Glossary of Commercial Real Estate Terms
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Welcome to the A.CRE Glossary of Commercial Real Estate Terms, a practitioner’s guide to the most common terms in CRE. This is a continuously growing list of the most practical commercial real estate terms and definitions used by real estate investment professionals. Don’t see the term you’re looking for? Contact us.
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- 1031 Exchange
- Absorption
- Acre
- Acuity Spectrum
- Adaptive Reuse
- Add Alternate
- Adjusted Funds from Operations
- ADR
- Adverse Possession
- Affidavit of Title
- Affirmative Covenant
- AFFO
- Age-restricted Community
- Agent Memory
- Agentic Platform
- AI Agent
- AI Copilot
- AI-Native
- AI Orchestration
- AI Playground
- AI Wrapper
- American-Style Waterfall
- Annual Effective Rate
- Annual Percentage Rate
- Annual Percentage Yield
- API Integration
- APR
- APY
- Architect
- Architect of record
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Assignee
- Assignor
- Autonomous Agent
- Average Daily Rate
- Average Life
- Average Rate of Return
- Axonometric
- Bad Boy Carveouts
- Balance Sheet Investing
- Balloon Payment
- Bankability
- Bargain and Sale Deed
- Base Year Stop
- Bid and Award Process
- BOMA
- Breakeven Occupancy
- Breakup Fee
- Bridge Loan
- Build-for-Rent
- Build-to-Rent
- Building Core
- Building Owners and Managers Association
- Buildup Rate
- CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate)
- Common Area Maintenance (CAM)
- Cap Ex
- Cap Rate
- Capital Expenditure
- Car Stacker
- Carried Interest
- Promote
- Carried Land Play
- Cash-on-Cash Return
- Cash-Out Refinance
- Cash Sweep
- Catch Up Provision
- CBD
- CCIM
- CCIP
- CCRC
- Central Business District
- Certified Commercial Investment Member
- Chained Instructions
- Chunking
- Civil Engineer
- Clawback Provision
- Co-tenancy Clause
- Cold Shell
- Community Center ("Large Neighborhood Center")
- Computer Vision
- Conceptual Design
- Concessions
- Connector
- Construction Documents
- Construction Financing
- Construction-Perm Loan
- Construction to Permanent Loan
- Context Engineering
- Context Window
- Contingency Cost
- Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC’s)
- Contract Rent
- Contractor Controlled Insurance Program (CCIP)
- Convenience or Strip Center
- Core
- Core - (investment strategy)
- Core Plus
- Core - (structural)
- Cost Plus Contract
- CPI Rent Escalation
- Credit Tenant Lease (CTL)
- Cross-docked
- Curtailment
- Custom GPT / Claude Project
- Dark Value
- Data Lake
- Data Network Effects
- DCF
- Debt Covenants
- Debt Service Coverage Ratio
- Debt Yield
- Debtor
- Deed
- Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
- Deed of Trust
- Defeasance
- Delaware Statutory Trust
- Design Architect
- Design Development
- Development Spread
- Development Yield
- Digital Coworker
- Digital Twin
- Direct Capitalization
- Discount Rate
- Discounted Cash Flow
- Draw
- Draw Schedule
- DSC
- DSCR
- DST
- Duration
- Earn-Out
- Earnest Money Deposit
- Easement
- Stabilized Pro Forma
- Economic Vacancy
- Effective Gross Revenue
- EGR
- Elevation
- Embeddings
- EMx
- Entitlement Process
- Environmental Site Assessment
- Equitable Title
- Equity Multiple
- ESA
- Estoppel
- European-Style Waterfall
- Expansion Rights
- Expense Stop
- Factory Outlet
- FAR
- Fee Simple
- Festival Center
- FF&E
- FFO
- Financial Model
- Financing Memorandum
- Fine-Tuning
- Fixed Costs
- Fixed Price Contract
- Fixed Rate Debt
- Floating Rate Debt
- Floor Area Ratio
- Floor to Ceiling Height
- Floor to Floor Height
- Floor Plan
- Floor Plate
- Forward Sale
- Free and Clear Return
- Front-load
- Full Service Gross Lease
- Full Service Hotel
- Funds from Operations
- Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment
- Future Value Factor
- Garden Apartment
- General Contractor
- General Vacancy and Credit Loss
- General Warranty Deed
- Generative Design
- Geometric Mean
- GMP
- Good News Money
- Grantee
- Grantor
- Gross Absorption
- Gross Asset Value
- Ground Lease
- Guarantee of Non-Recourse Carve-Outs
- Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP)
- Guardrails
- Hallucination
- Hangout and Hangout Risk
- Hard Costs
- Hectare
- Hold/Sell Analysis
- Holdback
- Hotel "Flag"
- HUD Home
- In arrears
- In-place Rent
- Contract Rent
- Inducement
- Industrial Flex
- Inference
- Institutional Investor
- Interest Rate Cap
- Interest Rate Collar
- Interest Rate Swap
- Interest Reserve
- Internal Rate of Return
