The Assessor's Lexicon

ABATEMENT - An official reduction of taxable assessed value, almost always as the result of an exemption.

ABSOLUTE VALUE - The value of a number independent of a plus or minus sign.  Always taken to be positive.  The absolute values of 5 and -5 are both simply 5.

ABSORPTION FIELD - See “Leach Field”

ABSTRACT OF TITLE - A summary of all conveyances, such as deeds or wills, and legal proceedings, giving the names of the parties, the description of the land and the agreements, arranged to show a continuity of ownership.

ABSTRACTION METHOD - The determination of site value by subtracting the replacement cost new less depreciation (RCNLD) of improvements on similar parcels from the known selling price of the parcel to establish land value.  A poor substitute for sales of comparable vacant sites but may be used when no such sales are available.

ABUT - To touch or border on, such as a property sharing a common boundary with another property or a highway.

ACCESS RIGHT - The right of ingress and egress to or from a property.  May be implied or legally expressed.

ACCRUED DEPRECIATION - The actual depreciation from all causes evident in a property as of a given date.  2. The difference between replacement cost new (RCN) and replacement cost new less depreciation (RCNLD).

ACOUSTICAL MATERIAL - A ceiling or wall material having the property of sound absorption.

ACRE - A common measure of land area equal to 43,560 square feet.  There are 640 acres in a square mile.

AD VALOREM TAX - A tax based on the value of real or personal property as distinct from income, sales or excise taxes.  Personal property is not taxable in New York State.

ADDITION - An improvement, such as another bedroom, added to a building already in place.

ADJUSTED BASIS - The original cost of a property minus depreciation, and sales of portions thereof, plus allowable additions such as capital improvements and certain carrying costs and assessments.  A bookkeeping rather than an appraisal term.

ADJUSTED INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN - A concept where the reinvestment rates for both positive and they have adjusted negative cash flows.  The concept applies a safe rate to all negative cash flows, discounting them to time period zero and adding them to the initial investment.  It applies a market rate to all positive cash flows and carries them forward to the end of the investment holding period.  The adjusted internal rate of return thus becomes a function of the original investment, the terminal value, and the time period separating these two amounts.

ADJUSTED SALES PRICE - The selling price of a comparable property adjusted to reflect differences in inventory, location and time as compared to the subject.

ADJUSTMENTS - Changes to the selling price of a comparable property required to estimate the market value of the subject property.  May be in dollars, percentages or cumulative (compounded) percentages.

ADMINISTRATOR'S DEED - A deed given by an individual who has been legally appointed to represent the estate of a deceased person who did not appoint an executor.

ADVERSE POSSESSION - A method of acquiring title to real property owned by another by the actual, exclusive, open, notorious hostile and continuous possession of said property.  Colloquially, “Squatter's Rights.”

ADVISORY EQUALIZATION RATE - The previous year's final equalization rate multiplied by the change of-level factor of the current year roll.  This rate is used by most counties to apportion the county tax levy.

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY - The process of taking photographs of the earth's surface from aircraft using special cameras to ensure accuracy in the preparation of tax maps.

AESTHETIC VALUE - The enhancement of the worth of a property due to the pleasure derived from the beauty of the improvements and/or their surroundings such as an exceptional view.

AFTER-TAX YIELD RATE - The annual profit remaining after income taxes have been paid, divided by the original equity investment.

AGE, ACTUAL - The number years since a structure was built.  Also known as chronological age.

AGE, EFFECTIVE - See “Effective Age.”

AGE-LIFE METHOD - A process for estimating incurable physical deterioration as a percentage of the current RCN of the improvements.

AGENTS IN PRODUCTION - The elements which contribute to the productivity of an enterprise and which must be compensated accordingly.  They are labor (wages), coordination (management), capital (improvements) and land.

AGGREGATE ASSESSMENT-SALES RATIO - The total of the assessed values divided by the total of the selling prices.  Also known as the weighted mean.  Used in determining the price related differential.

AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT - An area established under New York State law to preserve and promote agriculture.  The availability of preferential property tax treatment is one characteristic of an agricultural district.

AGRICULTURAL USE VALUE - An estimate of the worth of agricultural property based on an income approach using the productivity of the land as a measure of income.

AIR RIGHTS - The right to use the airspace above a property with or without ownership of the surface of the property.

ALLEY INFLUENCE - The effect on the value of abutting property caused by the presence of a short, narrow side or back street.  Primarily of interest with respect to commercial property.

ALLOCATION - The use of a ratio based on experience with comparable properties to distribute the appraised value of a property between the land and the improvements.  A procedure that has limitations.

ALLOWANCE FOR VACANCY & CREDIT LOSS - A reduction of potential gross income to reflect the fact that some or all of a buildings rentable area property will be vacant from time to time and/or some tenants may not pay their rent.

ALPHANUMERIC - Used in data processing to describe a field (data area) which may contain either numeric, alphabetic or special characters.  A field which may not be used mathematically.

AMENITY - In appraising, the intangible benefits of ownership such as satisfaction of possession and use arising from architectural excellence, scenic beauty and desirable social environment.

AMORTIZATION - The process of retiring debt or recovering capital investment through a schedule of systematic repayments of principal.

AMORTIZATION RATE - The ratio of periodic amortization payments to the total principal to be amortized; corresponds to a sinking fund rate.

ANCHOR TENANTS - The larger, more reliable tenants in a shopping center; usually branch stores of nationally-known retail chains.  The term may also be used (less frequently) in connection with office buildings or industrial parks.

ANIMAL UNIT - A mature steer or dairy cow weighing 1,000 pounds or more or some combination of smaller, immature animals.  Used to estimate grazing and other feed requirements.
 

ANNUAL CONSTANT - Total annual debt service per dollar borrowed for a direct reduction level payment loan, usually expressed as a percentage.  See also “Mortgage Constant.”

ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE (APR) - The interest costs to a borrower expressed as an annual percentage of the loan.  Required to be shown on certain instruments by “truth in lending” legislation.

ANNUITY - Periodic income; the return of a capital investment in equal periodic payments comprising both interest and a partial return of the capital itself.

ANNUITY CAPITALIZATION - Capitalization that is based an commonly used tables for the valuation of annuities.

ANNUITY METHOD - An appraisal process whereby present value is determined by discounting future anticipated net operating income before depreciation.

ANTICIPATED USE METHOD - See “Development Method.”

ANTICIPATION, PRINCIPLE OF - The premise that present value is determined by the worth of future benefits.

APPORTION - To divide or distribute according to some plan.  In assessment, to distribute the value of a parcel which has been split among the various parcels resulting from the split.

APPRAISAL - An estimate or opinion of value, usually in writing.  The act or process of estimating value as of a certain date.

APPRAISAL METHODS - The three accepted methods of valuing real estate are: 1. The sales comparison or market approach which uses adjusted sales of comparable properties.  2. The income approach which capitalizes net operating income to produce an estimate of value.  3. The summation or cost approach which uses the cost of construction new, less accrued depreciation, plus land value.

APPRAISAL PROCESS - A systematic examination of the factors which influence the value or utility of real estate.  A process by which the problem may be defined, the relevant facts assembled and a supportable conclusion of value produced.

APPRAISAL REPORT - A written document setting forth the appraiser's opinion of value and the steps, including data and methodology, which enable the appraiser to arrive at that opinion.  It should include at minimum: summary of salient facts and conclusions, identity of the subject property, property rights appraised, purpose of the appraisal, function of the appraisal, tax and assessment data, area (city or town) analysis, neighborhood analysis, site analysis, improvement analysis, highest and best use analysis, application of the cost approach, application of the income approach, application of the sales comparison approach, correlation and estimate of final value, addenda.

APPRAISED VALUE - The final opinion of an appraiser as to the worth of a property as of the effective date of the appraisal.

APPRECIATION - Monetary gain resulting from the increase in the market value of an investment excluding additions of capital.  For example, a house which is sold five years after it was purchased for five times more than the purchase price.

APPROVED ASSESSING UNIT - A city or town which has been certified by the State Board of Real Property Services to have completed a revaluation or an update in conformance with its rules and regulations.

AREA - The amount of the surface of a room, floor, building, site, parcel, etc., measured in units such as square feet, square meters, acres or square miles.

ARM'S LENGTH - Refers to a real estate transaction in the open market freely arrived at by normal negotiations without undue pressure on either the buyer or the seller.

ARRAY - An arrangement of data in some logical order such as names in an alphabetical cross-reference or parcels in section-block-lot order on an assessment roll.

ASBESTOS - A fire and heat resistant mineral used for insulation and exterior roof and wall coverings.  Thought to be a carcinogen if the fibers are inhaled.

ASPECT - The direction in which a building faces such as a house with a southern exposure.  In forestry, the compass direction toward which a slope faces.

ASSEMBLAGE - The combining of parcels, usually contiguous, for some specific purpose.  See also “Plottage.”

ASSESS - To value real estate for purposes of taxation.  Also, the act of determining compensation in a condemnation proceeding.

ASSESSED VALUE - A figure in dollars determined by an assessor which reflects a property's worth in relation to other properties on an assessment roll and which, unless exempt, is used to compute a tax dollar obligation by multiplying it by a tax rate.

ASSESSING UNIT - A city, county, town or village with the authority to value real property for purposes of taxation.

ASSESSMENT BIAS - A situation in which one class or type of property will prove to be assessed at a different percentage of market value than other classes or types.  Usually the result of different rates of appreciation for different types or classes.  Cured by revaluation.

ASSESSMENT PROCESS - The discovery, listing and valuation of real property for the purpose of taxation.

ASSESSMENT-SALES RATIO - The relationship, expressed as a percentage, of the assessed value of a property or a group of properties to their market value.

ASSESSMENT ROLL - A document listing, usually in alphabetic or tax map number sequence within roll section, all of the parcels within an assessment jurisdiction together with their land and total values, the names and addresses of owners, exemption data, property types and other pertinent information.

ASSESSOR - An elected or appointed official of a county, city, town or village whose function is to value real property (and personal property in some states) for purposes of taxation.

ASSESSOR'S REPORT - A multi-part report required to be submitted annually to the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS).  The assessor must list year-to-year changes in the total assessment of locally assessed properties.  The report also contains other information of general interest, particularly about exemptions.  Formerly known as the “Assessor's Annual Report (AAR).”

ASSUMED MORTGAGE - An existing loan for which a new owner agrees to assume responsibility when purchasing a property.

ATTIC - The space above the ceiling joists and below the roof rafters.  May be used for storage only or may be converted to living area by adding dormers and knee walls.

AVERAGE - See “Mean.”

AVERAGE ABSOLUTE DEVIATION - The result of summing the absolute deviations of a series of observations about the mean or median and dividing the result by the total number of observations.
 

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BACKUP FILE - In data processing, a collection of records that is duplicated to act as a replacement in the event the originals are lost due to operator error or hardware problems.  Backup files are usually maintained on tape, diskettes, compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD) and, if they represent critical historical records, should be stored in a location different from that of the computer where the originals reside.

BALANCE, PRINCIPLE OF - When applied to an individual property, this premise states that maximum value is achieved when the four agents in production - labor, management, capital and land - attain equilibrium.  In the case of a neighborhood, maximum value is achieved when the complementary uses of land attain equilibrium.

BALLOON MORTGAGE - A loan in which a portion is not amortized during the life of the loan but payable as a lump sum (balloon) at the end of the term.

BAND OF INVESTMENT - A method for determining the discount rate in the income approach. Uses a weighted average of the return to cover mortgage interest plus a competitive return required for equity.

BASAL AREA - In forestry, the breast height area of a single tree or the average in a stand of trees expressed in square feet.

BASE MANUSCRIPT - In tax mapping, large color-coded drawings to scale showing all pertinent and usable data which can be seen in aerial photography.  Prepared from the photographs using stereo plotting equipment.

BASE (BASIC) RATE - That portion of the overall capitalization rate which covers all of the income requirements except those for depreciation or appreciation.

BASE RENT - The minimum rental stipulated under a percentage lease.

BASE YEAR ROLL - The assessment roll of a municipality from which the samples for a market value survey have been selected.

BASEBOARD - A decorative molding used to cover the joint between a wall and the floor.

BASEMENT - A story below the first floor which is usually partially or completely below grade level.

BATCH PROCESSING - In data processing, the accumulation of file maintenance (change) transactions in a group to be applied to the master file in a single computer job.  Distinguished from real-time processing in which the changes are applied to the master as they are made.

BAY - A space between columns or piers or some similar division in a warehouse or industrial building.
 

BAY WINDOW - A window extending out from the wall of a structure so as to form an alcove inside the building.  It is on the first floor and usually has its own foundation.

BEAM - A horizontal framing member of wood, steel or concrete which carries loads to vertical structural members.

BEARING WALL - See “Load-Bearing Wall.”

BEARING - The horizontal direction of one point from another on the surface of the earth measured in degrees, minutes and seconds of arc through 360 degrees starting at due north and moving clockwise.

BENCHMARK - 1. A surveyor's permanent mark made on a stationary object of previously determined position and elevation and used as a fixed reference point in mapping and tidal observation.  2. In data processing, a set of data which will produce known results if the program against which it is run is functioning properly.

BERM - An elongated mound of earth, sometimes paved, used to control surface drainage or for screening.  Also, a horizontal ledge part way up a slope.

BI-LEVEL STYLE - A type of house in which part of the lower level is partially below grade and serves as both living area and basement.  The lower level may also contain a garage.  The main entrance is usually at a level between the two floors with interior stairs immediately inside the door going both up and down.  Also called a “Raised Ranch.”

BIASED SAMPLE - A sample which does not properly represent the characteristics of the entire population.  A sales sample used for a coefficient of dispersion (COD) might be biased if all neighborhoods in a town were not adequately represented.

BIMODAL DISTRIBUTION - A data set in which two values appear with equal frequency and a greater frequency than that of other values.  The set 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6 exhibits the modes 2 and 6.  A description of central tendency.

BLANKET MORTGAGE - A loan which covers several properties such as the parcels in a subdivision until they are individually sold by the builder and released from the mortgage.

BLOCK - A designated area on a tax map preferably bounded by streets, highways, railroad tracks, waterways or other prominent features.  Smaller than a section but usually containing several individual lots.

BOARD AND BATTEN - A type of exterior siding in which wide boards are attached vertically to the side of a building and narrow battens (i.e., 1"x1" furring strips) are nailed over the joints in the boards.

BOARD OF ASSESSMENT REVIEW - A quasi-judicial panel consisting of three to five members appointed by a municipality to hear and make determinations on assessment grievances brought before it by property owners.

BOARD OF REAL PROPERTY SERVICE, STATE - A five-member body appointed by the Governor of the State of New York with the advice and consent of the Senate.  The primary responsibilities of the Board are the promulgation of municipal equalization rates and the improvement of assessment and property tax administration.

BOARD FOOT - A unit of measure equivalent to a piece of lumber one inch thick, one foot wide and one foot long containing 144 cubic inches.

BOOK VALUE - The capital cost of acquisition of a property less accrued depreciation (if any) plus additions of capital.  Basically a bookkeeping rather than appraisal term.

BORING TEST - A study of the load-bearing or other qualities of the subsurface soil and rock by the examination of core samples obtained by drilling into the ground.

BRICK VENEER - A layer of brick applied as facing to a wall composed of other materials; non-load-bearing as contrasted to a solid brick wall.

BRIDGING - Wood or metal strap bracing between floor joists to strengthen a structure.

BUFFER STRIP - A parcel of land which separates and screens land areas with different and perhaps incompatible uses.  For example, a strip of vacant, wooded land which separates a major highway from a residential area.

BUILDING CAPITALIZATION RATE - The ratio of income from the improvements on a property to the value of the improvements.  Used in residual capitalization techniques where the income attributable to the buildings and the income attributable to the land is separately computed.

BUILDING CLASSIFICATION - Standard specifications of construction for different typical buildings classified according to use, type of construction, exterior wall materials and quality factors involving materials and labor which affect replacement cost.  Not to be confused with grade of construction.

BUILDING CODE - Local or state ordinances which regulate building design, construction, alteration, repair, quality of materials and use and occupancy based on the needs of health, safety and the general welfare.

BUILDING PAPER - Tarred felt paper which is used to sheath walls and roofs to insulate against drafts and moisture.

BUILDING RESIDUAL TECHNIQUE - An income capitalization process whereby the land is valued separately from the improvements and a fair return for the land is subtracted from the total net operating income.  The remaining income, which is attributable to the improvements, is then capitalized to provide an indication of their value.

BUILDING SERVICE SYSTEMS - Systems which provide plumbing, sewerage, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, elevator transport, fire protection, etc.

BUILT-INS - Furniture or appliances which are more or less permanently attached to a house and thus take on the characteristics of real property.  Cabinets, counters and dishwashers are typical built-ins.

BUILT-UP METHOD - A process for determining the proper discount rate in an income approach by estimating the components which are the basic (non-risk) rate plus rates for risk, management and non-liquidity.

BUILT-UP ROOFING - Two or more layers of tarred paper bonded by asphalt or a roofing compound and often covered with small gravel.

BUNDLE OF RIGHTS THEORY - The premise that the ownership of real estate consists of the ownership of various rights associated with it.  These rights included the right to use and/or occupy, the right to sell in whole or in part, the right to lease, the right to bequeath and the right to do none of the foregoing.

BUTT LOG - The first log above the stump of a tree.

BYTE - In data processing, a measure of storage capacity.  For practical purposes it may be assumed that a byte is equivalent to one character (letter or number) of data.

