Real Estate & Income and Expense
Board of Assessors
Addendum: something added as an attachment to a
contract.
Annual Rent: This is the annual gross rent received
for the calendar year during the period from January 1st through
December 31st.
Assessed Value: the value established for property
tax purposes.
Building Permit - permission granted by a local
government or agency to build a specific structure at a specific
site.
Bundle of Rights: ownership in real property
implies a group of rights, such as the right of occupancy, use and
enjoyment, the right to sell in whole or in part, the right to
control the use, the right to bequeath, the right to lease any or
all of the rights, the right to the benefits derived by occupancy
and use of the property, etc.
Capital Expenditure: the cost of an improvement
made to extend the useful life of a property or to add to its value,
such as adding a room. The cost of repairing a property is not a
capital expenditure. Capital expenditures are appreciated over their
useful life; repairs are subtracted from income for the current
year.
Capital Improvement: any structure or component
erected as a permanent improvement to real property that adds to its
value and useful life. (See Capital Expenditure).
Capitalization (Cap) Rate: rate of return used to
derive the capital value of an income stream, divide annual income
by net operating income.
Carrying Charges: expenses necessary for holding
property, such as taxes and interest on idle property or property
under construction.
Cash Flow: The net operating income minus the total
of all debt service payments. (See definition of "net operating
income" below.)
Comparable Sales: As part of the appraisal process,
those relatively recently sold properties which will be compared to
the subject property (the property being appraised) for the purpose
of forming an opinion of value for the subject property. The facts
and details of the comparable properties will be compared to those
of the subject. In an urban setting, to be of credible assistance in
this process, comparable sales must have the same use as the
subject, have many similarities to the subject in terms of size of
house, size of lot, construction, bedroom count, room count, floor
plan, amenities, street traffic and be in the same neighborhood and
have been sold in the recent past (preferably no more than six
months) by way of an "arms length" transaction (i.e., not sold to a
relative or friend and not sold due to a forced sale or distress
sale) and be within one mile of the subject property. More liberal
standards will apply for rural property and some suburban properties
but the basic premise holds, the more similar the comparable sales
are to the subject property, the more accurate the value assigned to
the subject property will be. Lenders will often compensate for the
less precise nature of rural appraised values by allowing only lower
loan-to-value ratios than those in urban settings, usually 10%
lower.
Deed: written document, properly signed and
delivered, that conveys title to real property.
Deferred Maintenance: a type of physical
depreciation due to lack of normal upkeep.
Equity: The value of the unencumbered interest in
real estate as determined by subtracting the total of the unpaid
mortgage balances plus the sum of any current liens against the
property from the property's fair market value.
Escalation Clause: This is the amount in dollars of
adjustment to base rent either preset or tied to the inflation
index. For tenants subject to escalation clauses related to taxes or
operating expenses, indicate the terms. Use the comments section for
elaboration.
Free Rent: This is a rent concession in the form of
free rent usually for a time period and determined at the beginning
of the lease.
Gross Debt Service: the amount of money needed to
pay principal, interest and taxes, and sometimes energy costs. If
the dwelling unit is a condominium, all or a portion of common fees
are excluded, depending on what expenses are covered.
Gross Lease: A gross lease is when the lessor or
landlord is responsible for all property operating expenses such as
real estate taxes, maintenance, utilities, etc.
Gross Monthly Income: Income before deductions for
taxes, social security, saving plans, court ordered child support,
etc.
Gross Rent Multiplier : the sales price divided by
the gross annual rental rate.
Ground Lease: one that rents the land only.
Highest and Best Use: the use that is most likely
to produce the greatest net return to the land and/or building over
a given period.
Improvements: additions to raw land such as
buildings, streets, sewers, etc. that increase the value of the
property.
Interest Rate: The percentage of the loan amount
charged for borrowing money; i.e., the cost of the money expressed
as a percentage.
Lease: This is a contract between a property owner
(lessor/landlord) and the tenant (lessee). The lease sets forth the
length of time the contract is to run, the amount to be paid by the
lessee for the right to use the property, and other rights and
obligations of the parties.
