Lally column
A circular pipe filled with concrete that supports girders and beams.

Laminate
Plastic material used to seal countertops. Also known by the trademark name Formica.

Lanai
A porch-like room or open-sided living room commonly found in homes in warm climates.

Landscape
A home's surroundings can range from a shrub-studded emerald lawn to a native-plant xeriscape. It is a major component of curb appeal.

Landscape architect
A professional who holds a degree in landscape architecture and is trained in horticulture, design, and planning.

Landscape designer
A landscape designer has training in horticulture and landscape planning, but does not necessarily hold a degree.

Lap siding
A type of siding composed of horizontal boards with the bottom of one piece overlapping the top of the piece below it.

Late charge
A fee imposed by a lender when the borrower does not make a payment on time.

Late payment
A payment a lender receives after the due date has passed.

Latent defect
An invisible problem in a piece of property such as bad wiring, termite damage, or lead paint.

Leader
A pipe that carries rainwater from the gutters to the ground, sewers, or wells.

Lease
A written agreement between the property owner and a tenant that stipulates the payment and conditions under which the tenant may possess the real estate for a specified period of time.

Lease Description
A property description, recognized by law, that is sufficient to locate and identify the property without oral testimony.

Lease Option
An alternative financing option that allows home buyers to lease a home with an option to buy. Each month's rent payment may consist of not only the rent, but an additional amount which can be applied toward the down payment on an already specified price.

Lease purchase
A type of delayed closing. The lease purchase contract sets the closing date and provides remedies to the seller if the buyer defaults.

Leasehold
The limited interest in a property held by a tenant; primarily the right to inhabit it for a specified period of time. At the end of the lease, the property reverts to the owner or landlord.

Leasehold Estate
A way of holding title to a property wherein the mortgagor does not actually own the property but rather has a recorded long-term lease on it.

Leasehold interest
The limited interest in a property held by a tenant; primarily the right to inhabit it for a specified period of time. At the end of the lease, the property reverts to the owner or landlord.

Legal blemish
Blemishes on a piece of property, such as a zoning violation or fraudulent title claim.

Legal description
A specific way of identifying and locating a piece of real estate that is acceptable to a court.

Lender
A term which can refer to the institution making the loan or to the individual representing the firm. For example, loan officers are often referred to as "lenders."

Lessee
A person to whom property is rented under a lease.

Letter of intent
A formal statement that the buyer intends to purchase the property for a certain price on a certain date.

Leverage
Using someone else's money for the purchase of property.

Levy
The amount of money a governing body certifies to be raised from the property tax.

Liabilities
A person's financial obligations. Liabilities include long-term and short-term debt, as well as any other amounts that are owed to others.

Liability Insurance
Insurance coverage that offers protection against claims alleging that a property owner's negligence or inappropriate action resulted in bodily injury or property damage to another party. It is usually part of a homeowner’s insurance policy.

LIBOR
The London Interbank Offered Rate Index (LIBOR) is an average of the interest rates that major international banks charge each other to borrow U.S. dollars in the London money market. Like the U.S. treasury the CD indexes, LIBOR tends to move and adjust quite rapidly to changes in interest rates.

Lien
A legal claim against a property that must be paid off when the property is sold. A mortgage or first trust deed is considered a lien.

Life Cap
For an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), a limit on the amount that the interest rate can increase or decrease over the life of the mortgage.

Life-cycle cost analysis
An analysis of a building project's expected operating, maintenance and replacement costs, calculated by an architect.

Lifetime rate cap
In an adjustable rate loan (ARM), a maximum interest rate or "ceiling" that may not be exceeded under any circumstances over the entire life of the loan.

Limited partnership
Real estate syndicates and other investment groups use this type of ownership.. A general partner makes the group's investment decisions, oversees the investment and is principally liable for any losses.

Line of Credit
An agreement by a commercial bank or other financial institution to extend credit up to a certain amount for a certain time to a specified borrower.

Lintel
A horizontal piece over a door or window that carries the weight of the structure above it.

Liquid Asset
A cash asset or an asset that is easily converted into cash.

Liquid assets
Cash and all other assets that can be converted to cash relatively quickly. Liquid assets can include money in savings and checking accounts, money-market accounts, and most certificates of deposit.

Liquidated damages
When a real estate deal goes awry, one party often is entitled to liquidated damages, a sum of money set out in the purchase contract in that event.

Liquidity
The ability to sell an asset at a price close to its true value and convert it into cash in a short period of time.

Listing
A piece of property placed on the market by a listing agent.

Listing agent
A broker or sales agent who has contracted with a seller to handle the marketing and sale of a piece of property.

Listing inventories
The known number of houses for sale within a given market.

Live-in partnership
An arrangement in which two unrelated people purchase a home.

Live-work space
An officially designated dwelling in which the occupant conducts a home-based business or enterprise.

Load-bearing wall
A wall that supports not only its own weight, but the weight of other parts of a home. Also called a bearing wall.

Loan
A sum of borrowed money (principal) that is generally repaid with interest.

Loan -to-value ratio
A technical measure used by lenders to assess the relationship of the loan amount to the value of the property.

Loan application
The first step toward submitting a home loan requires the borrower to itemize basic financial information.

Loan application fee
A fee charged by lenders to for making a loan application.

Loan commitment
A promise by a lender or other financial institution to make or insure a loan for a specified amount and on specific terms.

Loan Officer
Also referred to by a variety of other terms, such as lender, loan representative, loan "rep," account executive, and others. The loan officer serves several functions and has various responsibilities: they solicit loans, they are the representative of the lending institution, and they represent the borrower to the lending institution.

Loan Origination
How a lender refers to the process of obtaining new loans

Loan origination fee
Most lenders charge borrowers an origination fee--or points--for processing a loan. A point is 1 percent of the total loan amount.

Loan processing fee
A fee charged by some lenders for gathering information to enable the lender to process the loan.

Loan Servicing
After you obtain a loan, the company you make the payments to is "servicing" your loan. They process payments, send statements, manage the escrow/impound account, provide collection efforts on delinquent loans, ensure that insurance and property taxes are made on the property, handle pay-offs and assumptions, and provide a variety of other services.

Loan term
The amount of a time set by the lender for a buyer to pay a mortgage. Most conventional loans have 30-year or 15-year terms.

Loan type
The type of loan determines its borrowing limit, down payment requirements, and qualifying rules. Available loan types include conforming, jumbo, FHA, and VA.

Loan-To-Value (LTV)
The percentage relationship between the amount of the loan and the appraised value or sales price (whichever is lower).

Local improvement district (LID)
A legal district established by state law to benefit a specific area. Districts issue bonds to finance improvements such as sidewalks and sewer systems, then levy assessments on real estate in the affected area to repay funds.

Lock-In
An agreement in which the lender guarantees a specified interest rate for a certain amount of time at a certain cost.

Lock-In Period
The time period during which the lender has guaranteed an interest rate to a borrower.

Loft
A living space not partitioned into rooms or a small space built above a larger room.

Log cabin
Homes constructed of rough-hewn timbers; a standard form of housing during the settlement of the United States.

Low density
A low concentration of housing units in a specific area.

Low down-payment loan
A home loan that requires the borrower to make only a small down payment before obtaining the financing needed to purchase a house.

Low-ball offer
An offer made to a seller that is substantially below market value. The longer a property stays on the market, the more likely there are to be such offers.

Low-documentation loan
A mortgage that requires only minimal verification of income and assets.

Low-emissivity
A coating or film applied between panes of glass in high-efficiency glazing; abbreviated "low-E."

Lowball offer
An offer made to a seller that is substantially below market value.