What Estate Agents Actually Mean: the free decoder

This page is free and it is the whole thing, not a sample. Every phrase below is one that estate agents genuinely use, and each definition says what the phrase means for you rather than what it means for them.

The phrases, and what they actually mean

The table below is the short version. The sections after it explain the ones that cost money.

On a narrow screen, the table scrolls sideways.

Phrase	What it sounds like	What it actually means
Sold STC	Sold. Gone. Someone else got there first.	Not sold. Someone has said they would like to buy it, in roughly the way you have said you would like to go to the gym.
Under offer	The same as Sold STC.	Sold STC's younger brother, who has done even less. The paperwork has not started and the property is often still being shown.
Guide price	The price.	The price if nobody else turns up. It is chosen to fill a diary, not to end a negotiation.
Offers over	A floor.	A starting pistol in a floor's clothing. It is set low on purpose and everybody involved knows it.
OIRO (offers in the region of)	A polite version of the asking price.	The seller wants this figure and has paid somebody to say it in a tone that suggests they might not.
POA (price on application)	Discreet. For a certain sort of buyer.	If you have to ask, you have to ask. That is the entire mechanism, and it works on more people than you would think.
No onward chain	Sales patter.	Genuinely good news. The seller has nowhere to move to, so there is no purchase above them waiting to fall over. Enjoy it. It is the only phrase in this book that means what it says.
Vacant possession	Legal throat-clearing.	Nobody will be living in it when you get the keys. You notice this phrase only when it is missing, at which point the issue is a stranger in your kitchen.
Gazumping	A rare piece of bad luck.	Entirely legal. That is the part people struggle with. A higher offer was accepted after yours, and nothing you had was ever binding.
Deceptively spacious	Bigger inside than it looks from the street.	Small. Nobody has ever written deceptively spacious about a large house. The word doing the work is deceptively.
Cosy	Warm. Inviting. A fire going somewhere.	You will be able to answer the front door without getting off the sofa.
In need of modernisation	A coat of paint and a new kitchen.	The last person to touch the wiring did it himself, on a Sunday, and is no longer available for questions.
Excellent transport links	You will get to work easily.	You will hear them. All of them. From the bedroom.
Unexpectedly re-available	A lucky second chance at the one that got away.	Somebody read the survey.
A real blank canvas	Yours to make your own.	Derelict, but with an art degree.
We have had a lot of interest	A queue forming. You should move quickly.	Three viewings. One of them came for the parking.
The vendor is very realistic	A sensible seller who knows the market.	The vendor has recently stopped being unrealistic, and it took a quiet quarter to do it.
Motivated seller	Keen. Ready to do a deal.	Something has happened. It is not your business, and it is entirely the reason the price moved.
Viewing strictly by appointment	An exclusive property. Serious buyers only.	The vendor is still living there and would like some warning before strangers look in the fridge.
Priced to sell	A bargain. Sharp pricing.	Priced, at last, at the number you suggested at the valuation.

The phrases that cost you money

These are the technical ones. Misreading any of them changes what you pay or what you can walk away from.

What does Sold STC mean?

Sold STC means the seller has accepted an offer. Nothing is legally binding until contracts are exchanged, so in England and Wales either side can still walk away, for any reason, right up to that point.

In the office. The board goes up, the commission goes into the forecast, and everybody agrees not to say the word survey out loud.

Where you hear it. In red, on the listing, about four minutes after you decide you want it.

What to say back. Ask to be the backup. Agents keep a list and will never mention that they keep a list.

What does Under offer mean?

Under offer means an offer has been accepted but the conveyancing has not started. It is one step earlier than sold STC, and the property is often still being marketed.

In the office. Two weeks of saying 'it is progressing' in a tone you have practised.

Where you hear it. The window card, in a font chosen to be read at a distance of no more than a foot.

What to say back. Ask which of the two it is. They are not the same and the agent knows they are not the same.

