Sales Contract - A contract by which buyer and seller agree to terms of a sale.

Sandwich Lease - A leasehold interest which lies between the primary lease and the operating lease. It is created when the lessee enters into a sublease.

Satisfaction - Discharge of lien upon payment of debt.

Seal - An impression made to attest to the execution of a written instrument; also the word "seal" typed in to form a sealed document.

Section - A unit of land measure one-mile square containing 640 acres.

Security Deposit - Earnest money.

Seize - The possession of land under a claim of freehold estate.

Separate Property -  Property owned by a husband or wife which is not community property; property acquired by either prior to marriage or by gift, will or inheritance, and all of the rents, issues and profits thereof.

Septic Tank - An underground tank used where city sewage is not available.

Servient Estate - An estate burdened by an easement.

Setback - A distance from the curb to the building, often specified by ordinance.

Settlement - The process of completing the sale of real property; same as closing.

Severalty - Sole ownership; by one person.

Sheriff's Deed - A deed given as a result of a court order to sell property in satisfaction of a judgment.

Short Sale - The process of selling a property with the lender accepting less than they are owed, as payment in full for the loan.

Signature - The act of putting down a person's name, mark, or symbol with the intent that it attest the validity of a written instrument.

Simple Interest - Interest computed on principal alone, as opposed to compound interest.

Site - A plot of ground upon which anything is, has been, or will be located.

Situs - Location.

Special Assessment - An assessment against real estate to pay for improvements such as sidewalks, curbs, streetlights, or other things which benefit certain property owners.

Special Warranty Deed - A form of deed whereby the grantor warrants the title only against claims generated while the grantor owned the property.

Specification - A document describing requirements for a house, subdivision, or other project.

Specific Performance - A legal action to compel the performance of the terms of an agreement, such as the sale of a home.

Specific Lien - A lien which affects only a single parcel of property.

SRA - Designates a member of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers.

Statute - State or federal law.

Statute of Frauds - The state law which requires that certain contracts, including those for the sale of real property, must by in writing.

Statutory Law - Rules formulated into law by legislative action.

Straight Line Depreciation - Definite sum set aside annually from income to pay cost of replacing improvements without reference to interest it earns.

Strict Foreclosure - A court decree vesting title to mortgaged property in the mortgagee upon the default of the mortgagor without any sale of the property.

Stud - Vertical timbers in a house wall.

Subdivision - A tract of land divided into lots suitable for residential purposes.

Subject to - The purchase of real property subject to a mortgage, whereby the original holder remains personally liable for the mortgage.

Subject to Mortgage - the event of a foreclosure is his equity in the property." (See also "Assumption of Mortgage" in this section.) The original maker of the note is not released from his responsibility to pay off the obligation.

Sublease - A lease given to another by a lessee.

Subordinate - To make a mortgage subservient to another mortgage.

Subordination Clause -  Used in a first or senior lien permitting it to be subordinated to a subsequent lien, such as a construction loan. it converts a senior trust deed into a junior trust deed (second, third, etc.).

Subsequent Purchaser for Value - A purchaser for value in good faith and without notice of any adverse interest in the property purchased.

Subrogation -  The substitution of another person in place of the creditor to whose rights he succeeds in relation to the debt. The doctrine is often used when one person agrees to stand surety for the performance of a contract by another person.

Suburb - The area close and adjacent to a city or town.

Surety - One who guarantees the performance of another Guarantor.

Survey - The process of measuring land; the resulting map of the property.

Syndicate - A group of persons joining together to deal in real property.