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- Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)
- A federal law designed to make sellers and buyers aware of settlement fees and other transaction-related costs. RESPA also outlaws kickbacks in the real estate business.
- Real estate investment trust (REIT)
- An investment method in which investors purchase ownership in a trust, which in turn invests the money in real estate and distributes at least 90 percent of its taxable income to investors. The trust is not subject to corporate income tax if it complies with REIT tax requirements. Shareholders must include their REIT income in their personal tax returns.
- Real property
- Land and any permanent fixtures on it, including buildings, trees and minerals.
- Recission
- The cancellation of a contract by law or consent by the parties involved.
- Reconveyance
- When a borrower completely pays off the mortgage, the property is reconveyed to them from the lender.
- Recorder
- A public official responsible for keeping the records of all real estate transactions.
- Recording fee
- A fee charged by escrow agents for conveying the sale of a piece of property into the public record.
- Refinance
- The process of replacing an older loan with a new mortgage.
- Regional center
- A retail center that provides general merchandise (a large percentage of which is apparel) and services in full depth and variety. Its main attractions are its anchors: traditional, mass merchant, discount department stores or fashion specialty stores. A typical regional center has parking surrounding the outside perimeter and is enclosed with an inward orientation of stores connected by a common walkway.
- Rehabilitation mortgage
- A mortgage that provides for the costs of repairing and improving a resale home or building.
- Remaining balance
- The amount of unpaid principal on a loan.
- Remaining term
- The original loan term minus the number of payments made.
- Rent concession
- A period of free rent or other allowance that the owner gives to the tenant.
- Rent loss insurance
- A policy that covers any loss of rent or rental value in the event of fire or other damage that renders the property uninhabitable.
- Rentable area
- The computed area of a building defined by the Building Owners and Managers Association guidelines and typically measured in square feet, including both core/structure and useable area. The actual square foot area for which the tenant will pay rent, it is the gross area of an office building, less uninterrupted vertical space (such as stairways and elevators). Unlike useable area, rentable area includes common areas such as lobbies, restrooms and hallways, as well as the measurement of structural columns and architectural projections.
- Renter's insurance
- A policy that covers the replacement value of possessions.
- Repayment plan
- When a borrower falls behind in mortgage payments, many lenders will negotiate a repayment plan rather than go to court.
- Replacement reserve fund
- Money that is set aside from homeowners' assessments to replace common property, such as furniture in a planned development's community room.
- Repossession
- When a property is taken back by the lender holding the mortgage.
- Research and development
- Industrial space category that is a hybrid of office and manufacturing. The research and development category is the most people-intensive of industrial properties. Tenants of these properties usually require many improvements, such as clean rooms for chip manufacturing, laboratories, cafeterias, lounges and other amenities.
- Reserve fund
- All homeowners associations set aside a certain amount of money for major repairs or improvements.
- Restructured loan
- A mortgage in which new terms are negotiated.
- Retail property
- Property used to market and sell consumer goods and services. Types of retail properties include: community center, fashion/specialty center, neighborhood center, outlet center, power center, regional center, super-regional center and theme/festival center.
- Retail trade area
- Also referred to as service area, it generally is defined as the geographical or formal area from which a sustained patronage is attracted to support a retail center or establishment. This is determined by numerous factors including the site characteristics of the center or establishment; its accessibility; the presence or absence of physical barriers to movements; and general limitations imposed by drive time, congestion and distance/separation.
- Return on Equity (ROE)
- An investment return ratio derived by dividing cash return, or net profit, by equity.
- Return on investment
- The amount of profit a property generates.
- Reverse mortgage
- See Home equity conversion mortgage.
- Reversion value
- A lump-sum cash benefit that an investor receives or expects to receive upon the sale of an investment.
- Right of First Offer
- Right which gives the tenant the first option of buying or leasing occupied property if the owner decides to sell or lease.
- Right of Offset
- Specific clause in lease in which the tenant has the right to deduct from the rent the costs which are incurred to the tenant from the landlord.
- Right of Survivorship
- The right of survivors in a joint tenancy to acquire the interest of a deceased joint tenant.
- Right of first refusal
- An agreement by a property owner to give another person the right to buy or rent the property before it goes on the open market.
- Right of ingress or egress
- The right to enter or leave designated premises.
- Risk
- The probability that actual cash flows from an investment will vary from the forecasted cash flows.
Some definitions come from the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute (CCIM).
