The estimated market value a property will have once planned renovations are complete, the anchor number for a flip or a BRRRR deal.

The schedule by which a loan is paid off over time, with each payment split between interest and principal.

The increase in a property's market value over time — one of the main ways real estate builds wealth alongside rental income.

The share of a property's potential income you must collect just to cover its operating expenses and debt payments, with nothing left over.

Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat — a strategy that recycles the same capital through successive rental purchases.

Capitalization rate — a property's annual net operating income divided by its price or value, expressed as a percentage.

Money set aside on a schedule to fund large, infrequent capital expenses like roofs, HVAC systems, and water heaters.

The cash left over each period after all income is collected and all expenses — including the mortgage — are paid.

The annual pre-tax cash flow a property produces divided by the actual cash you invested in it.

The total loan payments — principal and interest — a property's owner must make over a period, usually stated annually.

A property's net operating income divided by the loan amount, a lender's measure of risk that ignores rate and amortization.

A property's net operating income divided by its annual debt payments — how comfortably the income covers the loan.

The income a property realistically collects: gross potential rent minus vacancy and credit losses, plus other income like fees and laundry.

The portion of a property you actually own — its market value minus what you still owe on it.

The total dollars a property returns to you divided by the total dollars you invested, shown as a multiple like 2.0x over the whole hold.

An increase in a property's value that you create through improvements or higher net operating income, rather than waiting on the market.

The maximum rental income a property could produce with every unit occupied at market rent for the full period.

A property's price divided by its annual gross rental income — a quick screening ratio.

Living in one unit of a property you own while renting out the others (or spare rooms), so tenant rent offsets your housing cost.

The single annualized return that accounts for the size and timing of every cash flow a property produces over your whole holding period.

Buying a home to live in while renovating it, then selling — combining a residence with a renovation profit strategy.

The gap between market rent and the lower rents actually written into current leases, summed across a property.

The loan amount as a percentage of a property's value — a core measure of leverage and lender risk.

The income a property produces after operating expenses but before mortgage payments and income tax.

A property's operating expenses as a percentage of the income it brings in, a quick read on how efficiently it runs.

The four parts that typically make up a mortgage payment: principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.

A property's price divided by its annual rent, a quick gauge of whether a market favors buying or renting.

A forward-looking financial projection of a property's income, expenses, and returns — an estimate, not a record of actual results.

A property's annual rent as a percentage of its price or value — gross yield uses rent alone, net yield subtracts operating costs.

The increase in a property's value or your ownership stake that you create through your own labor rather than cash.

A rough rule of thumb that a rental's monthly rent should be at least 1% of its total purchase price.

The rent a property fails to collect because units sit empty, expressed in dollars or as a percentage of gross potential rent.

The share of rental units — or potential rent — that sits empty and uncollected over a period.

A mortgage whose interest rate is fixed for an initial period and then adjusts periodically based on a market index plus a margin.

A licensed appraiser's independent estimate of a property's market value, usually ordered by the lender before a loan closes.

A large lump sum of remaining principal due at the end of a loan whose regular payments were too small to pay it off.

The fees and prepaid items paid at settlement to complete a property purchase or refinance, on top of the down payment.

Recently sold or rented properties similar to yours, used to estimate what a property is worth or what rent it can command.

The contractual window after going under contract when a buyer investigates the property and can typically exit the deal.

A good-faith deposit a buyer puts down when a purchase contract is signed, held in escrow and credited at closing.

A short-term, asset-based loan from a private lender, priced on the property's value rather than the borrower's credit.

A revolving credit line secured by the equity in a property you already own, that you can draw on, repay, and reuse.

A loan on which you pay only the interest for a set period, so the balance does not shrink until principal payments begin.

Upfront fees paid to a lender at closing, where each point equals 1% of the loan and usually buys down the interest rate.

Insurance a lender requires when your down payment is small, protecting the lender, not you, if you default.

Replacing an existing mortgage with a new loan, usually to lower the rate, change the term, or pull out built-up equity as cash.

Costs the seller agrees to pay on the buyer's behalf at closing, such as closing costs or rate buydowns, negotiated in the contract.

An arrangement where the property seller acts as the lender, letting the buyer pay over time instead of getting a bank mortgage.

A one-time-premium policy that protects against defects in a property's ownership history, like unknown liens or ownership claims.

An ACH payment sent back after it appeared to process — for insufficient funds, a closed account, or a revoked authorization — each with a return code.

An electronic bank-to-bank payment moved through the Automated Clearing House network — the rails behind most online rent payments.

An arrangement where a tenant's rent is automatically charged and transferred on a set schedule, without a manual payment each month.

A forced reversal of a card payment initiated by the cardholder's bank after a dispute, pulling the funds back from the recipient.

The structured sequence of reminders and follow-ups used to collect a payment that is due or past due.

A short window after the rent due date during which payment is still accepted without a late fee.

The total rent scheduled or collected before any operating expenses, vacancies, or concessions are subtracted.

A charge added to rent that isn't paid by its due date (or by the end of any grace period).

The rent a unit would command today if offered to a new tenant in the current local market.

A partial month's rent charged when a tenant moves in or out mid-cycle, so they pay only for the days they actually hold the unit.

Splitting a full month's rent to charge only for the days a tenant actually occupies the unit.

A reduction or suspension of rent for a period, either negotiated as a concession or arising because part of the premises was unusable.

A temporary discount or perk a landlord offers to attract or keep a tenant, such as a free month or reduced rent.

A running, dated record of every charge and payment on a single tenancy, showing the current balance owed.

A summary of every unit's rent, tenant, lease dates, and payment status across a property or portfolio.

An applicant's rent as a percentage of their gross income — a screening affordability benchmark.

