ATT or DT: Attached or Detached also refers to single-family home vs. attached home.
CLG: Ceiling
C/Vac: Central Vacuum
CC: Clothes Closet or possibly “WICC” as in Walk-In Clothes Closet
AT/2 or DT/2: Attached double or detached double (as in garage)
EE and HE: Energy Efficient and High Efficient
F/Fin: Fully Finished
HWFS and HWDS: Hardwood floors and simply Hardwoods
S/S or SS indicating stainless steel (as in appliances)
WDW: Windows
WDWK: Woodwork (as referring to baseboards and window casings)
Im hoping that this list of most common terms is of great value to you.
If you’re thinking of buying a house or a condo in Winnipeg, call me for a free buyer consultation. There is a lot of information which is difficult to convey in a blog post but I’d be happy to discuss in person.
Confused our stumped by other real estate listings abbreviations? Ask me in the comments, or email me anytime
Bo Kauffmann of Remax performance realty.
Below is the audio version of my popular post : Closing Costs When Buying A House Or Condo In Winnipeg.
Let’s see some real listings
If you’re thinking of buying a home, please be sure to check out “Buying a house or condo in Winnipeg; 6 important steps”
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