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CAE (CERTIFIED ASSESSMENT EVALUATOR) - A professional designation awarded by the International Association of Assessing Officers.

CAMA - Acronym for Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal.  Typically used for the analysis and revaluation of a municipality.

CANTILEVER CONSTRUCTION - The use of structural members which extend beyond their points of support whose strength and rigidity allow them to bear significant loads.

CAP - Short form of “capitalization,” as in cap rate.

CAPE COD STYLE - A one and one-half story house to which dormers may be added to increase the second-story headroom (typically to one and three quarters story) and provides space for windows.

CAPITAL - Accumulated wealth all of that which is available for the production of income.

CAPITAL EXPENSE - The amount of money required annually to pay a return on and provide for return of the initial investment.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS - Additions and betterments such as the purchase of additional land or the installation of a swimming pool.

CAPITAL - The total investment required to establish, operate and maintain an enterprise.  The investment in plant and equipment plus normal working capital needs.

CAPITALIZATION - The process of converting future anticipated monetary benefits into present worth or value.

CAPITALIZATION RATE - The percentage which is the sum of the discount rate, the effective tax rate and the recapture rate (for improved property only) representing the relationship between net operating income and present value.

CAPITALIZED VALUE - The value indicated by the annual net operating income generated by the property.  The present value of the right to collect future income derived by dividing net operating income by an appropriate capitalization rate.

CASH EQUIVALENT - The present worth of all cash and other considerations paid for the acquisition of real property.  May differ from contract price.

CASH FLOW - The actual cash that an investor receives after deducting operating expenses and debt service from gross income.  Depreciation is not deducted.  Also known as “Cash Throw-off.”

CASH FLOW RATE - See “Equity Dividend Rate.”

CEILING RAILROAD - A railroad company whose taxable assessed value is subject to an upper limit established by the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS).  Any assessed value in excess of this limit is exempt.

CELLAR - A storage space, usually below ground.  Not the same as a basement as there may be no building above it.

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU) - That part of a computer wherein the actual instructions of a stored program are executed as opposed to peripheral equipment such as printers, monitors and keyboards.

CENTRAL TENDENCY, MEASURES OF - Statistics such as the mean (average), median and mode which indicate a central value about which the observed data is grouped.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY - A document issued to a property owner by a municipality certifying that a structure is in compliance with state and local building codes.  The certificate is not an indication that a property's current use is legal.

CERTIORARI - See “Writ of Certiorari.”

CHAIN - A unit of measurement used in surveying equal to 66 feet and composed of 100 links each measuring 7.92 inches.

CHAIN OF TITLE - See “Abstract of Title.”

CHANGE OF ASSESSMENT NOTICE - A notice required by New York State law to be sent by county, city and town assessors to property owners whose assessments have been increased.  In practice, many assessors send out notices of decreases also.

CHANGE-OF-LEVEL FACTOR - A multiplier computed by the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) from equalization changes listed on the assessor's report.  It is used to adjust the prior year final equalization rate so that it can be used as the advisory rate for county tax apportionment.

CHANGE, PRINCIPAL OF - This premise holds that various economic, physical, social and governmental forces affect real property whose value must therefore always be viewed as transitional.

CHATTEL MORTGAGE - A loan on property other than a freehold or fee estate.  Therefore, a loan on personal property which has the legal name “chattels.”

CHECK DIGIT - Numbers or letters (two alphabetic characters in ARLM and RPS) which are mathematically computed from the file key (usually section, block and lot).  The file maintenance program checks to see that the check digit entered on a transaction matches the check digit calculated using the file key entered for the same transaction thus avoiding changes of data on the wrong parcel.

CISTERN - A rainwater storage reservoir, usually below ground.

CLAPBOARD - A siding for frame buildings using boards that are thicker at one edge than at the other.  The boards are attached horizontally with the thick edge of one board laid over the thin edge of the board below it.

CLASS OF CONSTRUCTION - The classification of structures according to the degree of fire resistance of the materials of which they are constructed.  A concrete and steel structure is obviously more fire-resistant than a frame house.

CLASS RATIO - The summed assessed values divided by the summed sales prices for a particular class of properties such as residential, commercial, industrial and utility.  The residential assessment ratio is a class ratio.

CLASSIFIED ASSESSMENTS - Assessments which are made at different percentages of market value for different property classes.  Where legal, commercial, industrial and utility property is often assessed at a higher percentage than is residential property.

CLASSIFIED TAX RATES - Rates which are set at different levels for different classes of property such as commercial, industrial, utility or residential.

CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT - The practice of grouping the buildings in a development into only a portion of the available land so that the balance may be left in its natural state or developed for recreational purposes.

COEFFICIENT - In multiple regression analysis, a constant which is used as a multiplier for different levels of a variable.  If the coefficient for finished basement area is $7.50 per square foot then value of $750 will be attributed to a house with a 100 square-foot finished room in the basement.

COEFFICIENT OF CORRELATION - A measure of the relationship between variables with respect to the effect of a change in the value of one variable on the value of the other.  Positively correlated variables tend to move in the same direction; thus, an increase in living area usually results in an increase in market value.  Negatively correlated variables move in opposite directions; the greater the area of a building the lower the cost per square foot to build it.  The coefficient is measured from - 1.0 (perfectly negative) though + 1.0 (perfectly positive).  The symbol for the coefficient of correlation is “r.”

COEFFICIENT OF DISPERSION - The average deviation of a group of observations (assessment ratios, for example) from the mean or, preferably, the median ratio expressed as a percentage of that mean or median.  A standard measure of assessment equity.

COEFFICIENT OF MULTIPLE DETERMINATION - In regression analysis, a measure of the degree to which changes in the independent variables explain changes in the dependent variable.  The square of the coefficient of correlation.  Measured from 0 to 1.0.  The symbol is mr2.  A coefficient of determination of .85 indicates that changes in the independent variables explain 85% of the changes in the dependent variable with the balance of 15% being unexplained variance.

COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION - The standard error of the estimate divided by the mean value of the dependent variable.  A measure of the likelihood of error in predictions of the value of the dependent variable.

COLONIAL STYLE - A traditional two-story design usually exhibiting a balanced floor plan and symmetrical exterior.

COLUMN - A vertical structural member of wood, steel or concrete designed to support horizontal beams and carry their loads to the foundation or footing.

COMMITTED AGRICULTURAL LAND - In New York State, land not in an agricultural district which is eligible for an agricultural exemption because its owner has made a formal commitment to use it for agricultural purposes for a specific period of time.

COMMON ELEMENTS - Those parts of a condominium development such as halls, stairways and recreational facilities which are jointly owned by the owners of the individual dwelling units.

COMMON WALL - A wall dividing two buildings on separate tax map parcels which is built along the dividing line of the properties.  Same as “Party Wall.”

COMPARABLE SALE - A property which has sold recently and is sufficiently similar to the subject of an appraisal so that its adjusted selling price may be taken as an indication of the market value of the subject.

COMPARATIVE SALES APPROACH - See “Market Data Approach.”

COMPARATIVE UNIT METHOD - A procedure for comparing parcels or structures of different size by use of units of measurement that can be applied to each.  For example, the value of a lot of 100 front feet which has sold recently may be used to estimate the value of a lot of 75 front feet by using a unit of dollars per front foot.

COMPETITION, PRINCIPLE OF - The premise that profit tends to produce competition but that excess profit tends to create excess competition to the eventual detriment of all of the competitors.

COMPOSITE RATE - The blended or weighted average of all of the rates of return applicable to a single investment.

COMPOSITION SIDING - Any one of various manufactured exterior wall coverings such as asphalt or asbestos shingles.

COMPOUND INTEREST - The addition to principal at regular intervals of interest received on an investment and the subsequent application of the interest rate to that addition.  $100 compounded annually at 5% equals $105 at the end of the first year (100 x 1.05) and $110.25 at the end of the second year (105 x 1.05).

COMPUTER - An electronic device capable of operating on instructions from a stored program to solve a problem or manipulate data.

COMPUTER ASSISTED MASS APPRAISAL (CAMA) - The use of data processing to appraise large numbers of parcels within a relatively short period of time, usually for assessment purposes.  Multiple regression analysis (MRA) is a common valuation method, but traditional cost tables may also be used.

COMPUTER PROGRAM - A series of stored instructions which enable a computer to perform some complex task without the continuous and direct intervention of the operator.  Programs are written in various specialized languages such as BASIC, COBOL and FORTRAN.

CONDEMNATION - The act whereby governments, government agencies and public utilities having the power of eminent domain may seize private property for public use and benefit upon payment of just compensation.  The consent of the property owner is not required.

CONDOMINIUM - A form of fee simple ownership of part of a structure having multiple units.  Owners have title to their own units plus a share of the common elements.

CONFORMITY, PRINCIPLE OF - This premise holds that value is maximized when there is a reasonable degree of social and economic homogeneity in a neighborhood and the improvements located therein are generally similar although certainly not exact replicas.

CONSIDERATION - The price in money or other commodities which satisfies a contract.  In appraisal, usually the actual selling price.

CONSISTENT USE THEORY - The premise that property in transition from one use to another cannot be valued by applying one use to the land and another to the improvements.

CONSTANT - A number used in mathematical calculations that does not vary in value.  Pi, which is always equal to 3.1416 (rounded), is always used to find the circumference and area of a circle no matter what the size of the circle.

CONSTRUCTIVE CONDEMNATION - A governmental action which results in a substantial loss to a property owner even though the property itself is not taken.  For example, a change in the zoning of a vacant parcel from highway commercial to protected wetlands would be likely to result in a sharp reduction in the market value of the parcel.  In a case such as this, a court, upon petition by the owner, may order that the parcel be condemned and just compensation paid.  Also known as inverse condemnation.

CONTEMPORARY STYLE - A type of modern architecture characterized by open multi-level interior planning, large window areas, simple (not ornate) details, and various - sometimes mixed - roof styles.  Exterior walls are often of stained rather than painted wood.

CONTIGUOUS - Touching, or sharing boundaries.  Lots that lie next to each other and have part of their boundaries in common are said to be contiguous.

CONTINGENT FEES - Payments based on the results of the services performed.  A fee for a certiorari appraisal based on the amount of tax reduction achieved would be a contingent fee.  This type of compensation is generally considered unethical in the appraisal profession.

CONTOUR MAP - A map using lines connecting points of equal elevation to display the topography (hills, valleys, etc.) of the areas covered by the map.  Also known as a “Topographical Map.”

CONTRACT RENT - The actual payments required by a lease agreement.  May differ from economic rent.

CONTRIBUTION, PRINCIPLE OF - A premise which holds that the value of a factor in production or of a component part of a property depends on its contribution to the value of the property as a whole.

CONTRIBUTORY VALUE OF IMPROVEMENTS - The amount that improvements add to the market value of a property.  That amount may be higher or lower than the cost of the improvements.  It represents the market's view of the increase or decrease in the property's desirability attributable to their presence or absence.

CONVERSION PERIOD - The time interval used in the calculation of compound interest: daily, monthly, annually, etc.

CONVEYANCE - A written instrument which transfers interest and rights in real property from one party to another.

COOPERATIVE APARTMENT - A dwelling unit owned by a corporation in which an owner owns stock commensurate with the value of his or her apartment compared to the value of the building as a whole.  The stockholder has a proprietary lease to the apartment.

COORDINATE LOCATOR NUMBER - An easting and northing reading in feet from the point of origin of the appropriate zone of the New York Coordinate System to the visual center of a parcel.

CORD - A cubic measure of the quantity of cut wood.  Equal to a stack 8 feet long by 4 feet high by 4 feet wide containing 128 cubic feet.

CORNER INFLUENCE - The effect of location at or near a street corner on the value of a parcel.  The effect on market value is generally positive for a commercial establishment such as a store but may be a detriment to a home because of loss of backyard privacy.

CORRECTIONS OF ERRORS LAW - Sections 550 to 559 of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) set forth the circumstances and conditions under which assessment and tax rolls may be corrected and taxes refunded or additional taxes levied.

CORRELATION - The property of two variables to be related such that knowledge about one of them provides at least some information about the other.  Knowing the size of a vacant lot will help to predict its selling price although not precisely because there are other factors which also influence the price.  See also “Coefficient of Correlation.”

COST APPROACH - A method of estimating the value of real property by calculating a current construction cost, subtracting accrued depreciation and adding a land value obtained from the market.  This method works best when the improvements are relatively new and estimates of depreciation are thus more likely to be accurate.  Also best used in the absence of comparable sales.

COST EFFECTIVENESS - A judgment as to whether or not the cost to undertake a course of action is justified by the results in terms of income received or value added.

COST INDEX - A multiplier used in building cost manuals to bring the information in the tables up to a current date to reflect changes in the cost of labor, materials, etc.

COST MANUAL - A book wherein are listed in tabular form the costs of construction of various types of structures at different grades of construction quality.  Major building components are generally priced in dollars per square foot, while add-ons such as yard improvements may be priced using the unit in place method.

COST OF DEVELOPMENT METHOD - See “Development Method.”

CONTERMINOUS - Having the same boundaries.  Cities and their school districts are usually conterminous while a suburban or rural school district may be in parts of several towns and there may be several school districts in one town.

COST TO CURE - The amount of capital required to mitigate physical or functional depreciation.  The end result of a careful study of all defects necessary to determine whether the defined obsolescence is curable or incurable.

COUNTY-OWNED REFORESTED LAND - Land which has been acquired by a county and will be forever devoted to the purpose of reforestation.  Such land is exempt from county taxes but taxable for all other purposes.

COVENANT - A written agreement, often part of a deed, whereby one of the parties promises to perform certain acts or to refrain from performing them.  See also “Restrictive Covenant.”

CRAWL SPACE - An accessible but unfinished enclosed area below the first story of a building, of less than full-story height (typically five feet in height or less).

CROP ROTATION - The process of annually alternating different field crops such as corn or wheat with legumes to maintain and/or improve the fertility of the soil.

CRUISE, TIMBER - A survey of land to locate standing timber and estimate its type, quantity and quality.

CUL DE SAC - A street open at one end only, usually with a turn-around circle at the closed end.

CURABLE DEPRECIATION - Items of physical deterioration and functional obsolescence which are economically feasible to cure and which a prudent property owner would be likely to repair or replace.  It is anticipated that the cost to cure would exceed the potential increase in market value.  See “Incurable Depreciation”

CURTAIN WALL - A non-load-bearing outside wall which encloses but does not support the structural frame of a building.

CUT-OVER LAND - An area where logging operations have removed all or nearly all of the original virgin forest.

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DATA - Information in the form of numbers, letters or symbols which can be stored, processed, produced and interpreted, usually by a computer.  A computer program manipulates data (the taxable value of a property and the tax rate) to produce additional data (the amount of tax owed).

DATA COLLECTION - The process of noting and recording, usually by field inspection, the information required to value real property.  A data collector might measure a house and note the number of rooms and bathrooms and the presence of decks, fireplaces, central air conditioning, etc.

DATA MAILER - A document requesting a property owner to supply inventory/valuation information relating to his property or to confirm the accuracy of data already on file.

DATA PROCESSING - The use of a computer to manipulate information to produce some desired result such as a list of parcels sorted by owner name, tax bills or an estimate of value using regression analysis.

DATA BASE - A collection of related information such as the inventory of all parcels in a town, usually in a computer file.

DATE OF APPRAISAL - The day as of which the value estimate applies.  Usually a current date but can be in the past (an appraisal as of date-of-death for estate purposes) or the future (a proposed shopping center).  See “Valuation Date.”

DEAD LOAD - The permanent weight of the structure including fixed equipment such as boilers and air conditioning machinery.  Live load items such as people, furniture or merchandise are not included.

DEBT COVERAGE - The ability of the property to meet the costs of debt service out of net operating income.

DEBT COVERAGE RATIO - The relationship between net operating income and annual debt service.  A measure of the security behind the mortgage loan.  The higher the ratio the more secure the loan.

DEBT SERVICE - The periodic payments of interest and principal required by a mortgage agreement.

DECLINING ANNUITY METHOD - A valuation technique based on the presumption that future income will decline progressively and systematically.  The present worth of this predicted income stream is calculated.

DECLINING BALANCE DEPRECIATION - A method of depreciation whereby a fixed percentage is applied to the balances remaining after previous depreciation has been deducted.  Applying 52 depreciation to an improvement with an RCN of $100,000, first year depreciation would be $5,000 (52 of $100,000), second year depreciation would be $4,750 (52 of $95,000) and third year depreciation would be $4,512.50 (52 of $90,250).

DEDICATED - Donated to a municipality for public use by the fee owner.  A developer will usually dedicate the streets in a subdivision when the project has been completed.

DEED - A legal written instrument used to convey title to or an interest in real property.

DEED DESCRIPTION - A listing in a deed of the legal boundaries of a parcel.  Sometimes includes a description of the various courses and distances of the boundaries and sometimes only a reference to a filed map or a prior deed.

DEED OF TRUST - A legal written instrument conveying or transferring real property to a trustee.

DEFAULT - In data processing, information supplied by the system unless overridden by the user.  For example, a word processing program might automatically apply a 10-character left margin to a document (the “default setting”) unless the user specifies some other margin.

DEFERRED MAINTENANCE - Repairs and rehabilitation required to put a property in good condition.  Might include painting, repair of cracks in a blacktop driveway, repainting of brickwork, etc.  Almost always present to some degree in any structure.

DEFICIENCY - A structural inadequacy.  Lack of some component which should be present or materials or workmanship inferior to what might normally be expected.

