Kentucky Real Estate Glossary
Every term from your first showing to the closing table, defined in one page of plain English.
Offer & Contract Terms
Earnest money — the deposit that makes your offer serious; protected by your contingencies, forfeited if you walk without one. Contingency — a condition (inspection, financing, appraisal) that lets you exit with your deposit. Counteroffer — the seller’s revised terms; the original offer dies when it’s made. Binding date — when signatures make it a contract and clocks start. Conveys — stays with the property; if it isn’t listed, don’t assume the appliances do.
Every term from your first showing to the closing table, defined in one page of plain English.
Financing Terms
Pre-approval — verified lender commitment, the one that counts (full guide). Loan Estimate — the standardized cost disclosure lenders must give you. Points — prepaid interest that buys a lower rate. Escrow account — where the lender collects taxes and insurance monthly. DSCR, FHA, USDA, VA — loan programs, each with a full plain-English page in the financing library.
Title, Land & Rural Terms
Easement — someone else’s legal right to use part of your land (utilities, access). Encumbrance — any claim or restriction riding on the title. Mineral rights — subsurface ownership, sometimes severed from the land generations ago. Perc test — the soil test that determines whether a septic system can be built. Right-of-way — passage rights across property. Survey exception — title insurance declining to cover what an accurate survey would reveal; the reason to get the survey.
Closing Terms
Clear-to-close — underwriting is satisfied; the finish line is real. Settlement statement — the final line-item accounting both sides sign. Deed — the document that transfers ownership; types differ in what the seller guarantees. Recording — the county making your ownership public record; the last step that makes it official.
Still Confused by Something?
Good — asking is the move. Call or text and get the plain-English version of anything in your paperwork. There are no dumb questions in a six-figure transaction; there are only expensive unasked ones.
Terms in context: the buying and selling process guides walk each one through a real timeline.
Marcos Gil, REALTOR® · Keller Williams Commonwealth · Based in Beattyville, serving Lexington to the Red River Gorge · Also owner of Central Property Services and publisher of Invest in the Gorge — any recommendation involving my other businesses is disclosed in writing.
Ask Marcos What a Term Means