Descriptive Terms in Real Estate Ads – What Do They Mean?

If you are buying or selling a home, the chances are good you struggle with the meaning of descriptive real estate terms. Here’s the first in a series of articles explaining them.

The Wise Seller

Be very truthful if you are a seller advertising your home. Mention your home’s best features, but do not exaggerate. If someone comes to look at your home and feels disappointed, they are not apt to buy. You are probably wasting your time and advertising money if your ads mislead.

The Wise Buyer

Take advertisements with a grain of salt and don’t get too excited until you’ve seen the property. Many sellers do not take the advice given above.

Now let’s examine some of the terms themselves and what they commonly mean.

“Open Floor Plan”

Describes a home in which rooms open out of each other and it’s possible to see from one room to another. Often entertaining rooms (living room, dining room, sun room, entrance foyer) are open to each other, and family living areas (kitchen, breakfast room, family room) are open to each other, while bedrooms have doors and open off a hall in a more traditional way.

“Traditional Floor Plan”

Used to describe a home with rooms opening off a hall or halls. Each room can usually be closed off with a door.

“Split Bedroom Plan”

A term often used to describe a home (usually one level) with the master bedroom on one side of the living areas and the rest of the bedrooms on the opposite side.

“Dormer Window”

A window in an upstairs room that has a slanting ceiling which follows the slope of the roof. The window is in an upright position, but that causes it to stick up above the roof, so it gets its own little roof (usually a gable roof) that is tied into the main roof where they meet at right angles.

“Shed Dormers”

These are often seen in Dutch colonial style houses and are flat roofed dormers. Sometimes these dormers are single windows, but often they are two or three windows side by side with one flat roof.

“Blind Dormer Window”

Sometimes builders construct fake dormer windows to add architectural interest to new houses. They are at attic level but can’t be seen from the attic because the roof of the house covers access to them.

“Oversize Garage”

Ads often say how many cars a garage will hold. Then they add the word “oversize” as in “oversize 2-car garage.” What is usually meant is that there is room for storage, or a work bench in addition to space for the cars. Occasionally it simply means you can open a car door wide enough to actually get out with both cars in the garage!

“Gourmet Kitchen”

This phrase is intended to convey the idea that a very good cook can happily work here. That may or may not be the case, but it does usually mean that the kitchen is fairly large and attractive.

“Great Room”

I’ve seen this used in two distinctly different ways. The first is to describe a living room, dining room, and kitchen in a very open floor plan. The area typically has a high ceiling. The second way I’ve seen it used is when what we’d normally call a family room has a high, often coffered, ceiling, a fireplace with a dramatically massive mantle, and perhaps an upstairs balcony overlooking it. I think this may stem from the idea of a “great hall” in old English houses.

“Living Room” & “Family Room”

When a home has both a living room and a family room, we know which is which. It used to be that when an ad mentioned a family room, we could assume it also had a living room. Now some builders are building houses with something akin to the first use of “Great Room” above and calling it the “Family Room” on the floor plan. Thus houses and their terminology seem to be evolving. I suppose in the new builder speak we should just think of the room as an informal family living room.

“Patio” & “Terrace”

Both are outdoor living areas paved with something like slate or brick. A patio is level with the ground around it. A terrace has adjoining areas of ground which are higher, or lower, or perhaps both.

“Solarium,” “Sun Room,” “Florida Room”

These terms are used to describe rooms with lots of windows (often on three sides). Many times these areas also have skylights. The choice of what to call them seems purely personal. They tend to be charming, bright, sunny places in which to over winter plants and sit in the garden in chilly or downright cold weather.

“Jack and Jill Bath”

A bathroom with two doors into it. It is frequently situated between two bedrooms with doors to each. Sometimes the doors are into a bedroom and into a hallway.

“Waterfront” vs. “Water View”

Waterfront property actually has a common boundary with (frontage on) the water. Sometimes the property line actually goes into the water. Water view just means water can be seen from the property. Sometimes there is a beautiful view. Sometimes it means the water can be seen from one upstairs window when the leaves are off the trees! Also, many times a new structure might block the view at some time in the future unless there is a protective covenant or something to prevent it.

“Plantation Shutters”

Refers to interior shutters with large, moveable louvers that can be used much like Venetian blinds. Often they’re used only on the bottom half of the window.

“Palladian Window”

A tall window that is rectangular except for an arched top and has wooden muntins separating the panes of glass. It is based on a revived classic style of architecture and the work of Andrea Palladio. Builders often use them as the window over the front door in homes with two story entrance foyers.

“Pocket Doors”

Doors that open by sliding into a slot in the wall much as a serving tray fits into a vertical slot built into a kitchen cabinet. It leaves wall space unaffected by opening and closing doors. I’ve seen them on bathrooms in modern houses. I’ve also seen them used in pairs that meet in the middle when closed as they were in older houses. Between a living room and dining room might be a good place. My grandmother had one between the front and back parlors in her home in Richmond, Virginia. Now that was a neat old house. It could always expand to accommodate one more family member or friend.

“Fireplace,” “Wood Stove,” “Wood Stove Insert”

A fireplace can burn wood, coal, or gas (natural or propane). If gas, it may or may not be vented to the outdoors. It is generally thought to be dangerous to have a non-vented gas fireplace in a bedroom and is against “code” in many areas. A wood stove burns wood, is free standing (on a non-flammable surface), and is vented to the outside. A wood stove insert is generally fitted into an existing fireplace designed to burn wood or coal. Preferences have to do with perceived beauty, convenience, heat production, and safety.