DENSITY ZONING - A land use limitation on development setting a maximum number of dwelling units per acre or some similar standard.

DEPENDENT VARIABLE - The data being sought vs. the independent variables for which data are already available.  In multiple regression analysis the dependent variable is usually market value while independent variables such as acres, square feet of living area, number of bedrooms and overall condition are used to predict market value.

DEPLETION - A reduction in the value of an asset by the removal of non-replaceable resources (called wasting assets) such as petroleum, ores or other minerals.  As the supply of coal in a mine becomes exhausted, the value of the real property declines.

DEPLETION RATE - The percentage of a wasting asset such as coal, ores or oil which is removed annually.

DEPRECIATED COST - Cost new less accrued loss of utility and value (depreciation).

DEPRECIATION - A loss of utility and value caused by physical deterioration, functional obsolescence or economic obsolescence or any combination thereof.

DEPRECIATION ALLOWANCE - The amount of loss of utility and value accrued against the eventual replacement of an asset.  A bookkeeping rather than appraisal term.

DEPRECIATION METHODS - The processes used to measure loss of value due to depreciation.  May be based on observation or some formula such as straight-line or declining balance.

DEPRECIATION RATE - The periodic amount or percentage by which the value of a property is reduced.

DEPTH FACTOR - A percentage which expresses the value of a lot of given depth relative to-that of a lot having an adopted standard (100%) depth.

DEPTH TABLE - A chart listing the depth factors per front foot for lots of varying depths as compared to the front foot value of a lot of standard depth.

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS - The measures of central tendency and dispersion used to characterize a particular set of data.  For example, the coefficient of dispersion of a town assessment roll.  See “Inferential Statistics.”

DETERIORATION - Impairment of condition caused by wear and tear; the physical disintegration of a structure.

DEVELOPMENT METHOD - A process of valuing vacant land (usually raw and un-subdivided) by determining what the land would be worth as subdivided building lots with roads and utilities and then subtracting the direct costs of development plus developer's profits.  Also known as the anticipated use method.

DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS - The authority of a property owner to subdivide, build on and otherwise improve the property.  Efforts to control growth sometimes involve the purchase of these rights by a municipality and the property is then assessed based only on its present use.

DEVIATION - In statistics, the difference between a single observation in a sample and the mean or median of the sample.  If the median assessment ratio in a sales file is 2O and the assessment ratio of an individual parcel is 22, the deviation is 2.

DIAMETER BREAST HIGH (DBH) - The width of a tree at 4 ½ feet above ground level.

DIGITIZER - A precision electronic instrument which can measure the position of a point on a map or drawing using coordinate locators related to the X and Y axis.

DIMINISHED UTILITY - Loss of usefulness, and thus value, due to depreciation.  Also referred to as accrued depreciation.

DIRECT CAPITALIZATION - The conversion of anticipated annual net operating income into present value by dividing the income by a capitalization rate appropriate to the relationships between income and value currently existing in the marketplace.

DIRECT COSTS - Funds used specifically for the construction of an improvement such as expenses for materials, labor, supervision, equipment and utilities.

DIRECT REDUCTION LOAN - A loan that is normally repaid in periodic installments of a constant amount which include both principal and interest.

DISCOUNT - Money paid at the beginning of a period of time for the use of capital during that period; usually deducted from principal at the time the funds are loaned.  The reduction of future payments to present worth.

DISCOUNT RATE - 1. In appraisal the return, expressed as a percent, on investment in the physical components of land and buildings.  Also, the percent of return on the legal components of leased fee and leasehold interests.  Sometimes called the risk rate.  2. The annual percentage that reflects the competitive rate of return on an investment as distinguished from the interest rate on borrowed funds.  3. The percent charged by the Federal Reserve on member bank borrowings.

DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW - The present worth of future cash payments from an equity investment.

DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW METHODS - Means of isolating differences in the timing of future cash flows by discounting them to their present values.  The two methods are the internal-rate-of-return method and the net-present-value method.

DISCOUNTED RATE OF RETURN - See “Internal Rate of Return.”

DISPERSION, MEASURES OF - Statistical formulas such as the standard deviation, variance or coefficient of dispersion which measure the degree of scatter of a data set around a measure of central tendency such as the median or mean.

DIVIDEND - A monetary distribution to stockholders.  In appraisal, the term is synonymous with “Net Operating Income.”

DOCUMENTATION - The collected and organized printed materials which serve to explain the operations of a computer program.

DORMER - A house-like structure projecting from a sloping roof into which a window is set.  A “dog house” dormer may be only a few feet wide while a “shed” dormer may run almost the length of the house.

DRY ROT - A fungus decay of old wood.

DRY WALL - Any type of interior wall construction such as wood paneling, gypsum board, etc.  which does not use plaster as the finishing material.

DRY WELL - A drainage pit lined with stones to allow sanitary wastes such as rain runoff from a roof to percolate or leach into the surrounding soil.

DUPLEX - A house containing two separate dwelling units usually side by side.

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E I E I O - Professional Designation for experts in Farm Valuation

EASEMENT - An interest held by one person in land owned by another person.  A privilege or right of use or enjoyment such as a right-of-way for utility lines, a joint driveway, etc.

ECOLOGY - The pattern of relationships between living organisms and their environment.

ECONOMIC BASE ANALYSIS - A means of reviewing the relationship between basic and non-basic employment which allows for prediction of population, income and other variables affecting real property values.

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY - The likelihood of a project (or income property) to produce a reasonable return on and recapture of the capital investment.  In the case of non-revenue property, the need for and the desirability of the property for the purpose for which it is designed.

ECONOMIC LIFE - The length of time during which improvements can reasonably be expected to be profitably utilized and contribute to the value of a property.  Not exactly the same as “useful life.”

ECONOMIC OBSOLESCENCE - A loss in value caused by influences external to the property such as increasing industrial activity near a residential neighborhood.

ECONOMIC RENT - The income from a tenant that could normally be expected from a property available for rent under prevailing market conditions.  Also known as market rent.  Not to be confused with contract rent which is actual rent payable under the terms of a lease and may be more or less than economic rent.

EDIT - In data processing, a procedure designed to detect and list data in computer files which is or may be incorrect.  For example, a ZIP code with only four digits which is incorrect or, in an assessment inventory file, a house built before 1750 which is probably but not necessarily incorrect.

EFFECTIVE AGE - The age of an improvement as indicated by its condition.  A building that has been well maintained may have an effective age less than its actual (chronological) age.  The reverse may be true if a building has been neglected.

EFFECTIVE GROSS INCOME (EGI) - The estimated potential income of a property from all sources less allowances for vacancy and credit loss.

EFFECTIVE TAX RATE (ETR) - The nominal (actual) tax rate multiplied by the level of assessment.  If the level of assessment is 30 (.30) and the nominal tax rate is $80 per $1,000, the effective tax rate is $24 per $1,000 or 2.4%.  See also “Equalized Tax Rate.”

ELEVATION - 1. The height of land, at a given point, above sea level.  2. The projection of an object in a vertical plane.  A front, side or rear view of a house as distinct from a floor plan which is a horizontal projection.

ELLWOOD METHOD - A procedure for mortgage-equity capitalization.

EMINENT DOMAIN - The right of a sovereign government to acquire private property for
public or quasi-public purposes without the consent of the owner but with payment of reasonable compensation.  See “Condemnation.”

EMPIRICAL - Describes an opinion, conclusion or data based solely on practical experience, experimentation or observation rather than derived by scientific principals and methods.

ENCROACHMENT - 1. A form of trespass in which an improvement or part of an improvement in constructed on the property of another.  2. The displacement of one existing use by another such as the establishment of commercial enterprises in a residential area.

ENCUMBRANCE - An interest in or claim upon real property which diminishes the value of the fee but does not prevent conveyance thereof.  Mortgages and taxes are forms of encumbrances known as a liens, while deed restrictions and easements are non-lien encumbrances.

ENGINEERING BREAKDOWN METHOD - A process for estimating accrued depreciation by totaling estimates made for the individual components of the improvement such as the roof, foundation walls and electric wiring.

ENTREPRENEUR - One who assumes the risk and management of a business or enterprise in the expectation of profit rather than for a wage or salary.

EQUALIZATION - The process of bringing the assessed value of jurisdictions assessing at different levels to a common level, usually fair market value as of a given date.

EQUALIZATION CHANGE - A change in assessed value reported on the assessor's report that is not caused by a physical or quantity change or a change in exempt status.  Effectively, it represents a change in the assessor's opinion of value of the parcel.

EQUALIZATION RATE - A weighted average ratio of the total assessed value in a municipality divided by the total market value.  An equalization rate of 20% indicates that assessments were at an average of one-fifth of market value when the equalization rate survey was made.

EQUALIZATION SURVEY - The process by which equalization rates are established.  In New York State surveys are usually conducted every three years using appraisals of a stratified random sample of all types of taxable real property in an assessing unit.

EQUALIZED FULL VALUE - The result of dividing assessed value by the equalization rate.  If a municipality has a total taxable assessed value of $50 million and an equalization rate of 25%, the equalized full value is $200 million.

EQUALIZED TAX RATE - The nominal (actual) tax rate multiplied by the equalization rate.  If the equalization rate is 30% and the nominal tax rate is $80 per $1,000, the equalized tax rate is $24 per $1,000 or 2.42.  See also “Effective Tax Rate.”

EQUITY - The interest or value which an owner has in real estate over and above any indebtedness such as mortgages.  Also, fairness.  The assessor is responsible for the equitable or fair distribution of the property tax burden.

EQUITY-BUILDUP - The repayment of principal in the amortization of a loan which decreases outstanding indebtedness and thus increases the owner's equity.  Interest payments do not increase equity.

EQUITY CONSTANT - See “Equity Dividend Rate.”

EQUITY DIVIDEND - Net operating income remaining after the payment of debt service.  Cash flow to the capital investor.

EQUITY DIVIDEND RATE - The ratio of the annual dividend on capital to the capital investment.  Sometimes called “Cash on Cash.”

EQUITY PARTICIPATION - The right of a lender to share in whatever the capital investors receive.  May be a percentage of annual equity income or of the reversion.  Used to attract lenders in times when the availability of mortgage money is limited.

EQUITY RATIO - That part of the investment which is not encumbered by debt.  The down payment.

EQUITY YIELD - The dollar return on equity from all sources.

EQUITY YIELD RATE - The annualized rate of return on invested capital including both the average annual dividend and any gain or loss from the reversion at the termination of the investment.

ESCHEAT - The reversion of property to the state when there is no one legally able to inherit it.  Usually occurs when a property owner dies without a will and without heirs.

ESCROW - The money or property of one party which has been consigned to an intermediary to be delivered to another party at some appropriate time.  A bank will receive mortgage payments from a property owner which include a provision for property taxes and will pay the taxes to the taxing jurisdictions when the bills are received.  The escrow is the money or other property itself.

ESTATE - The interest or the nature of the interest which one has in real property such as fee ownership, life tenancy, or an interest established by a lease.

EXCESS (SURPLUS) LAND - The area and/or frontage of a parcel greater than the normal standard for a site in a particular neighborhood or market.

EXCESS FRONTAGE TABLE - A chart which reflects the decrease in value per front foot for a parcel (usually residential) having greater than the normal standard frontage.

EXCESS INCOME - That part of actual rental income which is greater than the fair market rental at a specific time.  May be due to a fortuitous lease, a noncompetitive market or a lease made prior to a decline in market rental rates or other factors.

EXCESS RENT - The amount by which contract rent is greater than fair market rent.

EXCESS VALUE - The amount by which the value of a lease is greater than the normally expected value because contract rent is greater than fair market rent.

EXEMPT ASSESSED VALUE - That portion of a parcel's (or an entire roll's) total assessed value which is exempt from taxation.

EXEMPTION - A form of relief from taxation where all or part of the assessed value is free from payment of some or all tax levies.  Typically granted to individuals as a matter of public policy (elderly and veterans exemptions), property owned by the federal, state or municipal governments or their agencies, and organizations such as private schools organized for a specific exempt purpose with the added requirement that the parcel must be used to achieve that purpose.

EXEMPTION CODE - A five digit number assigned by the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) to every exemption granted by statute in New York State.  The significance of the first digit of each code is as follows: 1. Publicly owned, wholly exempt.  2. Privately owned, wholly exempt.  3. Publicly owned, partially exempt.  4. Privately owned, partially exempt.  The second, third and fourth digits identify and group exemptions and the last digit specifies the taxing purposes to which the exemption applies (county, town or city, school, village) or some combination thereof or all.

EXPENSE RATIO - The total allowable expenses divided by the effective gross income.  That fraction of effective gross income consumed by the cost of doing business.

EXPERT WITNESS - Individuals whose recognized knowledge of some art, business, profession or science qualifies them to testify on a subject as experts thereon.  An appraiser with a recognized national designation might be an expert witness in a certiorari proceeding.

EXTRAPOLATE - To calculate or estimate a quantity beyond the range of the data upon which the calculation or estimate is based.  For example, to estimate the cost to build a 6,000 sq. ft. house from tables giving the cost to build houses of 1,000 to 5,000 sq. ft.  See also “Interpolate.”

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FACADE - The principal exterior face of a building, usually the front.

FACE BRICK - A hard burned brick of selected color, size and texture used for the exterior finished wall of a building.

FACTOR - A multiplier or coefficient such as the Inwood factor.  Numbers which can be divided into another number with an integer (whole number) result.  The factors of 6, for example, are 2 and 3.

FACTORED HISTORICAL COST - An original construction cost which has been up-dated to a current cost by use of a multiplier.  The multiplier is determined by age, location, construction quality, etc.  Useful for rough estimates only.

FAIR MARKET VALUE - The most probable price, expressed in terms of money, that a property would bring if exposed for sale in the open market in an arm's-length transaction between a willing seller and a willing buyer, both of whom are knowledgeable concerning all the uses to which it is adapted and for which it is capable of being used.  [From “Property Assessment Valuation” published by the International Association of Assessing Officers.]  Synonymous with “Market Value.”

FANNIE MAE (FNMA) - The Federal National Mortgage Association.  A privately-owned corporation which purchases conventional first mortgages at discounts.

FARM - A tract of rural land operated as an agricultural unit.  Its primary function is the production of agricultural products such as grains, fruits, vegetables, poultry, livestock and dairy products.

FARM LAYOUT - The arrangement of fields, farm buildings, roads and other land features.

FARMSTEAD - The site of farm buildings; the focal point of farming operations.

FEE SIMPLE - Unqualified ownership of real property subject only to the limitations of taxation, eminent domain, police power and escheat.  The complete bundle of rights.

FEE TAIL - An estate of inheritance which specifies the descendants or heirs of the owner of the real estate to whom said real estate may be granted.  Abolished in most states and converted to fee simple.

FENESTRATION - The design and arrangement of the windows in a building.

FIDUCIARY - A person who occupies a position of special trust in certain relationships to
another person or persons.  An administrator, executor, guardian, receiver or trustee.

FIELD BOOK - Usually a copy of the current year's assessment roll in which changes for the following year's roll are written.

FIELD CROP - An annual crop such as wheat which is planted and harvested by mechanical means.

FILE - In data processing, a collection of similar records such as a file containing the inventory records of every parcel in a town.

FILE MAINTENANCE - The process of updating and correcting a computer data file by entering new information in the appropriate records and fields.

FIELD (RECORDED) MAP - A document such as a plan of a subdivision which is filed with the county clerk and often referred to in legal descriptions.

FINAL ASSESSMENT ROLL - A document containing assessment and exemption information on all parcels in a municipality.  Differs from the tentative assessment roll with respect to changes ordered by a Board of Assessment Review, assessments and ceilings made by the State Board of Real Property Services (SBRPS) and ownership and address changes since the tentative roll.  Filed on July 1 by most towns in New York State and on April 1 by most villages.

FINAL VALUE ESTIMATE - The end product of an appraisal resulting from the reconciliation of the various approaches to value used.

FIRE DOOR - A door whose core and external surfaces are especially constructed to delay the spread of fire.  Some fire doors can be closed automatically from a remote location or are activated by heat.

FIREPROOFING - The use of non-combustible materials to protect the structural components of a building so that it will be less likely to lose its structural integrity if the interior contents are burned.

FIRE WALL - A structure within a building that is fire-resistant and structurally stable which will control and minimize the spread of fire in a building.  Usually of brick, poured concrete or concrete block.

FIRST MORTGAGE - A loan having priority over all other voluntary liens against a property.  See “Mortgage.”

FISCAL YEAR - An accounting period which usually coincides with the calendar year but may begin at any time.  School districts, for example, usually have an August 1 to July 31 fiscal year because of the way that the school year is organized for academic purposes.

FIXES EXPENSES (CHARGES) - Costs not related to occupancy, such as property taxes or insurance premiums, which are largely beyond the control of the property owner or manager.  Despite the common use of the word “fixed,” they in fact almost always increase from one year to the next.

FIXED-RATE MORTGAGE - A conventional loan in which the interest rate remains constant for the life of the loan.

FIXTURE - An article of personal property which has been permanently attached to the land or to a building so that it becomes real property.  Examples are lighting fixtures such as chandeliers or rods for curtains or drapes.

FLOOD PLAIN - An area of land adjoining a river which, because of its topography, would flood if the river were to overflow its banks.  Structures can usually be built in the flood plain but typically at an added cost (i.e., flood insurance, potential loss to severe flood damage, etc.)

