CAM (Common area maintenance) - Maintenance charges for the upkeep of a building's common areas, such as snow removal, lighting, insurance, and property taxes.
Capital appreciation - A property's or a portfolio of properties' change in market value adjusted for capital improvements and any partial sales.
Capital expenditures - Investment of cash, or the borrowing of funds, for the expenditures resulting in the acquisition of or addition to fixed assets.
Capital gain - The difference between the net proceeds from the sale of an asset or property and the asset's or property's book value.
Capital improvements - Expenditures necessary to repair a property or to add new improvements and thus increase its life.
Cap Rate - An investor's rate of return if the investor was to pay cash for a property with commercial income.
Carrying charges - Incidental property ownership costs that a landlord absorbs during a building's initial lease-up and during any vacancy periods afterwards.
Cash flow - The net amount of cash generated by a corporation's or property's operation. Net post-tax revenue minus expenses.
Cash-on-cash yield - The relationship between a property's net cash flow and the average invested capital amount measured for an operating year, given as a percentage.
Certificate of occupancy - A local government agency's or building department's document certifying that a building and/or the leased area was inspected and found in a condition satisfactory for occupancy.
Chain of Title - An analysis of the history of a piece of property's transfers of title.
Clear-span facility - A building, such as a warehouse, with no internal support walls or columns, the roof is supported by the external walls or columns.
Clear Title - A title to property that is free of liens or any legal questions or disputes as to the property's ownership.
Cloud on Title - Any condition revealed by a title search that adversely affects the real property's title. Normally a cloud on title can't be eliminated except by a quitclaim deed, release, or court action.
Co-investment - Co-investment occurs when two or more pension funds or groups of funds share ownership of a real estate investment. In co-investment vehicles, relative ownership is always based on the amount of capital contributed. It also refers to an arrangement in which an investment manager or adviser co-invests its own capital alongside the investor.
Commercial evaluation - A commercial appraiser will use Market Approach, Income Approach, and Cost Approach to Valuation to arrive at an opinion of value. This is one of the reasons why a commercial appraisal report is more expensive than a residential appraisal. Lenders pay most attention to the Income Approach to Value.
Commission - An amount, usually a percentage of the property sales price, that is collected by a real estate professional as a fee for negotiating the transaction.
Common area - For lease purposes, the areas of a building and its grounds that are available for the non-exclusive use of all its tenants, such as stairwells, restrooms, lobbies, and hallways.
Comparables - Other real estate properties with similar characteristics used to determine the fair market lease rate or sale price.
Comparative Market Analysis - An estimate of the real estate value based on an analysis of sales of comparable properties.
Concessions - Cash or its equivalent, such as rental abatement, additional tenant finish allowance, or moving allowance, used by the landlord to persuade a potential tenant to sign a lease agreement.
Condemnation - A government's process of taking private property through the power of eminent domain, without the consent of the owner, for public use.
Condominium - A form of property ownership in which buyers purchase and own a unit of housing in a multi-unit complex and share financial responsibility for the maintenance, taxes and insurance expenses of the common areas.
Condominium Hotel - A condominium that has rental units for short-term occupancy that is operated as a hotel with eating, cleaing and telephone connections as well as units that are owned by individuals. The individuals can rent their condominiums for the time when they are vacant.
Construction management - The act of ensuring that all the stages of the construction project are completed on time and according to all the necessary codes.
Contiguous space - Multiple rental units that are next to each other on the same floor of a building, or a block of space located on multiple adjoining floors in a building, that can be combined and rented to a single tenant.
Contract rent - The lessee's monetary rental obligation, sometimes called face rent, specified in a lease.
Contract sale or deed - A real estate agreement that does not take effect or transfer the title until certain conditions are met.
Cooperative (Co-op) - Residents purchase stock in a cooperative corporation that owns a building; each stockholder is then entitled to live in a specific unit of the structure and is responsible for paying a portion of the properties mortgage loan.
Cost-approach improvement value - The current cost to build a replacement for an existing structure minus any accrued depreciation
Cost-approach land value- The estimated value of the fee simple interest in land as if vacant and able to be developed to its best and highest use.
Cost-of-sale percentage - The total cost of selling an investment property, denoted as a percentage of sales price, including broker's commissions, fees, closing costs and other expenses relating to the sale.
Covenant - A written agreement inserted into a property's deed or other legal instruments dictating a property's uses or performance of certain acts or obligations related to the property.
Current occupancy - The percentage of a property's currently leased area or units out of the property's total area or units.
