Mortgage Glossary

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There are 17 terms in this glossary beginning with the letter C.
Cap
maximum monthly payment a borrower may be expected to pay on a loan.

Capital gain
profit earned on an asset, such as a home or property.

Capital gain tax
a tax levied against the profit made on the sale of a home and/or property.

Cash out refinance
a second mortgage in which the borrower extracts home equity at the same time a refinance deal is made; an alternative to a home equity loan.

Closing
the formal documented sale of a home and/or property that includes signing all documents associated with the exchange and payment of required closing fees. A closing agent usually oversees this process.

Closing agent
the person responsible for mediating the closing, documenting the process and assuring all associated paperwork is completed. May be an attorney or official from a title or mortgage company.

Closing costs
real estate transaction related fees payable by the buyer and seller during a closing. A wide variety of fees may be included, such as title search, attorney's fees, origination fees, documentation fees and more.

Closing statement
an itemized list of closing costs.

Co-borrower
a borrower with good credit that agrees to take on shared responsibility for a home loan so that the primary borrower may purchase property.

Combination loan
a type of loan that combines an initial loan typically for new home construction, with a second conventional home loan that supplants the first.

Commitment letter
a document from a lender to a borrower that officially lays out the terms of a loan.

Comparable sales, comps
similar home sale prices in the region used as a metric in the calculation of a home's appraised value.

Conforming loan
a conventional loan characterized by loan limits that fall within those guidelines laid out by the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Construction loan
a short-term loan for new home construction that is supplanted with a conventional long-term home loan. See combination loan.

Contingency
any one of a number of common clauses added to real estate agreements that provide buyer or seller rights during various stages of a transaction.

Conventional mortgage
a mortgage offered by any one of the Government sponsored entities, different from an FHA loan.

Credit
money extended from a lender to a borrower based on that borrower’s credit history.