FLOOD WAY - That area in which the natural current of water flows.  Can not be built in or impeded.

FLOOR AREA - The amount of space of an individual floor or all of the floors of a building computed using outside dimensions for each floor and excluding porches and patios.  The total floor space is known as the square feet of living area.

FLOOR-AREA RATIO - The floor area of the building as a percentage of the total area of the parcel on which it stands.  A building with 10,000 feet of floor area on a one acre lot would have a 23% floor area ratio.  The term is often used in the context of zoning.

FLOOR LOAD - The live weight measured in pounds per square foot which a floor may safely sustain.  Also known as the “Live Load.”  Does not include the weight of the building itself.

FOOTING - The projecting base of the foundation wall which ties the building into the ground and distributes the weight of the structure over a wider area to prevent shifting or settling.

FOOTPRINT - The outline of the exterior dimension of the ground floor of a building on the site.  The shape and area covered by the building.

FORAGE CROP - A member of the grass family which is often harvested and stored in silos as a food reserve for livestock.

FORECLOSURE - The legal process by which a mortgagee forces sale of a property in case of default by the mortgagor so as to recover the principal of the mortgage loan.

FOREST, MATURE - A stand of trees which has reached the age at which its products are ready for maximum utilization.  May depend on the objectives for which the forest is managed: maple syrup vs. saw-logs, etc.

FOUNDATION - The part of a building, usually below and at grade, upon which the superstructure rests; ties the building to the footing.

FOUR-THREE-TWO-ONE RULE - A depth influence formula which states that the quarter of a standard depth lot which fronts on the street provides 40% of the lot's total value, whereas the second quarter provides 30%, the third quarter 20%, and the rear quarter farthest from the street only 10%.  See also “One-Third, Two-Thirds Rule.”

FOYER - The lobby of a theater or hotel.  The entrance hall of a house.

FRACTIONAL ASSESSMENT - A procedure whereby assessments are made at some uniform percentage of full or fair market value rather than at 100% thereof.

FRAME (WOOD) CONSTRUCTION - A method of building in which a wood frame consisting of vertical wall studs, horizontal floor joists and rafters define and support the structure.  The exterior shell may also be of wood or some other siding material with or without a veneer facing.

FRAMING - The structural members which support a building and determine its size and shape.

FREEHOLD - An unencumbered, lien-free estate for life or during the life of another person.

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION - A summary of observations consolidated into groups according to their frequency of occurrence.  For example, the number of sales of homes within specified price ranges.  Usually presented in the form of a table or graph.

FRONT FOOT - A strip of land one foot wide fronting on a street, railroad siding or body of water and extending to the rear of the parcel.  This distance is frequently measured in terms of a standard depth.  See also “Frontage.”

FRONTAGE - The linear extent of a parcel of land along some traffic artery such as a street or highway.  Also the extent along a body of water such as a river or the seashore.
 

FRONTAGE ROAD - A local street paralleling a limited access highway built to serve abutting properties and gather and control traffic entering or leaving the major artery.  Also called a service road.
 

FULL VALUE - A synonym for “Fair Market Value.”

FUNCTION OF THE APPRAISAL - The purpose for which the value conclusion of the appraisal is needed such as sale, mortgage, estate tax, etc.

FUNCTIONAL (CURABLE & INCURABLE) OBSOLESCENCE - Impairment of useful capacity or efficiency; loss of value caused by super-adequacy, inadequacy or changes in the art inherent in the property itself.  Not to be confused with the external effects of economic obsolescence.  Curable if the cost to cure is justified by the resulting increase in value of the property; otherwise incurable.

FUNCTIONAL UTILITY - The sum of the usefulness and attractiveness of a property.  The ability of a property to perform the functions for which it is intended.

FUTURE WORTH OF ONE - The value at the end of a specified number of months or years of one dollar deposited today at a specified interest rate.  Example: What one dollar would be worth five years from today if placed in a savings account at 7% interest compounded annually.  One of the “six functions of a dollar.”

FUTURE WORTH OF ONE PER PERIOD - The value at the end of a specified number of months or years of regular periodic deposits of one dollar at a specified interest rate.  Example: What annual deposits of one dollar would be worth at the end of five years at 7% interest compounded annually.  One of the “six functions of a dollar.”

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GABLE ROOF - A single-pitch, ridged roof which forms a triangular shape in the vertical plane at the ends of the structure.

GAMBREL ROOF - A gable-type roof with slopes of two different pitches, the lower one being more nearly vertical.

GEOCODE - A numbering system used to identify a point on the surface of the earth such as the center of a parcel.  The grid coordinates of the visual center.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) - A computerized database which displays layers of information such as tax map parcels, roads, school and special district boundaries, utility distribution, topography, wet lands, etc.  Different layers may be combined as desired.

GEOGRAPHIC POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) - A means of identifying ones position on earth by measuring the distance to three or more military satellites in a geosynchronized orbit with specialized receivers.

GINGERBREAD WORK - Architectural ornamentation of a house, usually considered excessive by today's standards.  Typical of late 19th century design.

GINNY MAE (GNMA) - The Government National Mortgage Association.  A federal agency which purchases mortgages in the secondary market and sells participation certificates, which are guaranteed as to principal, to the general public thus creating a source of funds for the mortgage market.

GORE - A small, usually triangular, parcel of land of undetermined ownership resulting from survey or deed description errors involving adjoining parcels.

GRADE - 1. A letter and number (i.e. B+20, C-10) measure of quality of construction.  2. The vertical rise and fall of the earth's surface, often expressed as a percentage of horizontal distance.  3. The process of smoothing the ground surface to make it suitable for constructions.

GRADUATED LEASE - A rental agreement which provides for an initial level of rent followed by specified increases or decreases at specific intervals.

GRADUATED PAYMENT MORTGAGE - A loan which provides for lower payments during its earlier years and higher payments as maturity approaches.  It is designed to allow for the fact that the mortgagee's income, and thus ability to meet monthly payments, will increase over time.

GRANTEE - A person or organization to whom property is transferred to by deed or to whom property rights are granted by a trust instrument or other document.  Usually the buyer.

GRANTOR - A person or organization which conveys property by deed or grants rights to property through a trust instrument or other document.  Usually the seller.

GRANTOR/GRANTEE INDEXES - Separate books which list alphabetically by grantor or grantee last name the book and page of deeds recorded in the county clerk's office.

GRIEVANCE DAY - A period of time designated for administrative review of assessments by a Board of Assessment Review: the third Tuesday in May for most towns in New York State and the third Tuesday in February for most villages.  Public hearings may be adjourned to succeeding days as required.

GROSS INCOME MULTIPLIER (GIM) - A figure which is obtained by dividing the selling price of a property by the annual (or monthly) gross income.  It may be used to estimate the market value of similar properties whose gross income is known which have not sold recently.

GROSS LEASEABLE (RENTABLE) AREA - Includes common space such as halls, restrooms and vestibules in addition to the floor space to be occupied by the tenant which is the net leaseable area.  The term is used in connection with shopping centers and office buildings.

GROSS LEASE - A rental agreement which requires the lessor to pay most or all of the property charges such as taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities, etc.

GROSS RENT MULTIPLIER (GRM) - See “Gross Income Multiplier.” Gross rent, rather than net operating income, is divided into the selling price to obtain the multiplier.
 

GROUND FLOOR AREA - The space of the grade-level floor of an improvement computed using exterior dimensions.

GROUND COVERAGE - The percent of the site which is covered by the grade-level floor of the improvements.

GROUND LEASE - A rental agreement which conveys the right of use of vacant land or land exclusive of any buildings on it.

GROUND RENT - The amount paid for the right to occupy and use a parcel of land or that portion of total rent considered to represent a return on the land only.

GROUND WATER - Water beneath the ground which has seeped down from the surface.  The source of springs and wells.

GUARANTEED TITLE - A record of ownership whose validity has been guaranteed and insured by a title or abstract company.

GUNITE - A cement-like compound which is applied under pressure from a gun or nozzle.  Often used in the construction of swimming pools.

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HARD DRIVE (OR DISK) - A magnetic data storage medium for micro computers.  A permanent installation with very high storage capacity as contrasted to a floppy diskette which is removable and usually stores much less data.

HARDWARE - The physical components of a computer such as printers, monitors and disk drives.

HARDWOOD - Lumber from broad-leaved, deciduous trees such as oak or maple as opposed to wood from evergreen trees.  This term does not refer to the density of the wood.

HARMONIOUS - A term used to describe the pleasing architectural details of a building; the appropriateness with which a structure harmonizes or blends with other neighborhood structures; a neighborhood of socially and economically compatible people.

HEAT PUMP - A reversible-cycle refrigeration system which may be used for heating or cooling.

HETEROGENEOUS - In appraisal, a term used to describe a neighborhood composed of varied properties and property uses and occupied by people of dissimilar cultural, social and economic backgrounds.  Opposite of “Homogeneous.”

HIGHEST AND BEST USE - That legal and probable use which will generate the highest net return to the property over a period of time.

HIP ROOF - A roof with sloping sides and ends, usually of the same pitch.  If there is no ridge (the slopes meet at a point) the roof is called a pyramid roof.

HISTOGRAM - A vertical bar graph, without spaces between the bars, the length of whose bars are proportional to the frequency of the observations which they represent.

HISTORIC SITE - A parcel of historic importance because of some event which took place on or near the site.

HISTORICAL COST - The actual cost of an improvement when constructed.  Not to be confused with original cost which is the cost to the present owner and may be more or less than historical cost.

HISTORICAL RENT - Actual rent paid at some time in the past.  Usually the same as contract rent at the time of the lease but may be different than economic rent.

HOLDING PERIOD - The term of ownership of an investment.

HOLDING PERIOD YIELD - The total return on an investment during the period the investment is held by the owner.

HOMESTEAD ASSESSING UNIT - An approved assessing unit that has adopted the homestead provisions of section 1903 of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL).

HOMESTEAD CLASS - All one, two or three-family residential real property used wholly or primarily for residential purposes, farm dwellings, condominiums with certain restrictions and owner-occupied separately assessed mobile homes and trailers.  (From RPTL 1901)

HOMESTEAD BASE PROPORTION - The ratio of the taxable assessed value of the homestead class in a special assessing unit to the total taxable assessed value in that jurisdiction.

HOMOGENEOUS - In appraisal, a term used to describe a neighborhood of similar properties and property uses in which the property owners have similar cultural, social and economic backgrounds.  The opposite of heterogeneous.

HOSKOLD FACTOR - A multiplier used to capitalize income produced by a wasting asset.

H.U.D. - The Department of Housing & Urban Development.  A federal department responsible for major programs such as urban renewal, low rent public housing, mortgage insurance, etc.

HYPOTHESIS - In statistics, a statement whose truth one is interested in proving or dis-proving.  There are various procedures for testing a hypothesis at some predetermined confidence level by analyzing relevant data.

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IMPACT NOTICE - A notice to property owners sent upon completion of a general reassessment indicating the effect that the assessment change would have had on their prior year tax burden.  Assumes tax levies unchanged from the preceding year and thus in not a prediction.  Also known as the “Full Disclosure Notice.”

IMPROVED LAND - Land which has had buildings or other structures erected on it or has been prepared for development by grading and the installation of drainage and utilities as opposed to raw land.

IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT - See “Special District.”

IMPROVEMENTS - See “Improvements-on-Land” and “Improvements-to-Land.”

IMPROVEMENTS-ON-LAND - Structures which have been erected permanently on a site.  Usually buildings but could be walls, utility poles, water towers, etc.

IMPROVEMENTS-TO-LAND - Additions such as drainage, grading, sidewalks and utilities which prepare the land for further development.

IN REM - A legal term referring to an action by a municipality to seize property for non-payment of taxes.

INCOME AND EXPENSE (I&E) STATEMENT - A written report setting forth sources of income and expenses associated with the operation and ownership of a particular piece of real property.

INCOME APPROACH - An appraisal technique whereby the value of an income-producing property is estimated by capitalizing its net operating income using an appropriate capitalization rate.  Value = Income / Rate.

INCOME MULTIPLIER - See “Gross Income Multiplier.”

INCOME PROPERTY - Property owned or controlled for the purpose of making money (producing a profit).  Payments of rent are the usual source of income.

INCOME STREAM - Monies derived from owning property.  Usually considered from the aspects of quantity (the amount of money received), quality (the credit-worthiness of the tenant), durability (the length of time rent will be paid) and shape (whether payments are increasing, decreasing or level).

INCREASING AND DECREASING RETURNS, PRINCIPLE OF - A premise which states that when successive increments of one agent (factor) in production are added to fixed amounts of the other agents benefits (value) will increase up to a certain point after which successive increments will not produce further benefits.

INCURABLE DEPRECIATION - Items of physical deterioration and functional obsolescence which are not economically feasible to cure.  The prudent property owner would not be likely to repair or replace the defect because the cost to cure would exceed the anticipated increase in market value.  See “Curable Depreciation.”

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE - A quantity whose value determines the value of a dependent variable.  Square feet of living area (an independent variable) is one of the determinants of selling price (a dependent variable).

INDIRECT COST - Expense not directly associated with the construction of an improvement.  Fees, financing costs, insurance and feasibility studies are typical examples.

INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY - Land and improvements adapted to manufacturing, processing, assembly, warehousing and certain services such as laundries.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS - The information resulting from a study whereby the characteristics of a population are predicted or inferred from a sample thereof.  The average value of all the homes in a given town (the population) might be inferred from the average selling price of all the homes in the same town which have sold during a given period (the sample).

INHARMONIOUS - A building or group of buildings that do not conform to the aesthetics of the majority of a given street, neighborhood, or municipality.  The opposite of “Harmonious.”  See “Harmonious.”

INSIDE LOT - A property which is not on the corner of a street and is unaffected by corner influence.

INSTALLMENT CONTRACT - An agreement to purchase by which payment is to be made at specified time intervals (usually monthly).

INSTITUTE OF ASSESSING OFFICERS (IAO) - A professional subsidiary organization of the New York State Assessors' Association whose principal function is the furtherance of assessor education.  The Institute awards the “IAO” designation to individuals who have achieved specified levels of training and experience and who have passed a comprehensive examination.

INSURABLE VALUE - The worth of a property subject to destruction by fire or some other disaster.  Land, buried utility lines, footings and foundations and the basement excavation are items which are usually not insurable as they are not likely to be destroyed.

INTANGIBLE PROPERTY - Property which has no physical existence.  The good will of a business cannot be seen or touched but it does have value.

INTEREST - A charge that must be paid for the use of someone else's capital; a return on capital.

INTEREST-ONLY LOAN - A non-amortizing loan.  Only interest is paid during the life of the loan.  The entire principal is paid in one lump sum at the end of the term.

INTEREST RATE -The rate of return on money which has been loaned.  The cost of money to the borrower.

INTERIM USE - A temporary use to which a property is put while transition to the highest and
best use is deferred.

INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (IRR) - The annualized rate of return on capital generated internally by an investment during the holding period.  It is that rate which discounts all returns to equal the value of the original investment.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ASSESSING OFFICERS (IAAO) - An organization with headquarters in the U.S. and a world-wide membership which is devoted to the study of assessment and real property tax administration and the education of assessment personnel.

INTERPOLATE - To calculate a value within a range of data.  Usually the process of determining a value which falls between two entries in a table.  If the basic cost per square foot for a 1,500 square foot house is $70 per square foot and the cost for a 1,600 square foot house is $69.50 per square foot, interpolation enables one to fix the cost of a 1,575 square foot house.  See also “Extrapolate.”

INTRINSIC VALUE - The worth of the physical object itself not including any intangible value that it may have.  A $20 bill has no more intrinsic value than a $1 bill but its intangible worth - its ability to purchase goods and services - is much greater.

INVESTMENT PROPERTY - A property which is a business within itself and through which the owner seeks to receive annual net income and/or achieve a capital gain.

INVESTMENT VALUE - Value to a particular investor based upon his or her specific requirements as distinguished from market value which is unrelated to the owner.

INWOOD ANNUITY - The tables containing the Inwood factors; an annuity which can be capitalized with an Inwood factor.

INWOOD FACTOR - A synonym for “Present Worth of One per Period.”

IRREGULAR LOT - A parcel of land having a shape other than rectangular.

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J FACTOR - An income adjustment used in the Ellwood method of mortgage equity analysis.

JOIST - A horizontal beam supporting the flooring material of a building.

JUDGEMENT LIEN - A charge upon property resulting from a court decree which declares the owner in debt and to what degree.

JUNIOR MORTGAGE - Any lien which has one or more liens ahead of it with respect to priority of payment.  Usually a second mortgage.

JURISDICTION - The physical territory over which authority, power or control is exercised.  Assessment jurisdictions in New York State may be counties, cities, towns and villages.  These may also be taxing jurisdictions as may school districts and special districts.

JUST COMPENSATION - Deserved or fair payment.  In condemnation, the payment of the market value of the property which has been taken.

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KB (KILOBYTE) - In data processing equal to 1,024 (usually rounded to 1,000) characters of data.  Used to measure RAM, ROM, hard disk or diskette storage capacity.

KEY - In data processing a unique combination of numeric and/or alphabetic characters which identifies a record on a computer file.  Also call the “File Key.”

KILOMETER - A measure of length or distance in the metric system.  Equivalent to 1,000 meters or about .621 statute miles.

KNEE WALL - A structural divider of less than normal height usually found in finished attics to isolate (often for storage purposes) that part of the floor area with very little headroom where the slope of the gable roof joins the attic floor.

