drip pricing

Definition

The practice of advertising a low base price for a property while gradually revealing additional mandatory fees throughout the transaction. The 'budget airline' approach to real estate pricing.

Example Usage

The listing showed $300,000, but with HOA transfer fees, club memberships, and mandatory repairs, drip pricing brought it to $327,000.

Origin

Consumer protection terminology from early 2000s e-commerce regulation

Fun Fact

The Federal Trade Commission has cracked down on drip pricing in various industries, but real estate remains somewhat exempt due to the complexity of legitimate closing costs.

Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau disclosure regulations

Related Terms

Advanced

right of first refusal

A contractual right giving someone the first opportunity to purchase a property before the owner can sell to others. It's like a permanent dibs on real estate.

🏠 Real Estate

Beginner

Earnest Money

A chunk of cash you hand over to prove you're serious about buying, because apparently signing seventeen documents wasn't convincing enough. It's a trust fall with your savings account.

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

Assessed Value

The government's opinion of what your property is worth, used exclusively to calculate how much tax you owe. It's magically always high enough to maximize your tax bill but too low to impress your neighbors.

🏠 Real Estate

Beginner

As-Is

The seller's polite way of saying "we know it's broken and we don't care." Buying a property as-is is basically adopting a feral house and hoping love alone can fix the plumbing.

🏠 Real Estate

Advanced

Short Sale

When a homeowner sells their property for less than they owe on the mortgage, which sounds quick but actually takes approximately seven hundred years of bank approvals. The only thing short about it is the seller's patience.

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

post-dated check scam

A rental fraud where scammers request post-dated checks for future rent, then cash them immediately or use the banking information for identity theft. It's why legitimate landlords now say 'no thanks' to your grandma's preferred payment method.

🏠 Real Estate

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