ERNEST BANKS
Broker
PROPERTIES INTERNATIONAL
PO BOX 13932
SILVER SPRING, MD 20911
Office: 301-563-6380
Fax: 301-585-1126
PROPERTIES INTERNATIONAL
Real Estate Glossary
Our glossary is the largest dictionary of real estate and construction terms on the Internet with almost 10,000 definitions.
- Unibit
- A conical drill bit designed to drill a larger hole the further it is pushed into the subject material.
- Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
- Group of laws, which standardize the state laws applicable to commercial transactions.
- Uniform Load
- A load that is distributed evenly over a given area.
- Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR)
- The standard form which is used for reporting the appraisal of a dwelling and provides numerous checklists, definitions and certifications.
- Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act
- Legislation dealing with landlord-tenant contracts and relationships and provides protection in 13 states to renters.
- Uniform Settlement Statement
- Form prescribed by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act for Federally Related Mortgages and must be prepared at the Closing of Title and must contain certain relevant closing information. Both buyer and seller are given copies.
- Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP)
- Set of requirements, formulated and adhered to by the members of the Appraisal Foundation.
- Unilateral Contract
- One-sided contract where, even if one party makes a promise, the second party is not legally required to perform, but may do so, thus obligating the first party.
- Unilateral Listing
- Listing of property that is open and has no one real estate agent who has the sole right to sell the property.
- Unimproved Land
- Raw land in its natural state that has no installed improvements or structures.
- Unincorporated Group
- Association of persons not treated as a corporation, such as a limited partnership.
- Union
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- A trade association of workers created to leverage political and bargaining leverage.
- A joining or combining.
- A plumbing fitting used to join lengths of pipe. The union has female threads at both ends to allow two pipes to be connected.
- Unit
- Segregated part of a structure, i.e. one apartment in an apartment building or an office in a commercial building.
- Unit Cost
- The cost of a single item on a construction budget, for example one 2x4x8' stud. The unit cost is multiplied by the number of units required for the job to determine the total cost.
- Unit in Place Method
- Valuation of property based on its replacement cost. Cost of major elements per square foot multiplied by amount of square feet is the estimate of building cost.
- Unit Rise
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- The rise, in inches, of a slope over a 12-inch run.
- The vertical distance from the tread of one stair to the tread of the next.
- Unities
- Unity of interest, possession, time and title that must be necessary to form a joint tenancy.
- Unity
- Legal dictate necessary for property to be owned as joint tenants.
- Unity of Interest
- Joint tenants must acquire their interest by the same conveyance and with the same interest.
- Unity of Possession
- Joint tenants must have equal rights to possession of the entire property.
- Unity of Time
- Joint tenants must acquire their title simultaneously.
- Unity of Title
- Joint tenants must acquire their interest from the same deed or will.
- Unjust Enrichment
- Benefiting from the work of another, without giving compensation.
- Unlawful Detainer
- Illegally holding on to or keeping the property of another.
- Unrealized Gain
- Increase in the value of property while it is being held. Gain is only realized upon sale.
- Unrecorded Deed
- Deed transferring ownership from one person to another but that is not officially recorded.
- Unrippable Rock
- Rock that cannot be removed from a site without blasting.

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