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LALLY COLUMN - A concrete-filled, steel post used to support beams or girders, usually found in a basement.

LAMINATE - A product such as plywood built up by the bonding of several layers of material to form a single sheet.

LAND - The solid surface of the earth together with the minerals and other resources that lie beneath it and the space above it.

LAND CAPITALIZATION RATE - The ratio of land income to land value; used in the residual techniques that separate net operating income attributable to the land from net operating income attributable to improvements.

LAND CLASSIFICATION - The assignment of parcels of land to specific categories depending on their use or capabilities for use.

LAND CONTRACT - A legal document given to a purchaser of real estate who pays some portion of the purchase price when the document is signed and thereafter makes payments in amounts and at intervals as stipulated by the contract until the full purchase price is paid and a deed is delivered.  Essentially an installment sale.  The time required to foreclose is less than that required by a mortgage and thus the seller has better protection.

LAND GRANT - The legal document used by the federal government to convey title to land to an individual or organization.  Same as “Land Patent.”

LAND IMPROVEMENTS - See “Improvements-on-Land” and “Improvements-to-Land.”

LAND PATENT - See “Land Grant.”

LAND RESIDUAL TECHNIQUE - An income capitalization process whereby the improvements are valued separately from the land and a fair return for the building value (interest and depreciation) is subtracted from total net operating income and the balance attributable to land is then capitalized to indicate land value.

LAND USE MAP - An assessment map showing areas of different land uses, often controlled by zoning, in a county, city, town or village.

LAND VALUE MAP - An assessment map showing values for different land uses in different locations in units of value per front foot, square foot, acres, etc.

LAND-BUILDING RATIO - The land area divided by the gross area of the building.  A 10,000 square foot building on a one acre lot would produce a ratio of approximately 4.36:1 (43,560/10,000).

LANDLOCKED PARCEL - A parcel of land without access to any type of road or highway.  Sometimes occurs because of a partial taking for highway purposes.

LEACH FIELD - An area where waste liquids from sewers are allowed to percolate into the surrounding soil.

LEAN-TO ROOF - A single-pitch structure often supported on one side by the wall of an adjacent building.  Also called a “Shed Roof.”

LEASE - A legal written document by which use and possession of land or land and buildings situated thereon is given by the owner to another person for a specific period of time and subject to regular periodic payments of rent.

LEASEBACK - A transaction in which an investor purchases property and then leases it back to the seller.

LEASED FEE - The lessor's interest; the right to receive rental income as stipulated by the terms of the lease and the right to re-occupy or otherwise use the property upon expiration of the lease.

LEASED FEE ESTATE - The ownership interest of the owner or landlord.

LEASEHOLD - The lessee's interest; the right to use and occupy (and perhaps develop, alter or sublet) the property subject to the terms of the lease.

LEASEHOLD ESTATE - An estate in property created by a lease; the tenant's or lessees interest.

LEASEHOLD IMPROVEMENTS - Additions or improvements to leased property which have been made by the lessee.

LEASEHOLD VALUE - The value of a leasehold interest which is the discounted present worth of the rent saving when contract rent is less than current market rent.  The value of the right to use and occupy property granted by a lease agreement.

LEGAL DESCRIPTION - A statement identifying a specific parcel of land under some system established or approved by law.

LESSEE - An individual who possesses the right to use or occupy a property based on lease agreement.

LESSEE'S INTEREST - See “Leasehold.”

LESSOR - An individual who holds title to property and conveys the right to another to use or occupy same under a lease agreement.

LESSOR'S INTEREST - See “Leased Fee.”

LEVEL ANNUITY - The forecast constant annual amounts of net operating income during the period for which the projection is being made.

LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT - The percentage of full market value at which assessments are, on average, made in a given assessing unit.

LEVERAGE - The use of borrowed capital rather than equity capital to financial advantage.  The profit resulting from the return on borrowed capital in excess of the cost of borrowing same.

LIBER - A book in the county clerk’s office in which recorded deeds and certain other documents may be found.  These books are individually numbered so each document has a unique book and page.

LIEN - A legal claim which one person has on the property of another, usually as security for some debt such as a loan made under a mortgage agreement.

LIFE ESTATE - A form of ownership which limits the right of use and occupancy of a property to the owner’s own life or the lifetime of another person.

LIFE INTEREST - An estate in real property which continues only during the life of the owner or some other designated person.

LIFE TENANT - One who owns a life interest (see above).

LIGHT INDUSTRY - A term used to describe enterprises which do not require the extensive physical plant or have the objectionable environmental characteristics of heavy industry.

LINE PRINTER - A relatively expensive high speed printer attached to a computer which prints an entire line at one time.  Slower printers print only one character at a time.

LIQUID ASSETS - Cash or cash equivalents such as stocks, bonds and certificates of deposit which may be converted to cash on short notice.  Also called “Quick Assets.”

LIS PENDENS - A legal notice recorded with a county clerk to show pending litigation relating to real property which might affect a purchaser thereof.

LITTORAL RIGHTS - Rights of owners of property abutting the ocean or a lake; usually concerned with the use and enjoyment of the shoreline.  Not to be confused with riparian rights which refer to rivers and streams.

LIVE LOAD - Variable or movable weights on a structure such as the people and furniture in an office building or stored goods in a warehouse or the weight of snow on a roof.  Usually measured in pounds per square foot.

LOAD-BEARING WALL - A structure which supports, sometimes in conjunction with the interior framing, the weight of the floors and the roof.

LOAN CONSTANT - See “Mortgage Constant.”

LOAN-TO-VALUE RATIO - The amount of the debt(s) divided by the total purchase price or value of the property.  If a $200,000 house is financed by a $160,000 loan, the loan-to-value ratio is .8 or 80%.

LOCALLY ASSESSED PROPERTY - Ordinary taxable property (assessment roll section 1) and non-franchise utility property (assessment roll section 6) both of which are assessed by the local assessor.

LOCATION - Unique position or placement on the surface of the earth.  An economic characteristic of real estate.

LOCATIONAL (ECONOMIC) OBSOLESCENCE - Loss of value of a property caused by negative factors beyond its boundaries: for example, a gas station in a residential area or proximity to a landfill.

LOFT - An attic-like space below the roof of a house or a barn, usually having less area than the main floors.  The upper stories of a warehouse or factory.

LOG RULE - Tables which display the calculated amount of lumber which may be cut from logs of a given length and diameter.  Some of the more common tables are the Humboldt, Scribner and Spaulding.

LONG-LIVED ITEMS - The basic structural components of a building such as the foundation, floor joists and studs.  These items ordinarily have an economic life as long as that of the entire structure.

LONG-TERM LEASE - A legal document setting forth the terms of an agreement to be in effect for ten years or more.

LOT AND BLOCK DESCRIPTION - A map showing the division of land into sections, blocks and lots with some numeric or alphanumeric system of identification.  Areas or linear dimensions are often included.  For example, a filed or recorded map.

LOT - An individual parcel of land as shown on a tax map.  Usually the smallest subdivision of a mapping system.  May be individually assessed or combined with other contiguous lots under the same ownership into one entry on the assessment roll.

LOT LINE - The boundary of a parcel of land as established by a survey or some other means and sometimes included in a deed description.

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MACHINE SHED - A farm building, generally with one open side, used for the storage of farm equipment and machinery.

MAI (MEMBER OF THE APPRAISAL INSTITUTE) - A professional designation conferred by the Appraisal Institute.

MAINTENANCE - The process of keeping an improvement in satisfactory condition to perform the functions for which it is intended.  Repairs in contrast to betterments.

MANAGEMENT - In real estate the act of directing or conducting the affairs of a (usually income-producing) property.  Also, one of the agents (factors) in production.

MANAGEMENT FEE - That expense attributable to controlling the operation of the business aspects of a particular property.

MANSARD ROOF - A roof with two slopes on each of its four sides.  The lower slope is the more steeply inclined and may have windows, and the upper may have no grade thus producing a partially flat roof.

MANUFACTURED HOUSING - A dwelling unit equipped with wheels so that it may be towed to a site by a truck or automobile.  A mobile home is usually placed permanently on,-a site while a travel trailer is intended to be moved from place to place.

MARKET ANALYSIS - The study of the marketplace with respect to factors such as supply and demand, purchase prices, and locations of sales and the trends pertaining thereto.

MARKET DATA APPROACH - An appraisal process whereby the value of a subject property is predicated on the adjusted (for time and inventory differences) selling prices of comparable properties.  Also known as the “Direct Sales Comparison Approach.”

MARKET PRICE - The actual amount paid for a property; not necessarily indicative of an arm's length transaction which is presumed in the term “market value.”

MARKET RENT - The rental income that would ordinarily be expected from a property if available on the open market.  Synonym for “Economic Rent.”

MARKET VALUE - That price in an open market at which a willing buyer would buy and a willing seller would sell, neither being under abnormal pressure and both being fully informed.

MARKET VALUE SURVEY - See “Equalization Survey.”

MARKETABLE TITLE - That proof of ownership which a prudent individual, guided by competent legal advice, would accept and which would, therefore, lead that individual to pay fair value for the property in question.

MARQUEE - A roof-like projection over the door of a building, usually not supported by posts or columns.

MASS APPRAISAL - A systematic valuation of a large number of properties during a relatively short period of time.  Typically the function of an assessor rather than a fee appraiser.  Various techniques using computers and statistical testing of the results are often employed for this purpose.

MEAN (ARITHMETIC) - The sum of a set of observations divided by the number of observations in the set.  The mean of 7, 8 and 12 is (7 + 8 + 12) = 27 ÷ 3 = 9.  Also called the “Average.”  There are also the geometric and harmonic means which are calculated differently.

MEAN ASSESSMENT-SALES RATIO - The summation of the sales ratios (assessed value divided by sale price) in a sample divided by the number of observations.

MEAN DEVIATION - See “Average Absolute Deviation.”

MECHANICS LIEN - A legal right to hold the property of another or have it sold to satisfy claims for non-payment of charges for labor, services or materials for the improvement of said property.

MEDIAN - The middle number of a set of arrayed data.  The median of the set of numbers 1,2,3,4 is 2.5.

MERGE - To combine adjoining parcels on a tax map.

METES AND BOUNDS - A form of deed description of a property which lists the several courses (directions in degrees) and distances of its straight-line boundaries and the radius and distances of curved boundaries.

MEZZANINE - A story, usually between the first and second stories of a building, having less floor area than the regular floors.  Often a type of interior balcony.

MILK HOUSE - A structure where milk is cooled and stored pending shipment.

MILK PARLOR - A structure with stalls placed beside concrete pits which facilitate the handling of milking equipment.

MILL CONSTRUCTION - A building method using thick walls and heavy joists which provide substantial fire-retardant qualities.

MILL RATE - A tax rate expressed in thousandths of a dollar (tenths of a cent) per dollar.  Thus a tax rate of $125 per $1,000 would be expressed as a rate of 125 mills.

MILLWORK - Doors, windows, moldings and other trim used in construction and manufactured in millwork plants.

MINERAL RIGHTS - A form of property ownership pertaining to underground assets which may be recovered by quarrying, mining or drilling.  May be separate from the ownership of the surface of the property.

MINIMUM LOT - The smallest size parcel allowed by zoning laws for a particular use.

MISPLACED IMPROVEMENT - A structure which is situated inharmoniously relative to a neighborhood such as a contemporary house among a group of Victorian mansions.

MOBIL HOME - See “Manufactured Housing.”

MOBILE HOME PARK - A site suitable for the more or less permanent placement of mobile homes.  In addition to parking sites, sewer and water connections and electrical service are usually provided.

MODE - The most frequently occurring value in a set of data.  A measure of central tendency.  The mode of the set of numbers 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5 is 2.

MODEL - A mathematical representation of the relationships that define a situation under study.  In multiple regression analysis, a set of coefficients which, when applied to the variables in the equation, produce an estimate of the dependent variable (usually selling price).

MODEL TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS - Detailed tax mapping specifications prepared by the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) which will result in maps that comply with ORPS rules and regulations.

MODULAR CONSTRUCTION - A method of building whereby structural components are pre-manufactured, usually in a factory, and then shipped and assembled at the site.

MOISTURE BARRIER - A layer of material impervious to water used to prevent moisture from entering the walls, ceilings and floors of a building.

MONUMENT - A permanent marker affixed to the ground used to designate property boundaries.

MORTGAGE - A legal document pledging specific real property as collateral for the re-payment of a loan according to set terms and conditions.

MORTGAGE COEFFICIENT - A multiplier used in the Elwood formula to compute a capitalization rate.

MORTGAGE CONSTANT - The annual debt service on a mortgage expressed as a percent of the initial principal amount of the loan.

MORTGAGE EQUITY ANALYSIS - The use of the terms of a mortgage and the requirements of equity in the valuation of income properties.

MORTGAGE REQUIREMENT - The periodic level payment of debt service (interest and principal) required on a direct reduction loan.

MORTGAGEE - The party who advances the funds in a mortgage loan; the lender.

MORTGAGOR - The party who receives the funds in a mortgage loan and pledges real estate as security against the loan; the borrower.

MOST PROBABLE SELLING PRICE - The amount for which a property would be most likely to sell if exposed on the open market as of appraisal date.

MOST PROBABLE USE - That service to which a property is most likely to be put based on the requirements and pressures of the marketplace.  See also “Highest and Best Use.”

MULTICOLINEARITY - In multiple regression analysis, the ability of two or more independent variables to explain each other's variance in addition to explaining the variance of the dependent variable.  Variables such as the number of rooms and the square feet of living area are likely to be highly correlated.  Has a negative effect on the predictive accuracy of the model.

MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS (MRA) - A predictive statistical technique whereby the values of several independent variables are used to predict the value of the dependent variable.  Variables such as land size, number of bathrooms, building age, etc., might be used to predict market value.

MULTIPLE USE PROPERTY - A property which is economically and legally suitable for more than one use.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION - In New York State, a county, city, town, village or school district.

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NEIGHBORHOOD - An urban, suburban or rural area exhibiting a fairly high degree of homogeneity as to housing, tenancy, income and population characteristics.  Neighborhoods are often delineated by physical barriers such as railroad tracks, commercial or industrial developments, and topographical features such as hills and rivers.  Lines created by subdivision boundaries, differences in zoning ordinances or deed restrictions, and the type and/or age of buildings may also define neighborhoods.

NEIGHBORHOOD ANALYSIS - The study of the effects of physical, economic, governmental and social influences resulting from the specific location of the property being appraised.

NEIGHBORHOOD CODE - A locally specified code identifying a geographic area which exhibits similar land uses and economic and social characteristics.

NEIGHBORHOOD LIFE CYCLE - The stages in the life of a neighborhood: development and growth, stability, transition and decline.  These may vary in length and intensity and neighborhood renewal may cause the cycle to begin again.

NEIGHBORHOOD SHOPPING CENTER - A tract of land improved with a coordinated group of retail buildings under one ownership or control providing a limited variety of convenience goods and service facilities and free parking.  It usually caters to a small geographical area and consists of thirty or fewer stores.  Typically a neighborhood shopping center provides for the sale of food, drugs and sundries, and personal services such as dry cleaning establishments, laundries, shoe repair shops and barber shops.  Supermarkets are usually the principal tenant.  The neighborhood center is the smallest type of shopping center, with a typical gross leaseable area of 30,000 to 100,000 square feet.

NET GROUND LEASE - The rental of unimproved land with the renter (lessee) agreeing to pay the owner's expenses such as the ad valorem taxes, special assessments, and all expenses for any improvements created by the lessee.

NET INCOME BEFORE RECAPTURE (NIBR) - See “Net Operating Income.”

NET INCOME MULTIPLIER - The relationship between price or value and net operating income expressed as a factor; the reciprocal of the overall rate.

NET INCOME RATIO - Net operating income divided by effective gross income.  The complement of the “Expense Ratio.”

NET LEASEABLE AREA (NLA) - The floor space actually occupied by the tenant.  For example, a building with 150,000 square feet of gross leaseable area may have a net leaseable area of 120,000 square feet.  The difference is considered common area.

NET LEASE - A rental agreement that specifies that the renter (lessee) assume payment of all property charges such as taxes, insurance and maintenance, in addition to the stipulated rental.

NET OPERATING INCOME (NOI) - The amount of money remaining after deducting all fixed and operating expenses.  NOI denotes annual income unless otherwise stated.  The same as “Net Income Before Recapture” and “Dividend.” In mortgage equity formulas it is designated by the letter “d.”

NET PRESENT VALUE (NPV) - The difference, if any, between the current worth of future benefits (positive cash flows) and the current worth of capital outlays (negative cash flows).

NETWORK - A system of two or more connected computers which have the ability to share information.  The computers may be directly wired together or connected via wireless radio transceivers.

NEW YORK COORDINATE SYSTEM - A mathematical procedure for locating points on maps in relation to a statewide grid network.  In New York State, this network is divided into four zones and is used for land surveying and mapping projects.  It was created by statute in 1938.

NEW YORK STATE ASSESSORS' ASSOCIATION (NYSAA) - An organization of professional assessors founded in 1940 for the following purposes: to improve standards of assessment practice; to provide a clearing house for the collection and distribution of useful information relating to the assessment of real property; to educate the taxpaying public about the nature and importance of the work performed by assessing officers; to engage in research and improve assessment technique and practice; to sponsor legislative proposals relating to assessing and taxation; to cooperate with other agencies interested in the improvement of assessment administration; and to promote equity in the distribution of the real property tax.