- IRR (Internal Rate of Return)
- Jingle Mail
- Joint Tenancy
- Key Money
- Key Performance Indicator
- Land Assemblage
- Land Use Restriction Agreements (LURA)
- Large Language Model (LLM)
- Lease Abstract
- Lease Depth
- Leasehold Interest
- Leasing Commissions
- Legal Title
- Lessee
- Lessor
- Letter of Intent
- Levered
- Levered Cash Flow
- Lien Theory States
- Life Plan Communities
- Life Plan Community
- Lifestyle Retail Center
- Limited Partner
- Limited Service Hotel
- Limited Warranty Deed
- Linear Mortgage
- Load Factor
- Loan Amortization
- Loan to Cost
- Loan to Value
- Loan Workout
- Lock Out
- Lock Out Period
- Loss-to-Lease
- LTC
- LTV
- Lump Sum Contract
- LURA
- Machine Learning (ML)
- Make Ready Costs
- Manufactured Housing Community
- Market Rent
- Master Tenant
- MEP
- MEP Engineer
- Metropolitan Statistical Area
- Mezzanine Debt
- MHC
- Mill
- Millage Rate
- Model Context Protocol (MCP)
- MOIC
- Monte Carlo Method
- Mortgage Constant
- Mortgage Loan Duration
- Mortgagee
- Mortgagor
- MSA
- Multi-Agent System
- Multiple on Invested Capital
- Muni Bond
- Municipal Bond
- Natural Language Processing (NLP)
- Negative Covenant
- Neighborhood Center
- NER
- Net Absorption
- Net Effective Rent
- Net Lease
- Net Operating Income
- No-Code Logic
- NOI
- Non-Disclosure State
- Non-Recourse Carve-Outs
- Occupancy Cost
- Occupancy Cost Percentage
- OCIP
- Offering Memorandum
- OM
- Operating Expense Ratio
- Operating Supplies and Equipment
- Opportunistic
- Opportunity Zones
- Option Agreement
- Option
- OS&E
- Other Income
- Owner Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP)
- Owner's Affidavit
- Paid in arrears
- Pari Passu
- Parking Income
- Crystallization
- PCA
- PCR
- Permanent Financing
- Permanent Loan
- Phase I ESA
- Phase II (ESA)
- Power Retail Center
- Predictive Analytics
- Preferred Equity
- Preferred Return
- Premier Suburb
- Prepayment Penalty
- Present Value
- Present Value Factor
- Pro Forma
- Project Buyout
- Promoted Interest
- Prompt Engineering
- Property Condition Assessment
- Property Condition Report
- PropTech (Property Technology)
- PSA
- Purchase and Sale Agreement
- Quitclaim Deed
- Ratio Utility Billing System (RUBS)
- Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)
- Real Estate Private Equity (REPE)
- Rear-load
- Recourse
- Regional Mall
- Reinforced concrete
- REIT
- Renewal Option
- Rent Control
- Rent Roll
- Rentable Area
- REPE
- Replacement Cost
- Residual Land Value Analysis
- Residual Pro Forma
- Reskilling Initiatives
- Retention
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
- REVPAR (Revenue Per Available Room)
- RevPAR
- Right of First Refusal
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
- ROFR
- Rollover Loan
- RUBS
- RV Park or Resort
- Sale Leaseback
- Schematic Design
- Seller's Title Affidavit
- Sentient Analytics
- Sentiment Analysis
- Short Sale
- Skill (AI)
- Soft Costs
- Sources and Uses
- Spec Book
- Special Servicer
- Special Warranty Deed
- Specific Performance
- Specifications Manual
- Sponsor
- Springing Recourse
- Stabilization
- Stacking Plan
- Stick Framing
- Stochastic Analysis
- Storage Income
- Strip or Convenience Center
- Structural Engineer
- Structured Parking
- Subcontractor
- Super-Regional Mall
- Survey
- System Prompt
- Takeout Loan
- Tax Increment Financing
- Temperature
- Temporary Certificate of Occupancy
- Tenancy By The Entirety
- Tenant
- Tenant Estoppel Certificate
- Tenant Health Ratio
- Tenant Improvements
- Tenant Rollover Risk
- Tenants in Common (TIC)
- Income Approach
- Theme Retail Center
- TIC
- TIF
- Time Value of Money
- TI's
- Title
- Title Affidavit
- Title Insurance
- Title Search
- Title Theory States
- Token
- Tool Calling / Function Calling
- Total RevPAR
- Trailing Twelve Months
- Transfer Tax
- Trended Rents
- TRevPAR
- Trigger
- Trophy Asset
- Trustee
- TTM
- UCC Foreclosure
- Under Water
- Underwriting Automation
- Unlevered
- Unlevered Cash Flow
- Urban Infill
- Usable Area
- Valet Trash
- Value Add
- Variable Costs
- Variable Rate Debt
- Vector Database
- Vertical AI
- Vertical Expansion Option
- Vibe Coding
- WAL
- Weighted Average Lease Expiry
- Walk Score
- Walkability
- Wall Street Journal Prime Rate
- Wall Street Prime Rate
- War Room
- Warehouse
- Warm Shell
- Weighted Average Unexpired Lease Term
- Weighted Average Lease Term
- Weighted Average Life
- Workflow Automation
- Workflow Builder
- Wrap Up Insurance
- Yield Maintenance
- Yield-on-Cost
- Zero Cash Flow Property
- Zero-Shot / Few-Shot Prompting