Riverviews Real Estate
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Manhattan, Westchester
Orange, Rockland County NY
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Real Estate Glossary From 'Abstract of Title' to 'Walk-up', the arcana of real estate explained. Browse alphabetically by choosing a letter from the list below. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

P

Term Description Parlor Floor:  This is the second floor in a townhouse. In its original form, the buildings front steps accessed the parlor floor. The parlor is traditionally the grandest floor in the townhouse and almost always has the buildings highest ceilings. Historically, these floors were primarily used for entertaining with two rooms separated by a staircase. These rooms were usually Living Rooms, Libraries or Formal Dining Rooms. Partial Views:  This term refers to views that offer partial vistas of Central Park, the Hudson River or the East River. Pass-through Kitchen:    This term refers to a Kitchen with an opening from the Kitchen into another room in the apartment, usually a Dining Area or Living Room. Pet Policy:  Each building has a pet policy particular to that building.  This can vary from a strict no pet policy to a more liberal pet policy in which tenant or owner can harbor as many pets as he/she desires.  Some particularisms to different pet policies may includes the following:   No dogs, weight limits on dogs, no pets on sublets, board interviews of pets or pets by written permission of the board. Pied à terre Translated literally from the French, pied à terre means foot on the ground. In English, we would call it a landing pad. A pied à terre is a small, comfortable apartment maintained by someone who resides in another city. Usually, the owner has a career that requires them to be in New York several days per month, or even per week. The pied à terre allows its owner to avoid the daily commute, or to spend occasional late nights in the city. However, these apartments can also be kept by the well-heeled who simply enjoy having access to the exciting culture and glamorous society found in major cities. Possession:  This term refers to the time (month and day) that a new purchaser or a new tenant can actually take possession of an apartment. Post-War:  Refers to buildings built after World War II.  Post-war building needs and modern building techniques dramatically altered the composition of the middle and upper-class apartment house. Apartment houses were built in a plain vanilla style with lower ceilings, fewer moldings and details, an absence of fireplaces and reduced room proportions.  The exterior of the New York apartment house also saw dramatic change. Plain red and white brick exteriors replaced the ornate limestone detailing of the pre-war apartment house. Powder Room:  Refers to a bathroom with no bath or shower.  A powder room is also commonly referred to as half-bath. Pre-War:  Refers to buildings built prior to the start of World War II.  Some common elements of these structures include hardwood floors, moldings, high ceilings and fireplaces. Professional Space:  Office space set aside in a residential building for use by professionals usually in the medical field. Professional space does not refer to attorneys or architects. The strict interpretation is for the medical profession. Similar to maisonettes these spaces can have separate street entrances as well as lobby entrances. Pullman or Petite Kitchen:  This type of kitchen is most often found in small apartments and are situated against a single wall.  Usually these kitchens are no bigger than the size of a closet and consist of a refrigerator (full or half), an oven and a sink.    This type of kitchen does not count as a room when counting apartment rooms.    Many of these kitchens are found in pre-war buildings that were originally constructed as hotels.