NOMINAL INTEREST RATE - A stated rate of interest that, because of the effect of compounding, does not necessarily correspond to the true rate.  A nominal rate of 122 (l% per month, compounded) results in an actual rate of 12.68%.  Also called the “Effective Interest Rate.”

NONCONFORMING USE - A use of real property which was lawfully established and maintained but, because of changes in a zoning ordinance, no longer conforms to the permissible uses of the zone in which it is situated.  A nonconforming building, or nonconforming portion thereof, is considered a nonconforming use of the land on which it is located.  Additions or changes to a nonconforming parcel usually require municipal approval.

NORMAL CURVE - In statistics, a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that portrays the distribution of a population of measurements or, in the case of large samples, frequencies of grouped measurements.  The distribution of outliers is about equal at both ends of the curve with the greatest part of the sample centered about the median (and mean) value.

NORMAL DISTRIBUTION - Occurrences of data which, when plotted, approximate a normal curve.  The values of the mean, median and mode are approximately the same.  If a distribution is normal, the standard deviation may be used to predict the number of observations in the data set falling at specific intervals from the mean or median.

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OBJECTIVE - Free of bias, prejudice or personal opinion; based on observed data and facts.  See also “Subjective.”

OBSERVED CONDITION - The physical state of a property as determined by a detailed inspection.

OBSERVED CONDITION METHOD - A procedure for estimating accrued depreciation which separately calculates deductions for physical depreciation, functional obsolescence and economic obsolescence.  These deductions are then added to provide one lump-sum deduction from reproduction cost new.

OBSERVED DEPRECIATION - An estimate of accrued depreciation based on a skilled inspection of the property, knowledge of the market reaction to what is observed, and the judgment and expertise of the person making the inspection.  The term is used to distinguish this method of estimating depreciation from those based on some formula or table.

OBSOLETE - Exhibiting obsolescence.

OBSOLESCENCE - One of the causes of depreciation.  It is the loss of desirability and usefulness caused by new inventions, changes in design, and improved processes for production, or from the influence of external factors.  Obsolescence may be either physical, economic or functional.  See also, “Depreciation,” “Economic Obsolescence” and “Functional Obsolescence.”

OCCUPANCY RATE - The relationship between the income actually received from rental units of a property and the income that would be received if all units were rented.  It is calculated by dividing income received by that which would have been received had every unit been rented every day of the year.  See also “Vacancy Rate.”

OFFICE OF REAL PROPERTY SERVICES - NYS - The agency responsible for carrying out the policies and programs of the State Board of Real Property Services.

OFF-THE-SHELF SOFTWARE - Computer programs which can be purchased commercially such as Lotus and Quattro, thus, saving users the expense of developing their own software.

OMITTED IMPROVEMENT - A structure existing on a parcel on taxable status date but whose value is not reflected on the assessment roll based on that taxable status date.

ON-CENTER - The distance from the center of one structural member, such as joists, studs or rafters, to another.  A measure of spacing.

ON-LINE - 1). Refers to computer equipment or devices which are currently under the control of the central processing unit (CPU).  2). Refers to being connected to the internet.

ONE-THIRD, TWO-THIRDS RULE - A depth influence formula which ascribes half the value of a lot to the front third and other half to the rear two-thirds.  See also “4-3-2-1 rule.”

OPEN PLANNING - A term used to describe a style of building design in which a minimum amount of partitioning is found between different activity areas such as living, dining and recreation rooms.

OPEN SPACE RATIO - The relationship, expressed as a percentage, of the site area to the floor area of the buildings) on that site.  The minimum ratio may be established by zoning ordinances.

OPERATING EXPENSE RATIO - The relationship between operating expenses and annual effective gross income, expressed as a percentage.  The former divided by the latter.

OPERATING EXPENSES - Allowable costs necessary to maintain the income stream of an income producing property.  Includes all expenses other than debt service, depreciation allowance, corporate income taxes and property taxes.

OPINION OF COUNSEL - A formal interpretation of a point of law by a competent legal authority.  Although such opinions are advisory (as opposed to case law) they are accorded substantial weight.  Assessors are primarily concerned with opinions of counsel issued by the State Board of Real Property Services.

ORIENTATION - The placement of a structure on its lot with regard to compass direction, views, exposure to the sun, prevailing winds, and local nuisances and with respect to the need for privacy.

OVERAGE INCOME - See “Overage Rent.”

OVERAGE RENT - Charges for rent in addition to the guaranteed minimum payable under the terms of a lease.  These charges are usually based on some prescribed conditions such as the achievement of a particular level of profit or retail sales volume by the tenant.

OVERALL RATE - Net operating income before recapture or debt service divided by price or value; the same as the overall capitalization rate, composite rate or dividend rate; the reciprocal of the net income multiplier.

OVERHEAD - The general administrative costs necessitated by the conduct of a business.

OVER IMPROVEMENT - A structure which is not the most profitable for the site on which it is placed because of its excessive size or cost, and is thus unable to develop the maximum possible land value.  Such a building suffers from functional obsolescence.

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PARAMETER - A quantity that describes a statistical population; a variable that may assume any of a given set of values.  Colloquially, guidelines or restrictions.

PARAPET - A low wall or railing constructed along the edge of a roof or terrace.

PARCEL - A separately assessed lot or piece of real property.

PARCEL IDENTIFIER - A series of numbers (and sometimes alphabetic characters) which is used by an assessor to identify a parcel on an assessment or tax roll or some other document.  Usually the tax map number.

PARTIAL ASSESSMENT - Determination made by assessors of the assessed valuation of real property whose improvements are incomplete on taxable status date.

PARTIAL EXEMPTION - A statutory reduction in the taxable assessed value of a parcel; usually some taxable value remains for some taxing purpose.  Common in New York State are the elderly, veterans and STAR exemptions.  Partial exemptions are usually limited by time, amount or taxing purpose.

PARTIAL PAYMENT - The periodic installment required for debt service (principal plus interest) on a direct reduction loan.  One of the “six functions of a dollar.”

PARTIAL INTEREST - Rights in real estate, divided or undivided, amounting to less than the whole.  Same as “Fractional Interest.”

PARTIAL TAKING - The acquisition by condemnation of only a portion of a property for public use.

PARTY WALL - See “Common Wall.”

PAYBACK PERIOD - The time required to complete the recovery of an investment.  Usually it is assumed that all income is return of capital until the payback is completed after which time income received constitutes profit.

PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES (PILOT) - An agreed upon payment that is made in place of taxes by a property owner who would not otherwise be liable for taxes because of exempt status.  Such payments are collected in the same manner as are other payments due to the municipality under contract.

PENALTY TAX - In New York State, a tax assessed against property which has been granted an agricultural exemption and then converted to nonagricultural use prior to the expiration of the exemption.  Also called a “Rollback Tax” if charged on a tax roll prior to March 1, 1988.

PENTHOUSE - A structure or enclosure on a roof for housing, elevator machinery, or water tanks or to serve as a utility room.  A separate dwelling unit on the roof of an apartment building.

PERCENT GOOD - The present condition of a property expressed as a percent of the condition of the property new (100%).

PERCENTAGE LEASE - A rental agreement whereby a portion of the tenant's gross sales will constitute the stipulated rental.  A minimum rent is usually included although a straight percentage lease is occasionally encountered.  A rental ceiling may also be specified.  In effect, this type of lease makes the landlord a partner in the tenant's business.

PERCENTAGE RENT - Income from a tenant in accordance with the terms of a percentage clause in a lease.  Usually includes a guaranteed minimum.

PERCOLATION TEST - A procedure used to measure the rate of seepage of water through soil; the ability of soil to absorb water or other liquid such as effluent from a septic system.

PERIMETER - The total length of the outer boundary of some enclosed figure such as a circle or rectangle.  The perimeter of a house would be the distance around its exterior walls.

PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT - In data processing, refers to hardware such as printers, keyboards, terminals and drives which are connected electronically to the CPU.

PERIODIC GROWTH - Incremental growth at regular intervals such as that caused by the crediting of monthly compound interest to a savings account.  To be distinguished from continuous growth such as that of a tree.

PERPETUITY - The state of continuing forever; for example, an annuity which extends into the future without foreseeable end.  Usually applied to an amount which accrues periodically for an indefinite number of installments.

PERSONAL PROPERTY - Items that are movable; that are not permanently affixed to and a part of real estate.  In deciding whether or not an item is personal property or real property one must consider a) the manner in which it is attached to the real estate, b) the intent of the person who attached it (permanent or temporary) and c) the purpose for which the premises are used.  In general, if the item can be removed without serious damage to it or to the real property to which it is attached it should be considered personal property.  Also known as “Personalty.”

PHOTOGRAMMETRY - The art of taking aerial photographs and using them to produce accurate maps.

PHYSICAL OR QUANTITY CHANGE - An increase in assessed value resulting from new construction, property annexed from another assessing unit, property omitted from the prior roll, property discovered during tax mapping and property which has become locally assessed (usually a transfer to assessment roll section 1 from assessment roll section 8). Also a decrease in assessed value resulting from fire, demolition, loss of parcels due to tax mapping, removal of mobile homes, removal of duplicate parcels and transfer out of the locally assessed category.

PHYSICAL CURABLE DEPRECIATION - A condition that may be changed (cured) by the property owner by maintenance, repair, or replacement.  An estimate of cost to cure, limited by the amount which a prudent owner would be justified in spending, is the measure of the amount of such accrued depreciation.  The component is considered to be 100% depreciated.  See also “Deferred Maintenance.”

PHYSICAL DEFERRED CURABLE DEPRECIATION - Very similar to physical curable depreciation, the difference being that the component is less than 100% depreciated.  For example, a 10 year old roof that has a 20-year service life.

PHYSICAL DETERIORATION - Loss of value and utility caused by factors such as wear and tear from use, structural defects, and exposure to the elements.

PHYSICAL INCURABLE DEPRECIATION - A decrease in value and utility caused by an actual loss in the strength and remaining life of the basic components of a structure which the owner cannot justifiably repair.  Footings, foundations, girders, joists, etc. have a long but limited useful life and it usually is not economically sound to repair or replace them.

PIER - A column often used to support structures in place of a foundation.  Also, a structure extending out from the land into a body of water to which boats and ships may be secured.

PILINGS - Timbers or concrete-filled steel tubes which are driven into the ground, sometimes to bedrock, to serve as supports for the foundation of a building, piers or other structures.

PITCH - The slope or incline of a roof, expressed in inches of rise per foot of length, or by the ratio of the rise to the span (e.g., 1 on 3).

PIVR - A Property Inventory & Valuation Report.  A document listing the inventory and value estimate of a parcel appraised for a Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) equalization survey.

PLANIMETER - A mechanical device used for determining the area within a multi-sided closed figure.

PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (PUD) - A type of land use in which buildings are set on smaller lots than usual and/or clustered so that larger areas of open space for recreational use are available than would otherwise be the case.

PLAT - Any map which is intended to show the division of land into lots or parcels.

PLOTTAGE - The process of combining two or more sites under a single ownership so as to develop one site having greater utility than the sum of the individual sites when used separately.  See also, “Plottage Value.”

PLOTTAGE VALUE - An increase in value resulting from the combination of two or more sites so as to develop one site having greater utility than the sum of the individual sites when used separately.

POINTS (MORTGAGE) - Percentages measuring a discount from, or a share of, the principal amount deducted at the time funds are advanced.  They are a form of additional interest to the lender payable in advance.

POLE CONSTRUCTION - A structural skeleton for a building consisting of vertical pole timbers or steel studs.  A technique often used in the construction of farm buildings.

POLICE POWER - A governmental right that serves the interests of public health, safety, morals and welfare and, in so doing, may occasionally limit the rights of a property owner.  One of the four public restrictions on private property.

POPULATION - In statistics, the entirety of the universe from which a sample may be drawn.  For example, all of the residential properties in a particular city, town or county.

PORTION - In New York State, part of an assessing unit included within the boundaries of a school district which levies taxes on the assessment roll of said assessing unit and a town excluding all villages therein.  Also, that part of an assessing unit which is a special district which encompasses the entire assessing unit with the exception of one or more villages.

POSSESSORY INTEREST - Basically, the right to possession and use of real property.  In general usage, however, it refers to the interest of a lessee in government owned property as distinguished from that which is privately owned.

POTENTIAL GROSS INCOME (PGI) - The rent that a property will produce with 100% occupancy based on market rent.

PRECAST CONCRETE - Concrete structural components which are cast separately; not formed and poured in place at the site of the structure.

PREFABRICATION - The manufacturing and assembly of construction materials and parts into component structural units, such as wall, floor, and roof panels, which are transported to and erected at the construction site.

PRESENT VALUE - Current worth in terms of money.  The cash value now of the right to collect payments in the future.

PRESENT WORTH OF FUTURE BENEFITS - The current value of money that will be collected in the future at a specified time.  Future payments are discounted at a specific rate for a specific period of time to translate them to present worth.

PRESENT WORTH OF ONE - The reversion factor which is used to discount a single future payment to a present worth figure, given the appropriate discount rate and period of time.  One of the “six functions of a dollar.”

PRESENT WORTH OF ONE PER PERIOD - The reversion factor used to discount periodic future payments to their present worth given the appropriate discount rate and time periods.  One of the “six functions of a dollar.”

PRICE - Usually the amount of money which is given in exchange for the right to receive specified goods or services.  The amount of money that is exchanged when a sale is consummated.  Infrequently, the consideration may consist of something other than money (barter).  Price is not necessarily the same as value.

PRICE RELATED DIFFERENTIAL (PRD) - Also known as the index of regressivity.  This statistic is calculated by dividing the mean assessment ratio by the aggregate (weighted mean) assessment ratio.  PRD's above 100 indicate systematic over-assessment of lower valued properties and PRD's below 100 indicate over-assessment of higher valued properties.

PRIME RATE - The interest rate charged by commercial banks for short-term loans to borrowers having the highest credit ratings.  Usually the lowest rate at which money may be borrowed as longer term loans and those to less credit-worthy borrowers will be at higher rates.  The prime rate is often the basis for various floating rates.  Prime plus 2 would indicate a rate that floats at two percent above the prevailing prime.

PRINCIPAL - Invested capital as distinguished from interest on that capital.  The non-repaid capital remaining in a loan or investment.  Mortgage loan repayments consist of interest and amortization of principal.

PRIVATE LIMITATIONS OF OWNERSHIP - The non-public (private) restrictions which affect fee-simple ownership property are:
1. Rights of co-owners
2. Covenants, conditions, and restrictions
3. Mortgages
4. Easements and rights-of-way
5. Leases
6. Liens/judgements

PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENT - A document compiled from the books and records of a business enterprise which sets forth the income and expenses for a stated period and derives from it a balance which is the net profit or loss of the enterprise for that period.

PROGRAM - See “Computer Program.”

PROGRESSIVITY, ASSESSMENT - Assessment biases such that higher valued properties tend to be assessed at greater percentages of their market value than are lower valued properties.  See also “Regressivity, Assessment.”

PROPERTY CLASSIFICATION CODE - A three-digit numbering system, established by the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS), for categorizing property by use.  There are nine broad-use classes within which are many individual codes.

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION - That which unequivocally identifies a parcel of real property.

PROPERTY INVENTORY - A collection of data for each parcel in a municipality which should include at least the following:
a) name of the property owner or owners
b) tax map land parcel number
c) property description
d) the physical characteristics necessary to value the parcel by at least one of the three standard approaches
e) exemption status.
In practice, the inventory will contain information such as land size, square feet of living area, number of bedrooms, finished basement area, etc.

PROPERTY LINE - The dividing boundary between two parcels of land or between a parcel and a street, highway, body of water, etc.

PROPERTY RECORD CARD - A printed form used by assessors on which is recorded information about the site, land, improvements and ownership of a parcel.  A sketch of the footprint of any buildings is usually included, and some cards contain areas for valuation using the cost approach.

PROPERTY RESIDUAL TECHNIQUE - An appraisal technique used to estimate the value of an improved property in which the entire property is valued as single unit.  The annual depreciation expense is deducted from the net operating income received from the property, and the remaining income is then capitalized in perpetuity at a suitable capitalization rate to indicate the value of the entire property.  This technique is best suited for properties whose buildings are near the end of their utility and it would be difficult to accurately separate the building and land values.

PROPERTY TAX - In New York State, a tax levied on real property.

PUBLIC LANDS - Lands owned by the federal government or by state governments public domain. Includes national and state parks and forests, grazing lands and Indian reservations.

PUBLIC LIMITATIONS OF OWNERSHIP - The legal restrictions which limit the rights of private ownership of real property are:
1. Taxation
2. Eminent domain
3. Police power
4. Escheat.

PUBLIC UTILITY PROPERTY - Property owned by corporations which are granted a monopolistic franchise within a given area and are ordinarily subject to some form of governmental regulation and control.  The most common examples are suppliers of electricity, gas, telephone service, water and cable TV programming.  Rates for these services must usually be approved by a public service commission.

PULPWOOD - A forest product consisting of soft wood which is reduced to a mash for use in the paper industry.

PURCHASE-MONEY MORTGAGE - A loan given by a buyer of real property to the seller in part payment of the purchase price.

PURPOSE OF THE APPRAISAL - The purpose for which the value being sought is to be used; for example, condemnation, insurance, potential sale, etc.

