Glossary - W

Waive escrows: In the context of real estate, the expression waive escrows denotes a condition where the lender allows the borrower to make tax and insurance payments directly. Waive escrows is dissimilar from the normal method where the lender includes the tax and insurance payments in the monthly mortgage payment of the borrower that is put in an escrow account. The lender makes the borrower's tax and insurance payments from the escrow account as and when they are due. Many lenders do not waive escrows on a number of loans. However, where the lenders authorize waiver of escrow on loans, they may possibly alter it in the form of a small augmentation in points or limit it to borrowers making a large deposit or initial payment.
Waiver: In general, the term waiver is denotes an expressed or implied voluntary and intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a legal right, privilege, claim, advantage or requirement.
Walk-away lease: The term walk-away lease, also called close end lease or a consumer lease, denotes that neither offers the choice nor requires the lessee to purchase the leased item when the lease term ends. A walk-away lease is the most prevalent form of vehicle lease whereby the lessee is able to return the vehicle at the end of the lease period, reimburse end-of-lease costs, if any, and end the lease agreement. In such sort of lease arrangement, the lender deduces the hazard of calculating the residual value of the vehicle at the close of the lease term. It may be noted here that payments for close-end lease are usually a bit higher compared to the open-end lease payments.
Walk-through: In matters pertaining to real estate, the term denotes walk-through refers to a gradual examination of all the characteristics of the environment, plan, or process of a property to authenticate that it is all set for use for the purpose it is meant for. In other words, walk-through also denotes the ultimate check up of a property by the individual who is purchasing it. Normally, the walk-though happens on the day of closing or a day before to ascertain that all the conditions of sale have been fulfilled.
Warehouse lender: In the real estate context, a warehouse lender denotes a financial institution that lets temporary lenders to borrow against security of closed mortgage loans before the sale of the credit in the secondary marketplace. In other words, warehouse lending is a line of credit whereby a firm lends to a loan originator to finance a mortgage that a borrower had initially made use of to purchase a property. Usually, this type of loan continues from the time when it is originated to when the loan is sold in the secondary market, either directly or by means of a securitization. It may be noted here that the warehouse lenders are able to call loans if the loans 'in the warehouse' declines in value.
Warrantable condos: The term warrantable condos refers to a condominium project possessing characteristics that lenders consider to be a protection against their risks exposed on the loans locked by separate condo units. The requirements for this include that when completed, most units of the condominium be sold and not rented, no single party should own more than 10 per cent of the units; the insurance coverage of the common structures should be satisfactory and there should be an ownership association that is in no way related to the real estate developer. It makes it mandatory that the association be controlled by the owners and not the developer.
Warranties: Warranties denote promises, pledges, guarantees and protections offered by one party to another. In other words, a warranty is a guarantee on merchandise purchased that they are of the same quality as mentioned on the label and will be replaced or mended if they are found to be defective. In matters pertaining to real estate, warranties are usually provided by the seller on the condition of the electrical devices and specific fixtures that are sold along with a property. In fact, when an individual purchases a new home, he or she is provided with all-embracing warranties that not only cover fixtures and appliances, but also the construction of the house as a whole.
Warranty deed: A warranty deed refers to a document or instrument that guarantees the transfer of the ownership from the seller to the buyer. The document establishes that the seller is the actual owner of the property and enjoys the right to sell the real estate asset and he or she has no claim whatsoever against the property.
Weighted average: The term weighted average, also called the weighted mean, refers to a mean that considers the relative significance of every constituent, instead of taking into account each element similarly. Weighted averages are widely used in expressive statistical analysis like index numbers. In other words, weighted average denotes an arithmetical mean whereby a weighting aspect is applicable to every constituent number in a collection of numbers. In fact, the weighting aspect signifies the dimension of the constituent in association with the total.
Commercial real estate practitioners usually associate the weighted means with the computing of discount and capitalization fees while estimating the worth or if not evaluating the real estate investment property. For instance, while deciding in an overall capitalization fee, the group of savings procedure is made use of when the values of the constituents together with corresponding ceiling or cap rates are identified for land and construction.
Wholesale lender: In the context of real estate, a wholesale lender denotes an individual who possesses funds for granting loans and engages the services of mortgage agents to find their loans. Wholesale lenders focus on different categories of loans and there are a variety of wholesale lenders, such as reverse mortgage, subprime, commercial, manufactured, multi-unit and raw land as well as investment properties. Normally, a mortgage broker or correspondent kicks off the loan transaction, accepts the borrower's loan application and then processes the credit. It may be mentioned here that the wholesale lenders proffer the best available mortgage loan rates, but normally borrowers operate with a retail lender, mortgage broker or correspondent lender. Therefore, most often, the borrowers have to pay the fees of the loan provider, which he or she could have stayed away from if they contacted the wholesale lender directly.
Witness: The terms witness refers to a person who witnesses the execution of an instrument or legal document and authenticates its genuineness by signing on it. Some legal documents like deeds and wills are only considered legitimate if they are accurately witnessed by one or more capable witnesses.