What does Guide price mean?

A guide price is an indication of what the seller hopes the property will attract. It is not a figure the seller has agreed to accept, and it is chosen to bring people to a viewing rather than to settle a sale.

In the office. The vendor's number, divided by the number of Saturdays you are willing to lose to it.

Where you hear it. Auctions, and anywhere the agent fancies their chances.

What to say back. Ask what the seller has already turned down. The answer, or the pause before it, is the real number.

What does Offers over mean?

Offers over means the seller will not consider anything below that figure. The figure is usually set low enough to invite competition, so treat it as a starting point and not as a valuation.

In the office. A figure chosen to fill a diary, defended six weeks later to a vendor who has since discovered the portals and now has opinions.

Where you hear it. Scotland routinely. England whenever an agent wants an auction without hiring a room.

What to say back. Write your ceiling down before the first viewing. The whole format exists to move it.

What does OIRO (offers in the region of) mean?

OIRO, or offers in the region of, means the seller expects roughly that figure and will consider offers a little either side of it. It is the one price label that genuinely points in both directions.

In the office. What you agreed at the valuation, after the bit where you said a number and the vendor laughed.

Where you hear it. Listings where the valuation conversation happened twice.

What to say back. Take the region literally. It is the one price label that genuinely points both ways.

What does POA (price on application) mean?

POA, or price on application, means the asking price is not published and you have to ask the agent for it. Sellers use it either for privacy or because a printed figure would put buyers off.

In the office. Reserved for the two most expensive houses on your books, and the one the vendor is embarrassed about.

Where you hear it. The top of the market. Occasionally the bottom of it, wearing the top's coat.

What to say back. Ring and ask. Nothing happens. That is the joke.

The phrases that cost you a Saturday

These are the flattering ones. None of them is a lie, exactly. Each is a true sentence chosen from a set of true sentences.

Deceptively spacious: Small. Nobody has ever written deceptively spacious about a large house. The word doing the work is deceptively. Written at 6pm on a Friday about a flat you were not personally able to turn around in.
Cosy: You will be able to answer the front door without getting off the sofa. You stood in the corner with the camera flat against your chest and it still was not enough.
In need of modernisation: The last person to touch the wiring did it himself, on a Sunday, and is no longer available for questions. The photographs took 4 minutes, because there were only two angles that worked and one of them was the garden.
Excellent transport links: You will hear them. All of them. From the bedroom. Written while you waited for the 7:42 to go past so you could finish the voicemail.
Unexpectedly re-available: Somebody read the survey. You knew on day one. You have known for 11 weeks. You will type unexpectedly anyway.
A real blank canvas: Derelict, but with an art degree. The only listing you have ever written standing up, because there was nowhere in the property it was safe to sit.
We have had a lot of interest: Three viewings. One of them came for the parking. A phrase with no agreed lower bound. Two is a lot of interest. One is, at a push, if they seemed keen.
The vendor is very realistic: The vendor has recently stopped being unrealistic, and it took a quiet quarter to do it. Said with enormous relief, about somebody who spent 5 months at the wrong number.
Motivated seller: Something has happened. It is not your business, and it is entirely the reason the price moved. The politest available word for a situation nobody in the office discusses on the open-plan floor.
Viewing strictly by appointment: The vendor is still living there and would like some warning before strangers look in the fridge. Standard on every listing. It has never once meant anything else.
Priced to sell: Priced, at last, at the number you suggested at the valuation. The sentence you write with your jaw very slightly set.

Why Home Truths gives the whole list away

A page that holds half the answers back to sell a book ranks for nothing and gets cited by nobody. So this page carries the full list. The book carries the same entries in print, plus the ones that arrived after this page was last updated, and it fits in a jacket pocket at a viewing, which a phone with no signal does not.

What Estate Agents Actually Mean: A Property Jargon Buster: Sold STC, Guide Price, Chain Free and 200 More House Buying Phrases, Decoded