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QUALIFIED SALE - A sale which meets the following criteria and may, thus, be considered an acceptable indicator of value and a qualified sale:
1. The sale took place on the open market.
2. Neither buyer nor seller was under any undue pressure for any reason.
3. The property was exposed on the market for a reasonable period of time.
4. Both the buyer and seller had adequate knowledge of the uses to which the property might be put and its current condition.
5. Consideration consisted of cash or cash equivalents.
6. There was no “love and affection” consideration (as in a sale between relatives).

QUANTITY SURVEY METHOD - A procedure for estimating the cost of a structure by making a detailed estimate of the quantities and costs of the materials used to build the structure and the labor cost required to install the materials, to which is added overhead and profit.  This method is very time-consuming and seldom used in the assessment process.

QUASI - As; as if; of a similar nature.  A board of assessment review is a “quasi-judicial” body in that it has powers similar to those of a court although it is not actually part of the judiciary.

QUITCLAIM DEED - A form of conveyance whereby any interest (often unknown) that the grantor may have in a property is conveyed to the grantee without warranty of title.  Often used to prevent a cloud on a title when it is uncertain whether or not an heir of a deceased owner may have some undetermined interest in a property.

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RAILROAD CEILING - See “Ceiling Railroad.”

RANCH STYLE - A one-story house with a low pitched roof which may or may not have a basement.  Open planning is often a feature of the interior layout.

RANDOM - A sequence having no discernible pattern or trend.

RANDOM SAMPLE - Selection of a specific number of individuals from a clearly defined class in such manner that every possible combination of individuals has an identical probability of occurrence.

RANGE - The difference between the smallest and largest of a set of values; an elementary measure of dispersion.  The range of the set 3,4,6,7,9 is 6 (9 minus 3).  The range is not “3 to 9” although this misunderstanding of the meaning of the term is common.

RATE - The relationship of one quantity to another, often expressed as a percent.  A capitalization rate expresses the relationship between annual net operating income and value.

RATIO - A statistic giving the number of times that one number is greater than another, often expressed as a percent.  A residential assessment ratio of 20% indicates that, on average, assessed value is one fifth of market value.

REAL ESTATE - Land and the physical improvements attached thereto.  See also “Real Property.”

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) - Essentially, a mutual fund investing in real estate rather than securities.  It provides the investor who has limited funds with an opportunity to combine his or her funds with those of similar investors to participate in the ownership of properties that they could not afford to purchase as an individual.  There are also certain tax advantages.

REAL PROPERTY - The sum of the tangible and intangible rights in land and improvements affixed thereto.  The bundle of rights that accrues to the owner of real estate.  Note the difference between “Real Estate” and “Real Property.” In some states there may be a different statutory definition.  See section 102, paragraph 12, of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL).

REAL PROPERTY CLASS - In special assessing units there are four legally defined classes of property:
1. Primarily one-, two- and three-family houses.
2. All other residential property including cooperatives, most condominiums and apartment buildings.
3. Utility property.
4. All property not included in the first three classes.

REAL PROPERTY SYSTEM (RPS) - A software developed by the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) for use by local governments; the successor to the Real Property Information System.  These programs allow for the integration of the assessment administration, property inventory and valuation functions.  Important features of RPS are:
1. Processing may be done on a real-time, on-line basis or in a batch mode.
2. Different fields may have different security levels so that, for example, a staff member who changes names and addresses might not be able to change assessed values or exemptions.
3. Totals for all purposes are updated as soon as file maintenance on the parcel being accessed is completed.
4. Inquiry or access for updates may be by parcel ID, owner name or location.
5. An audit trail report allows the supervising user to review all transactions initiated by each individual having access to the system.
6. Reports prepared by the system conform to ORPS requirements for assessor reporting.

REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW (RPTL) - Chapter 49-A of the consolidated laws of the State of New York in which are found most of the statutes pertaining to assessment and property tax administration.  Further subdivided into articles and sections.

REAL PROPERTY TRANSFER REPORT (RP-5217) - A form on which is reported to the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) and local municipalities pertinent information concerning transfers of title to real property.  This information is used by ORPS to determine residential assessment ratios and as a sales file for equalization surveys.  The RP-5217 also ensures that local assessors know the true consideration and other circumstances surrounding every sale.  A copy of this form must be attached to every deed presented for recording.

REALTY - Generally used as a synonym for “Real Estate.”

REASSESSMENT - The process of revaluing, for property tax purposes, all real property within an assessment jurisdiction.  See also “Revaluation.”

RECAPTURE - Recovery by an owner of money invested in improvements to real property, generally by a combination of mortgage amortization, annual dividend, and resale of the equity.  The recapture of the mortgage components occurs according to the terms of the periodic installment contract (mortgage) without regard to fluctuations in market value.

RECAPTURE RATE - The amount of invested capital that can be recovered annually divided by the amount of the original investment.  Sometimes called the “Capital Recovery Rate.”

RECIPROCAL - Any number divided into 1.  The reciprocal of 2 is ½ or .5.  The reciprocal of a rate (1/R) is a factor and, conversely, the reciprocal of a factor (1/F) is a rate.

RECONCILIATION - The process whereby an appraiser selects from among several alternatives (derived from the different approaches to value) the final estimate of value which is thought to be most appropriate.  Preferred to the term “Correlation.”

RECONSTRUCTED OPERATING STATEMENT - A projection of average or typical annual income and expenses which develops a net income expectancy as a basis for valuation.

RECORD - In data processing, a set of data fields combined in a standard unit in a computer file.  A residence record would ordinarily contain fields where one might enter information about square feet of living area, architectural style, number of rooms, construction quality, etc.

RECORDING A DEED - The submission of a deed to a government office provided for this purpose (usually the county clerk), thus making a public record of the document for the protection of all parties and giving constructive notice to the general public.

REGIONAL SHOPPING CENTER - A tract of land improved with buildings that provide a variety of general merchandise, apparel, furniture, and home furnishings in addition to various services and recreational facilities.  Department stores of at least 100,000 square feet are usually the anchor tenants.  Regional shopping centers generally have about 400,000 square feet of gross leaseable area and provide services common in a business district, but not as extensive as those provided by a super-regional shopping center.

REGRESSION ANALYSIS - See “Multiple Regression Analysis.”

REGRESSIVITY, ASSESSMENT - Assessment biases such that lower valued properties tend to be assessed at higher percentages of their market values than are higher valued properties.  See also “Progressivity, Assessment.”

REHABILITATION - The process of restoring a structure to satisfactory condition without changing its plan, form or style.  It is intended to cure physical deterioration.

REINFORCED CONCRETE - Concrete which is strengthened by embedding iron or steel rods or mesh in the mix.

RELEVY - In most counties, school or village taxes which are not paid on a timely basis are added to (relevied on) the next county-town tax bill.

REMAINING ECONOMIC LIFE - An estimate of how long property can remain useful and continue to perform the functions for which it was designed.

RENT - The amount paid, usually in periodic installments, for the right to occupy and use land and improvements.

REPLACEMENT COST NEW (RCN) - The cost to construct at current prices an improvement having utility and desirability equal to that of the improvement being appraised, but built with modern materials according to current design standards.  The RCN concept effectively eliminates functional obsolescence.

REPLACEMENT COST NEW LESS DEPRECIATION (RCNLD) - Equal to replacement cost new less a deduction for loss in value (depreciation) arising from physical, functional, and economic causes.

REPRODUCTION COST NEW - The same as replacement cost new except that the cost sought is that of constructing an exact replica or duplicate of the improvement being appraised rather than one having equivalent utility and desirability.  Functional obsolescence, if any, is not eliminated.

REPRODUCTION COST NEW LESS DEPRECIATION - The same as replacement cost new less depreciation except that the cost sought is that of constructing an exact replica or duplicate of the improvement being appraised and then applying the appropriate depreciation.

RES (RESIDENTIAL EVALUATION SPECIALIST) - A professional designation awarded by the International Association of Assessing Officers.

RESERVE FOR DEPLETION - An bookkeeping amount set up to reflect the value of some wasting asset such as oil or minerals that has been consumed.  Used to offset the value placed on the books before this consumption (depletion) occurred.

RESERVE FOR DEPRECIATION - A bookkeeping amount set up to reflect loss in value from all causes which must be deducted from values assigned to assets (improvements) before they suffered such losses so that a current value figure will be available.

RESERVE FOR REPLACEMENT - An allowance on the income and expense statement of an enterprise for the cost of replacing short-lived items such as roofs and boilers which are necessary to sustain the income of the enterprise.

RESIDENT ASSESSMENT RATIO (RAR) - The sum of the assessments of all one- two- and three- family homes which have sold during a one-year period divided by the sum of their selling prices.  The specified period is from the date of the previous prior final assessment roll to the date of the prior final assessment roll.  The measure of level of residential assessments thereby produced may be used by residential property owners to contest their assessments before Boards of Assessment Review and Small Claims Hearing Officers.

RESIDUAL - That which is left over at the end of a process; a remainder.  See “Building Residual Technique,” “Land Residual Technique,” and “Property Residual Technique.”

RESTRICTIVE COVENANT - A private limitation placed upon the use of real estate which is set forth in the deed and binding upon the grantee.  Some common restrictions include setback lines, architectural requirements and placement of improvements.

REVALUATION - A mass appraisal of all properties within an assessment jurisdiction for the purpose of ensuring that assessments are at a uniform percentage of value.  Today, revaluations are usually computer assisted.

REVENUE (DOCUMENTARY) STAMPS - Stamps issued by a state government which must be purchased and affixed, in amounts provided by law, to deeds of conveyance. 

REVERSE ANNUITY MORTGAGE - A loan designed for retirees and other fixed-income homeowners who owe little or nothing on their homes.  It permits them to use the equity in their homes as supplemental income, while retaining ownership.  Typically, the lender makes regular monthly payments to the owner whose equity is thereby depleted.  The loan becomes due on a specific date or when certain events such as the sale of the property or the death of the borrower occur.

REVERSION - In mortgage-equity analyses, the proceeds of resale at the end of the ownership projection period.  Also, the re-acquiring of the rights of possession and use of a property by an owner at the termination of a lease.

REVERSION FACTOR - A multiplier used to calculate the present worth of the return of rights (a reversion) due at some time in the future, discounted at an appropriate interest rate.  The amount that must be deposited today to grow to a given amount within a given period of time at a given interest rate.  One of the “six functions of a dollar.”

REVERSIONARY RIGHTS - The authority to repossess and use property in which certain rights have temporarily been lost, usually via a lease or easement.  According to the terms of the controlling agreement, the reversionary right becomes effective at a stated time or under certain specific conditions such as the termination of a leasehold, abandonment of a right of way, or at the end of the estimated economic life of the improvements.

RIGHT OF ENTRY - The authority to enter and begin construction on land that is in the process of being acquired even though title has not formally passed.

RIGHT OF WAY - The privilege of a person or persons to traverse or use the land of another, usually with reference to some specific path or line.  The privilege may be granted for private or public passage or for railroad tracks, electric utility poles, a natural gas pipeline, etc.

RIGHTS OF CO-OWNERS - A private limitation which affects fee-simple ownership of property.  The value of such fractional interest is often less than the fraction that such ownership bears to the value of the entire property.

RIPARIAN RIGHTS - The authority of an owner of land bordering a stream to use water “which passes over” and along his land provided he does not violate the rights of other riparian owners.  The right of an owner of land abutting a body of water to use the water for piers, swimming, fishing, boating etc., subject to governmental regulation.

RISK RATE - The annual percentage of return on capital which is commensurate with the possibility of loss (risk) assumed by the investor.  The higher the risk of loss the higher the return that will be required by the investor.

RM (RESIDENTIAL MEMBER) - A professional designation granted by the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers.

ROLL SECTION - A division of an assessment roll in New York State used to group properties with similar taxing purposes.  The following sections have been established under the real property tax law and the rules and regulations of the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS):
Roll Section 1 - Ordinary taxable property including that which is partially exempt.
Roll Section 3 - Taxable state-owned land; all property owned by the State of New York that is subject to general tax levies.
Roll Section 4 - School apportionments; used to apportion assessments for parcels (primarily special franchise) situated in more than one school district.
Roll Section 5 - Special franchise; real property owned by public utilities, such as cables, transmission or distribution wires, mains, etc., which is located under, above, or upon any public right of way.
Roll Section 6 - Utilities and non-ceiling railroads; all property owned by public utility companies and privately held railroad companies except special franchise and ceiling railroad property.
Roll Section 7 - Ceiling railroads; all railroad transportation property whose assessments are subject to a ceiling imposed by the State Board of Real Property Services.
Roll Section 8 - Wholly exempt; includes all parcels which are entirely exempt from property taxes for the general levies.  Many properties in this section are required to pay some special district taxes, however.
 

ROW HOUSES - A series of individual houses that are architecturally similar and which have a common wall between adjoining units.

ROW STORES - See “Strip Development.”

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SAFE RATE - The interest percentage obtainable on investments with maximum safety such as insured savings accounts or government bonds.  A risk rate is applicable to less secure investments.

SALE LEASEBACK - A financing device whereby an investor purchases real property and then gives contract possession by leasehold to the grantor.

SALE PRICE - The amount, in dollars, for which title to a property is actually conveyed.  Not necessarily market value.

SALES-ASSESSMENT RATIO - See “Assessment-Sales Ratio.”

SALES COMPARISON APPROACH - See “Market Data Approach.”

SALT-BOX STYLE - A type of New England architecture featuring clapboard exterior walls and a gable roof with a steeper pitch in front than in the back thus providing more headroom on the second floor at the front of the house.

SALVAGE VALUE - The price which may be expected for materials removed from a site, usually in the process of demolition, for use elsewhere.

SAMPLE - In statistics, a sample is a subset of all of the observations found in a population.  All of the homes that sold in a municipality during a given period of time would constitute a sample of all of the homes, sold or unsold, in that municipality.

SAMPLING ERROR - The difference between the value of a characteristic derived from a sample and the value of same characteristic that would have been found if the entire population had been tested.

SANDWICH LEASE - A rental agreement in which the “sandwich leaseholder” is the lessee from one party and the lessor to another.  This leaseholder stands between the fee owner of the property and the ultimate user.  Generally synonymous with sub-lease.

SANDWICH PANEL - A building material with a central core of insulation set between exterior layers of asbestos, concrete or metal.

SASH - The framework, originally of wood but now often of aluminum or other metals, which holds the glass panes in a window or door.

SAWLOG - A log of suitable size and quality for sawing into lumber.  The minimum inside bark diameter at the small end is usually 11 inches for hardwood and 8 inches for softwood, but varies by sawmill.

SAWTOOTH ROOF - A roof composed of a series of single-pitch roofs whose shorter or vertical side has windows for light and air.  Common in older factory buildings.

SCATTER DIAGRAM - A chart that displays data points relating two variables.  The independent variable is plotted on the horizontal (X) axis and the dependent variable on the vertical (Y) axis.  For example, in ratio studies the dependent variable is the sales-assessment ratio and the independent variable is some other variable such as age, sale price or square feet of living area.

SCHOOL DISTRICT CODE - A unique six-digit number assigned to every school district in the state by ORPS.  The first two digits designate the county, the second two the city or town in which the district is primarily located and the last two the district itself.

SCA (STATE CERTIFIED ASSESSOR) - An assessor who has completed the basic course of training required by the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) and the rules and regulations of the State Board of Real Property Services (ORPS).

SCAA (STATE CERTIFIED ASSESSOR, ADVANCED) - A State Certified Assessor who has completed two elective components in addition to the basic course of study. 

SCAND (STATE CERTIFIED ASSESSOR, NATIONAL DESIGNATION) - A designation available to an assessor who has attained the SCAP designation and who has also been awarded a professional designation by the Appraisal Institute, the International Association of Assessing Officers, etc.

SCAP (STATE CERTIFIED ASSESSOR, PROFESSIONAL - A designation available to an assessor who has attained the SCAA designation and also been awarded the IAO designation by the Institute of Assessing Officers of the New York State Assessors' Association.

SCRIBNER RULE (OR SCALE) - The oldest of the common diagram rules (log scales) used to measure the amount of saved lumber that can be extracted from a log of given length and diameter.  The Scribner rule is used on all national forest timber.  It is also more generally employed on softwood timber.

SECONDARY MORTGAGE MARKET - The market in which home mortgages are bought and sold after their origination by lenders.  The Federal National Mortgage Association, commercial savings banks, insurance companies, and savings and loan associations are often buyers in the secondary market.  Mortgage companies in particular and commercial banks are involved in the resale of mortgages.  The availability of funds for new mortgage loans is directly influenced by the ability of this secondary market to absorb existing mortgages.

SECTION - In public lands survey, a parcel of land consisting of a square, one mile on each side.  Thirty-six of these squares comprise a township.  Sections are further divided into quarter sections which may again be divided into halves and quarters.  In architecture, a drawing of a structure as it would appear if cut through on a vertical plane.

SECTION-BLOCK-LOT - A unique tax map identifier for a parcel of land.  Provides a means of identifying a parcel on assessment and tax rolls and other documents.

SEPTIC SYSTEM - A sewage facility for an individual house consisting of a holding tank, distribution box, and leach field, together with appropriate connections and pipes to disperse the effluent in the field.

SERVICE LIFE - See “Economic Life.”

SETBACK - The distance between the front of a structure and the fronting road of a parcel.  The distance between a structure and a property boundary line or another structure.  The recess of upper floors of a multi-story building from the face of the structure at ground level; controlled by zoning ordinances in many cities to ensure light and air.

SHED ROOF - A single pitch roof usually sloping downward from the front to the back of the structure it covers.  Used on small out-buildings.  See also “Lean-to Roof.”

