The person you normally deal with is a real estate agent or salesperson. The salesperson is licensed by the state, but must work for a broker. All listings are placed in the broker’s name, not the salesperson’s. Brokers are generally required to have more education and experience than real estate salespersons or agents. This allows for a broker to deal directly with home buyers and sellers. They may also choose to have staff of salespersons or agents working for him or her.

If you don’t have your own agent, the seller’s agent will often represent both you and the seller as a “dual agent” or just represent the seller. This means the agent either has divided loyalties or is working for the seller, not you.

Closing costs are expenses incurred by buyers and sellers in transferring ownership of a property.

A contingency is a provision included in a sales contract stating that certain events must occur or certain conditions must be met before the contract is valid.

A debt-to-income ratio is the percentage of a person’s monthly earnings used to pay off all debt obligations.

A multiple listing service is a computerized listing of the homes for sale in an area listed with a realtor. Agents are granted access to the MLS and can use it to find a house in a particular price range or area.