A person who signs the lease alongside the tenant and shares legal responsibility for its obligations.

A tenant's signed statement confirming the key facts of their lease — rent, term, deposit, and any side deals — relied on by buyers and lenders.

A person who signs a lease promising to cover the tenant's obligations — rent and damages — if the tenant doesn't pay.

A tenant who stays in the unit after their lease has ended, without the landlord agreeing to a new term.

A lease structure under which each co-tenant is individually responsible for the entire rent and all obligations, not just their share.

The binding contract that sets the terms under which a tenant occupies a rental in exchange for rent.

A separate document attached to a lease that adds, clarifies, or modifies specific terms.

The written contract between a landlord and tenant that sets the terms of a tenancy in exchange for rent.

The process of extending a tenancy for a new term when the current lease is about to end.

A rental arrangement with no fixed end date that renews each month until either party ends it with proper notice.

A tenant's right to use and enjoy their rental without unreasonable interference from the landlord.

Money a tenant pays at move-in that the landlord holds as security against unpaid rent or damage beyond normal wear.

An arrangement where an existing tenant rents out part or all of their unit to another person while remaining on the original lease.

The full cycle of one tenant moving out and another moving in — and the costs and vacancy that come with it.

The make-ready-and-re-lease process between one tenant moving out and the next moving in — and its true cost, which combines lost rent during vacancy, make-ready repairs and cleaning, and the expense of re-listing and screening.

A document proving a vendor or contractor carries valid insurance before they work on your property.

The gradual, expected deterioration of a rental from ordinary use — which a landlord generally can't charge against the deposit.

Routine, scheduled upkeep done to keep building systems working and catch problems before they become expensive.

A tracked record of a maintenance task — the request, the vendor assigned, the cost, and the resolution.

A U.S. tax provision that lets an investor defer capital-gains tax by reinvesting the proceeds from selling an investment property into another 'like-kind' one.

Spending on a major improvement that adds value or extends a property's life, recovered over time rather than deducted at once.

The organized list of income, expense, asset, and liability categories a landlord's books are built on.

A non-cash tax deduction that spreads the cost of a building (not the land) over its useful life.

Money or documents held by a neutral third party until specific conditions of a deal are met.

The recurring costs of running a rental — like management, insurance, taxes, utilities, and repairs — excluding the mortgage.

The U.S. IRS form individuals use to report income and expenses from rental real estate.

A notice the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires you to give an applicant when you deny them, charge more, or require a co-signer based even in part on a consumer report — including the reporting agency's details and the applicant's right to dispute.

An animal that works, assists, or provides disability-related support for a person with a disability — treated differently from a pet under fair-housing law.

A legal doctrine under which conditions so bad they force a tenant out can be treated as if the landlord evicted them.

The legal, court-supervised process by which a landlord removes a tenant from a rental for cause.

Laws that prohibit discrimination in housing on the basis of protected characteristics.

The federal law governing how consumer reports (like credit and background checks) may be used, and what you owe an applicant you reject based on one.

A legal doctrine requiring landlords to keep rental housing in a condition fit to live in, regardless of what the lease says.

Adverse action a landlord takes against a tenant for exercising a legal right, such as reporting code violations — prohibited in most states.

A written notice giving a tenant a set amount of time to pay overdue rent or move out before the landlord can file for eviction. The required time period, wording, and delivery method vary by state and locality.

A written notice — from landlord or tenant — stating that a tenancy will end on a specified date, given the amount of advance warning the law or lease requires.

The licensing carve-out that lets a property owner manage their own rental without holding a property-management or real-estate broker license. It is why a self-managing landlord can legally run their building, and use software to do it, while managing someone else's property for a fee generally requires a license.

A change to rules, policies, or services that housing providers may be required to make so a person with a disability has equal opportunity to use a dwelling.

Government rules that limit how much — and how often — rent can be raised on covered units, and often restrict the grounds for eviction.

A legal doctrine requiring landlords to keep rental housing fit to live in, regardless of what the lease says.

Software that can take real actions toward a goal, deciding and executing steps on its own, rather than only answering questions or storing data.

A single prioritized list where an autonomous system shows what it has already handled and the short list of decisions that still need a human to approve or deny.

An append-only record of every action a system takes, in which each entry is cryptographically linked (hash-chained) to the one before it, so any later change to the history is detectable — by the user or the vendor.

A tamper-evident, chronological record of every action an autonomous system takes, capturing who or what did it, when, and why.

Software that does routine building operations on its own within limits you set, then surfaces the decisions that need you for approval.

Software that carries a task from start to finish on its own, within the rules and spending limits the owner sets, rather than merely drafting it for a human to run. It is the counterpart to copilot AI: a copilot suggests, an autopilot does, and asks only when an action falls outside its bounds.

An approach where an AI agent acts on its own only within limits you set, per-task spend and approval thresholds, and asks for a human decision above them.

Software that owns a task from trigger to completion — detecting the event, deciding the response within preset rules, performing the action, and recording the outcome — rather than handling one step and handing the task back to a human.

Software that drafts, suggests, and summarizes to speed up a human who still executes every task — the counterpart to autopilot software, which finishes tasks end-to-end within rules the owner sets.

A task an autonomous system is barred from executing without an explicit human decision, no matter how it is configured. The fixed set of such actions, enforced in code, is the 'blocked floor.'

A design where a human makes or confirms specific decisions an automated system is not permitted to finalize on its own, especially where the law requires human judgment.

A model where the level of automation is set separately for each task — automate it, draft it for your review, or turn it off — instead of one master on/off switch. It is the on-ramp for building trust: turn on the actions you are comfortable with and widen from there.

A short, cancellable delay an autonomous system places on an irreversible action, giving a human time to intercept before it goes through.