Radon: A radioactive gas. If found in strong enough concentration in real estate can cause health problems for the occupants. Most states require or suggest inspection for this upon purchase of real estate in addition to properties being rented or leased.

Rating: Many credit bureaus use codes, such as R-1, R-2, and R-3 to indicate whether an account has been paid on time. A listing of these codes and what they indicate can sometimes be found in credit reports. The term credit rating is also used to describe a borrower’s grade of credit.

Rate of Return: With regard to any investment, this is the amount of money that the investment earns over time expressed in a percentage amount. Different vehicles of investments have expected rates of return.

Real estate agent: A sales agent who is licensed to negotiate and arranged real estate sales, rental agreements, property management, and other work in the real estate industry.

Realtor: Pronounced “REEL tor” not “Ree la tor”: Use this information to correct your friends and maybe even your real estate agent! Anyway, a Realtor is a real estate agent who belongs to the local and National Association of Realtors. They subscribe to a code of ethics and conduct and agree to continual education in the field of real estate. You will find that those agents who work full time in the business and are most professional will have spent the time and the annual dues to be a part of this organization.

Rebate Card: A credit card that pays some type of reward for use of the card whether that is travel miles, rebates, free merchandise or other rewards.

Recasting: With respect to a real estate loan, a means re-set the schedule for repayment on the balance of a loan. This would be done on a loan that has Interest Only payments over five years, as an example. At the beginning of the 6 th year of that loan, the loan would be re-set over 25 years at a payment that would pay off the balance over the remaining term of the loan.

Residential Mortgage Credit Report is one that is reviewed by the person pulling the report and the information is summarized. Duplicate entries are deleted. Public information might be further verified. In the past 5 years these reports are not routinely used as they once were due to consumers and professionals manicuring of the credit file and the lender or creditor’s wishing to have the “unvarnished truth” as to the state of the borrower’s credit.

Revolving account: A type of credit account where the borrower has the option to pay the balance in full each month or to make a minimum monthly payment based upon the outstanding balance. The interest rate is figured on a daily basis with the amount owed each day being charged the rate of interest. At payment, the new balance is refigured as to the interest charge for that day. Examples include department stores, gas and oil companies and bank-issued credit cards.

Rink-based pricing: Fee structure used by creditors based on the risks of extending credit to borrowers based on their credit history. Lower risk borrowers will receive the best rates and terms while higher risk borrowers will be charged higher rates. The mortgage industry is quickly moving to Risk-Based Pricing.