The property management glossary.
Clear definitions, practical examples, and connected field guides for the language landlords, property managers, residents, and rental investors use every day.
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C
Capital expenditure (CapEx)
Money spent to acquire or substantially improve a long-lived property asset.
Capitalization rate
A property’s annual net operating income divided by its value or purchase price.
Cash flow
The cash left after a rental property’s cash income and cash outflows for a period.
Cash-on-cash return
Annual pre-tax cash flow divided by the cash invested in a property.
Co-living
A shared-housing model where each resident rents a private bedroom and shares the kitchen, living space, and often the bathrooms with people they did not choose.
Co-signer
A person who agrees to share financial responsibility for obligations under a lease.
D
Debt service
The principal and interest payments due on a property’s loan during a period.
Debt service coverage ratio
Net operating income divided by annual debt service, used to estimate a property’s ability to cover loan payments.
Delinquent rent
Rent that remains unpaid after its contractual due date, subject to any legally required grace period.
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H
Habitability
The condition of a rental being safe and fit to live in under applicable law.
House rules addendum
A signed attachment to the lease that states how the shared parts of a home are used, cleaned, and shared.
House share
A shared home where one group of people, often already known to each other, rents the whole property together.
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L
Late fee
A lease-authorized charge assessed when rent is not paid on time, subject to applicable law.
Lease
A contract granting the right to occupy a property for stated terms, rent, and responsibilities.
Lease renewal
An agreement and workflow that extends or replaces an expiring lease for another term.
Lease-up
The period of marketing and signing leases to move a vacant or newly delivered property toward stable occupancy.
Loan-to-value ratio
The loan balance divided by the property’s value, expressed as a percentage.
M
Maintenance triage
The process of classifying a maintenance report by urgency, safety risk, responsibility, and next action.
Make-ready
The coordinated work required to prepare a vacant unit for a new resident.
Master lease
An agreement in which an operator leases an entire property from its owner and then sublets it, often room by room.
Move-in inspection
A documented review of a rental’s condition at the start of occupancy.
Move-out inspection
A documented review of a rental’s condition near or after the end of occupancy.
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O
Occupancy rate
The share of available rental units that are occupied during a point in time or period.
Operating expense
A recurring cost of operating and maintaining a rental property, excluding financing and commonly excluded capital costs.
Ordinary wear and tear
Deterioration that occurs through normal, intended use of a rental over time rather than abuse or negligence.
P
Payment allocation
The rule used to apply a received payment across open rent, fees, deposits, utilities, or other ledger charges.
Per-room lease
A rental agreement between the housing provider and one resident for one specific bedroom, plus shared use of the common areas.
Per-room security deposit
A refundable deposit collected from and returned to one resident of a shared home, tracked against that resident rather than the household.
Preventive maintenance
Planned inspections and service intended to reduce failures, hazards, and larger repair costs.
Property inspection
A structured review of property condition, safety items, lease concerns, and needed follow-up.
Prorated rent
A partial rent amount calculated for occupancy covering less than a full rental period.
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R
Reasonable accommodation
A change to a rule, policy, practice, or service that may be required so a person with a disability can equally use and enjoy housing.
Rent by the room
Renting each bedroom in a home separately instead of renting the whole home to one household.
Rent ledger
A chronological record of charges, payments, credits, adjustments, and balances for a rental account.
Rent roll
A portfolio-level schedule of units, residents, lease dates, recurring rent, deposits, and occupancy status.
Rental criteria
Written, consistently applied standards used to evaluate rental applications.
Replacement reserve
Funds set aside for future major repairs and replacement of building components.
Room assignment
The record of which specific bedroom a resident holds, and for which dates.
Room-level occupancy
The share of individually rentable bedrooms that are occupied, measured per room rather than per property.
Roommate turnover
The process of one bedroom in a shared home changing residents while the other residents stay in place.
S
Security deposit
Resident funds held to secure obligations under a rental agreement, subject to detailed state and local rules.
Security deposit reconciliation
The process of matching deposit bank funds, accounting liability balances, and resident-level deposit records.
Service-level target
An internal goal for acknowledging, responding to, or completing a category of work.
Several liability
A lease arrangement in which each resident is responsible only for their own rent and their own obligations.
Shared common area
The parts of a shared home that no single resident rents exclusively, such as the kitchen, living room, hallways, laundry, yard, and shared bathrooms.
Shared utilities allocation
The disclosed method used to divide one utility bill for a shared property among the residents who live there.
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Work order
A trackable record that converts a maintenance need into assigned work with status, evidence, cost, and completion details.
Workforce housing
Rental housing aimed at working households whose income is above the limits for subsidized programs and below the top of the local market.