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- Backup offer
- A secondary bid for a property that the seller will accept or negotiate if the first offer fails.
- Balloon mortgage
- A mortgage in which monthly installments are not large enough to repay the loan by the end of the term. As a result, the final payment due is the lump sum of the remaining principal.
- Balloon payment
- The final lump sum payment due at the end of a balloon mortgage.
- Base Rent
- The minimum rent due to the landlord. Typically, it is a fixed amount. This is a face, quoted, contract amount of periodic rent. Escalations are calculated from the annual base rate.
- Basis Point
- A basis point is one one-hundredth of one percentage point. For example, the difference between a loan at 7.25 percent and a mortgage at 7.35 percent is 10 basis points.
- Bill of sale
- A document that transfers ownership of personal property.
- Biweekly mortgage
- A mortgage that requires payments every two weeks and helps repay the loan over a shorter term.
- Blanket insurance policy
- A policy that covers more than one person or piece of property.
- Bond
- An agreement that insures one party against loss by acts or defaults of another party.
- Break-even point
- The point in which the owner's rental income matches expenses and debt.
- Breakpoint
- The sales threshold over which percentage rent is due. It is calculated by dividing the annual base rent by the negotiated percentage applied to the tenant’s gross sales.
- Build-to-suit
- A contract in which the owner agrees to develop or finish a property or space to the specifications of the tenant. The tenant may partly carry the cost in the form of increased rent.
- Building code
- A comprehensive set of laws that controls the construction or remodeling of a home or other structure.
- Building inspector
- A city or county employee who enforces the building code and ensures that work is correctly performed.
- Building line or setback
- Guidelines that limit how close an owner can build to the street or an adjacent property.
- Building moratorium
- A halt on construction to slow the rate of development.
- Building restrictions
- Regulations that limit the manner in which property can be used.
- Bulk
- Industrial space category that describes properties consisting of little more than four walls, a roof, and a floor.
Some definitions come from the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute (CCIM).