Lease Option: a lease combined with an option
agreement that gives the lessee (tenant) the right to purchase the
property under specified conditions.
Lease Purchase: a lease combined with a purchase
agreement that obligates the lessee (tenant) to purchase the
property under specified conditions.
Leasehold: the interest or estate on which a lessee
(tenant) of real estate has a lease.
Leasehold Estate: A way of holding title to a
property wherein the mortgagor does not actually own the property
but rather has a recorded long-term lease on it.
Legal Blemish: Blemishes on a piece of property,
such as a zoning violation or fraudulent title claim.
Legal Description: legally acceptable
identification of real estate by government survey, metes and
bounds, or recorded plat.
Lessee: a person to whom property is rented under a
lease.
Lessor: one who rents property to another under a
lease.
Loan-to-Value (LTV): The ratio of the size of the
loan to the value of the property. If the loan is $80,000 and the
value of the property is $100,000 the LTV is 80% ($80,000 /
$100,000).
Leased area (Sq. Ft.): This is usually the floor
area that is occupied by the tenant. It is usually recorded on the
lease in square footage.
Monthly Rent: Indicates the monthly rent for leased
areas as of January 1st of the reported year.
Net: This references a net lease, where the lessee
assumes payment of some of the property operating expenses, such as
taxes, insurance, maintenance.
NN: This is an acronym for a double net lease.
Tenant pays expenses related to taxes and insurance for the
property.
NNN: This is an acronym for a triple net lease.
Tenant pays all operating expenses related to the property.
Net Cash Flow: Investment property that generates
income after expenses such as principal, interest, taxes and
insurance are subtracted.
Net Operating Income (NOI): From income producing
property, the gross income minus the total of all expenses except
for debt service. Cash flow is defined as NOI minus the total of all
debt service payments.
Overage : This is an additional fee or rental
income added to the lease terms. This is usually based on a percent
of sales or income.
Percentage Rent: A lease that provides for rent
based on a percentage of business income or retail sales level.
Renewal Option: A lease provision that gives the
tenant the right to extend a lease at the expiration of a primary
term of previously executed renewal period. The amount of rent, and
other provisions may be set at the time of the original execution of
the lease, or may be negotiable at the time of renewal.
Reserve for Replacement: This is an allowance in
the annual operating statement to provide for replacement of shorter
life items.
Right of First Refusal: opportunity of a party to
match the terms of a proposed contract before the contract is
executed.
Sandwich Lease: lease held by a lessee (tenant) who
becomes a lessor (landlord) by subletting to another lessee
(subtenant), typically the sandwich leaseholder is neither the owner
nor the user of the property.
Section 1031: section of the Internal Revenue Code
dealing with tax-free exchanges of like-kind property.
Section 8: privately owned rental dwelling units
participating in the low-income rental assistance program created by
1974 amendments to Section 8 of the 1937 Housing Act.
Security Deposit - cash payment required by
landlord to be held during the term of the lease to offset damages
incurred due to actions of the tenant.
TAW: This is an acronym for “tenant at will”. The
agreement is usually on a month-to-month term and can be terminated
by either the tenant or landlord at will.
Tenant Name: This is the name of the lessee who
occupied the unit as of January 1st.
Total Collection Loss: This indicates the total
amount of revenues lost due to bad dept and collection losses for
the calendar year.
Total Concessions: This indicates the total amount
of revenue foregone through rent concessions (free rent) for the
calendar year.
Total Other Income: This indicates the total amount
of miscellaneous income not listed elsewhere derived from the
property for the calendar year.
Total Parking Income: This indicates the total
amount of parking income collected from the property for the
calendar year.
Total Potential Gross Income: This indicates the
total amount of income that the property would have generated during
the calendar year if all units or area are at full occupancy.
Total Rent Collected: This indicates the total
amount of miscellaneous income derived from the property during the
calendar year.
Total Vacancies: This indicates the total amount of
revenue loss due to vacancies in the calendar year.
Use: Examples of uses include business activities
such as retail, restaurant, office, warehouse, manufacturing, etc.
Zoning: legal mechanism for local governments to
regulate the use of privately owned real estate to prevent
conflicting land uses and promote orderly development.