SHORT-LIVED ITEMS - Components that must be replaced one or more times during the economic life of a structure.

SHORT-TERM LEASE - Generally understood to be a rental agreement for a period of less than ten years.

SILAGE - Green crops that are harvested when they are most succulent and stored in an oxygen-free environment for future use.  A synonym is ensilage.

SILO - A tall, cylindrical structure in which fermenting green fodder is preserved as silage.

SIMPLE INTEREST - An amount of money paid only on the original principal.  Not compounded by being paid on interest accrued.

SINGLE PURPOSE PROPERTY - A property whose use is so limited by design that it cannot be adapted for another use without large capital investment.

SINKING FUND - An account that is established to receive periodic deposits which accumulate interest on a compound basis.  A sinking fund is most often used to repay a debt or replace (recapture) an asset.

SINKING FUND FACTOR - A multiplier used to compute the amount of periodic contributions to a sinking fund that will grow, at a given rate of interest, compounded, for a specified period of time, to a pre-determined amount.  One of the “six functions of a dollar.”

SINKING FUND METHOD - A technique of recapturing an asset that assumes that as recaptured dollars are received they are invested in a sinking fund at a safe rate.

SINKING FUND TABLE - A tabulation of sinking fund factors.

SITE - Land that has been prepared by the addition of site improvements to be put to the use for which it is intended.

SITE ANALYSIS - A study of the nature of the physical, economic, governmental and social factors that affect a property and lead to decisions as to highest and best use; the choice of site valuation data and selection of an appropriate valuation method.
 

SITE DEVELOPMENT COST - The total of all direct and indirect expenses required to make land ready for its intended use.

SITE IMPROVEMENTS - Work done on a site such as clearing and grading; also, additions such as sidewalks, utilities and a sewage system.  The approval of a subdivision may also be considered a site improvement.

SIX FUNCTIONS OF A DOLLAR - The six related compound interest functions used in financial mathematics.  They are: future worth of $1, future worth of $1 per period, sinking fund factor, present worth of $1, present worth of $1 per period, and periodic repayment.

SKELETON STEEL CONSTRUCTION - A rigidly connected frame of steel or reinforced concrete to carry all of the external and internal loads and stresses of a structure to the foundation.  Walls are non-bearing and supported by the frame.

SKEWED - In statistics, a frequency distribution that is asymmetrical.  When plotted on an X-Y graph, distributions with longer tails on the right than on the left are said to be skewed to the right or to have positive skewness, and vice versa.  An indication that the distribution of data values is concentrated at the low or high end the range.  See also “Normal Distribution.”

SLAB - A broad, flat, and relatively thin piece of wood, stone, or other solid building material.  In common usage, a poured concrete supporting floor for a structure which does not have a basement or crawl space.

SLOPE - The inclination or deviation of a surface from the horizontal; the grade.  The amount of inclination is usually expressed as a percentage from 0% (absolutely level) to 90% (vertical).  Also, in statistics, the change in the value of a dependent variable associated with a change of 1 in the value of the independent variable.  The slope is expressed by the change in the Y value divided by the change in the X value.

SLOW-BURNING CONSTRUCTION - The use of structural members that will char for some time at ordinary building fire temperatures before structural failure occurs.

SMALL CLAIMS ASSESSMENT REVIEW (SCAR) - A procedure for contesting an assessed value that is available to most homeowners in New York State.  A hearing before a Small Claims Hearing Officer must have been preceded by the filing of a formal grievance before a municipal Board of Assessment Review.  The homeowner who chooses Small Claims Assessment Review is saved the considerable expense of commencing a writ of certiorari, but may not subsequently bring such an action if displeased with the small claims decision.

SOFFIT - The underside of some part of a building such as the eaves or a cantilevered overhang.

SOFTWARE - Computer programs in general as opposed to hardware which is the physical equipment.  The software instructs the computer to act as a word processor, spreadsheet, data base, etc.  See also “Computer Program.”

SOFTWOOD - Wood from cone bearing trees (conifers), usually evergreens, such as redwood, cedar, pine, and fir; does not refer to the density of the wood.

SOIL MAP - A portrayal of the distribution and location of soil types, phases, and complexes as well as other selected cultural and physical features.

SOIL PRODUCTIVITY - The ability of a type of soil to produce crops in the environment in which it is located given a specified system of farm management.

SOIL PROFILE GROUP - A grouping of types of soil based on certain profile characteristics.  Primary soil profile groups are differentiated on the basis of the nature and composition of the underlying material.

SOIL TYPE - There are fifty-one recognized soil types based on such factors as mineral or organic content, chemical composition, texture, origin, location, etc.  To be classified as a type, a soil must have relatively uniform characteristics throughout its full extent.

SOLAR ENERGY - Power derived from sun's radiant energy.

SOUND VALUE - Cost less depreciation; value for fire insurance purposes.  See “Replacement Cost New.”

SPECIAL ASSESSING UNIT - In New York State, an assessment jurisdiction with a population of one million or more.

SPECIAL ASSESSMENT - A charge made by a municipal government against real property to defray the cost of making a public improvement adjacent to that property.  While the improvement, such as a sidewalk or street lighting, may be of general benefit to the community, it is especially beneficial to the adjacent properties.

SPECIAL DISTRICT - A taxing unit formed in response to a need for a particular service by the owners of the real property within the district boundaries.  A special district may be established to provide fire protection, to install and maintain a sewer or water system, to dispose of solid waste, etc.  Special district taxes may be levied on the real property in the district on an ad valorem basis or by a unit charge in proportion to the benefit received by the property.

SPECIAL FRANCHISE - A monopolistic or exclusive right conferred by government upon a corporation to provide a specified public service, to make use of certain public property for this purpose, and to charge for the services performed.  Most public utility companies operate as special franchises.

SPECIAL-PURPOSE PROPERTY - A property devoted to or available for use for a special purpose which, because of the requirements of that use, may be constructed in such a manner that it cannot realistically be used for any other purpose and thus may have a limited market.  Theaters, breweries and steel mills are typical special-purpose properties.

SPECULATION - The act of engaging in business transactions involving considerable risk in the hope of a quick and large profit.

SPLIT - The process whereby a parcel is divided into two or more parcels for assessment purposes.  In most cases the assessor will require a copy of a filed map as evidence that the split has municipal approval.

SPLIT LEVEL STYLE - A multi-level house in which levels are places side-by-side (and occasionally back-to-front) at half-story intervals.  The lower level on one side is usually the basement, above which are the family rooms.  A garage is often at grade level with bedrooms above it.

SPLIT / MERGE NUMBER - A unique number assigned by the assessor to report those parcels associated in a particular split or merge.  Used in the Assessor's Report (AR-2).

SPOT ZONING - An exception to the general rules governing permitted use of property in a municipality.  These exceptions permit specific, usually small, parcels of land to have a different use than that of parcels in the surrounding area.  See “Zoning Variance.”

SQUARE FOOT METHOD - A process in the cost approach to value whereby all of the direct and indirect costs of construction are combined and then allocated as a unit price per square foot of floor area.

SRA (SENIOR RESIDENTIAL APPRAISER) - A professional designation awarded by the Appraisal Institute.

SREA (SENIOR REAL ESTATE APPRAISER) - A professional designation awarded by the Appraisal Institute.

SRPA (SENIOR REAL PROPERTY APPRAISER) - A professional designation awarded by the Appraisal Institute.

STABILIZED EXPENSE - A projected cost of doing business that is subject to change but represents the best annualized estimate for the item.

STABILIZED INCOME - Projected revenue that is subject to change but represents the best annualized estimate of income.

STAND CRUISE - The process of estimating the amount of lumber in a forest tract.  It is based upon a particular log rule or volume table, and no deduction is made for breakage or other waste in the woods.

STANDARD DEPTH - The front to back length of a lot determined to be most common in an urban neighborhood; may be different for residential vs. commercial uses.

STANDARD DEVIATION - In statistics, a measure of the scatter in a frequency distribution; useful in predicting the distance from the mean within which one may expect to find various percentages of the population.  The square root of the variance.

STANDARD ERROR OF THE ESTIMATE - In statistics, a measure of how well the regression line fits the data; the dispersion remaining in the data after the regression equation has been applied.

STATISTICS - A branch of mathematics concerned with the collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of numerical data.  The collected data themselves are also called statistics.

STAVE SILO - A silo constructed of wood or concrete sections set vertically and held together by metal hoops as is a barrel.

STEPWISE REGRESSION ANALYSIS - The process by which independent variables can be added to or removed from the regression equation depending on their contribution to predicting the value of the dependent variable.  See also “Multiple Regression Analysis.”

STRAIGHT-LINE METHOD OF DEPRECIATION - An application of depreciation in which a property value is assumed to decline in equal amounts during equal time intervals (i.e., annually) until it reaches zero.  A property with an expected economic life of 50 years would thus be depreciated at the rate of 2% annually.

STRAIGHT-LINE RECAPTURE - The process of recovering capital invested in a wasting asset in equal periodic increments over the remaining economic life of the asset.  Its use implies that income attributable to the asset declines annually to the same extent that the annual recapture increment reduces the interest requirement on the declining capital investment.

STRATIFICATION - In statistics, the process of dividing a set of observations, for purposes of analysis, into two or more subsets according to some criterion.  Houses might be stratified on the basis of whether they are brick or frame; whether they have sold for more or less than $200,000; or whether they contain less than 1,000 square feet, 1,000 to 2,000 square feet or more than 2,000 square feet.

STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLE - The methodology used by the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) in selecting parcels to be appraised for equalization surveys.  Parcels from the residential class, for example, are not selected purely at random.  The random selection takes place after the members of the class have been stratified by assessed value to insure that homes in all value ranges will be selected.  See also “Random Sample” and “Stratification.”

STRIP DEVELOPMENT - A type of commercial development wherein the main streets of a city or town are bordered by an almost continuous row of commercial buildings, usually retail stores.  Any shopping area with stores set in a row.

STRUCTURE VALUE - That portion of either replacement or reproduction cost remaining after deducting deterioration but before any deduction for obsolescence.

STUD - A vertical framing member, usually of wood or metal, to which walls and partitions are attached.

STUMPAGE - The value of un-cut timber standing in a forest.

SUBDIVISION - A tract of land which has been divided, often subject to municipal zoning regulations, into individual parcels.  Usually for residential use but may also be commercial or mixed.

SUBJECT PROPERTY - The land and improvements, if any, which are being appraised.

SUBJECTIVE - Based on an individuals experience, perceptions and feelings; not necessarily verifiable as fact.  See also “Objective.”

SUBLEASE - An agreement conveying the right to occupy and use real estate wherein the lessor is the lessee under a prior lease.  Property ordinarily cannot be sublet without the original lessor's (owner's) approval.

SUBORDINATION AGREEMENT - A contractual arrangement whereby the rights of a party to real estate are made junior (subordinated) to rights of others that would ordinarily be junior.  A mortgage on vacant land might be made subject to a subsequent construction loan.

SUBSTITUTION, PRINCIPLE OF - The premise that the maximum value of a property tends to be set by the cost of acquiring as equally desirable and valuable substitute property, assuming no costly delay is encountered in so doing.

SUM OF YEARS' DIGITS METHOD - A depreciation process whereby an asset is assumed to lose its value rapidly during the early years of its existence and more gradually in later years.  An automobile typically depreciates in this manner.

SUMMATION - The process of adding or totaling.  In statistics, the symbol is the capitalized Greek letter sigma ( ∑ ).

SUMMATION APPROACH - See “Cost Approach.”

SUMMATION VALUE - The replacement cost of the improvements new less deterioration (physical depreciation) and obsolescence plus land value.

SUPERADEQUACY - An excess of size, quantity, quality or capacities of features or materials as compared to those which are adequate in the market place.  A 200 gallon hot water heater would be a superadequacy in the normal one-family house.  Loss of value results from this condition.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND, PRINCIPLE OF - The premise that price or value varies directly, but not necessarily proportionately, with desire for something (demand) and inversely, but not necessarily proportionately, with its availability (supply).

SURPLUS INCOME - See “Excess Income.”

SURPLUS PRODUCTIVITY, PRINCIPLE OF - The premise that net operating income remaining after the appropriate costs of labor, management and capital have been paid is attributable to the land and tends to determine land value.

SURVEY - A scientific procedure for determining the quantity and/or location of a piece of land; it may also take note of physical features such as grades, contours and structures.  A statement of the courses and distances of the boundaries of a parcel and its size, usually in acres.

SWIS (STATEWIDE INFORMATION SYSTEM) CODE - A six-digit number assigned by the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) as a unique identifier for every municipality in the state.  The first two digits define the county, the second two the city or town, and the last pair the village, if any.

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TANGIBLE PROPERTY - Property which has a physical reality; which can be seen, touched, etc.  See also “Intangible Property.”

TAX BASE - The unit of value to which a tax rate is applied to determine the tax due.  For property taxes, the tax base is usually the assessed valuation subject to tax although special district taxes may be based on linear feet of sidewalk, number of dwelling units, etc.

TAX DEED - A document conveying from a tax district to a purchaser of a tax sale certificate a new absolute title upon his or her application after the expiration of any redemption rights of the former property owner.

TAX LEVY - The total amount of money to be raised by the property tax by any taxing jurisdiction in a given year.  The amount is determined by the budget of the local government or other taxing jurisdiction.

TAX LIEN - A charge which automatically applies to a property in the amount of unpaid property taxes.  A tax usually becomes a lien when it is levied which, for practical purposes, is when tax bills are mailed.

TAX MAP - A map, drawn to scale, showing the boundary lines, dimensions, shape, and area of each parcel as well as streets, roads, watercourses, and other landmarks.  There must be a logical system for numbering each parcel.  In New York State, tax maps must be approved by the State Office of Real Property Services (ORPS).

TAX RATE - The tax levy divided by the total taxable assessed value of a taxing jurisdiction, usually expressed in dollars per thousand, dollars per hundred, or mills.

TAX ROLL - An official book listing all real property in a tax district.  It shows the location and description of each parcel, the owner, the amount of the assessment, any exemptions, and the amount of taxes levied against the parcel.

TAX SALE - The sale by a municipal corporation of property which has been confiscated from the prior owner for non-payment of taxes.

TAXABLE ASSESSED VALUE - The assessed value of a parcel (or an entire assessment roll) against which the tax rate is applied to compute the tax due.  In case of a partial exemption, the exempt amount is subtracted from the assessed value in order to determine the taxable assessed value.

TAXABLE STATE-OWNED LANDS - Property of the State of New York which is subject to property taxes under various provisions of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL); entered on section 3 of the assessment roll.

TAXABLE STATUS DATE - The particular date on which the taxable status of real property must be determined according to its condition and ownership.  An improvement added after taxable status date is not assessable until the following year; one added before is subject to current year assessment and taxation.  The taxable status date of most towns in New York State is March 1st.

TAXATION - The process whereby governments raise money for their operations.  The most common forms of taxation are income taxes, property taxes and sales taxes.

TENANCY BY THE ENTIRETY - An estate held by a husband and wife in which neither has a disposable interest during the lifetime of the other, except through joint action.

TENANTS IN COMMON - An estate held by two or more persons each of whom has an undivided interest.  There is no right of survivorship.

TENANCY, JOINT WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP - Ownership by two or more persons together with right of survivorship.  In the event that one party dies, the other party automatically inherits the entire property.

TENANT - The lessee in a lease agreement.  The person who is allowed to enter and use leased property in exchange for periodic payments of rent.

TENTATIVE ASSESSMENT ROLL - A preliminary assessment roll whose assessed values and exempt amounts are subject to grievance by a taxpayer before a board of assessment review.  The roll does not become final until all grievances have been acted upon by that board.  See “Assessment Roll.”

TERMINAL - A device for data entry and display which is connected to a computer.  Ordinarily, simply a monitor and a keyboard although some terminals can act as stand-alone PC's.

TILLABLE LAND - Farm land which can be used to grow annual crops which require plowing harrowing, planting, cultivating and harvesting.  Improved or seeded pasture is considered tillable land.

TIMESHARING - A system by which one owns a share in resort property which permits its use for a specific number of weeks at specific times during the year.

TITLE - The sum of all facts on which ownership is founded or can be proved.  Possession, the right of possession and the right of property form a complete title.

TITLE COMPANY - A corporation which guarantees and insures title to real property.

TITLE DEFECT - Any circumstance that adversely affects or restricts the title or marketability of a property.

TITLE INSURANCE - Insurance to cover financial loss in case there is a claim arising from defects in a title to real property which existed but were not recognized at the time the title was issued.

TITLE SEARCH - The examination of records comprising a history of the ownership of a parcel of real property; intended to disclose possible defects which might render a title unmarketable.

TOPOGRAPHIC MAP - A map showing the contours of the earth's surface for a particular area by use of contour lines, tinting or shading.

TOWNHOUSE - A single-family house set in a row of similar houses with party walls dividing the individual homes.  Differs from a duplex in that the townhouse has a separately deeded plot of land, whereas the multiple units of a duplex are on one deeded parcel.

TRACT HOUSES - Homes which are mass produced in a residential subdivision and are very similar in style, size, quality and price.

TRAILER PARK - See “Mobile Home Park.”

TRANSITION ASSESSMENT - An assessment used in approved assessing units to phase in changes after a revaluation so as to lessen shifts in the tax burden from one class of property to another.  In the valuation of taxable state-owned lands in New York State, an assessment pursuant to section 545 of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL).

TRIM - Finish materials such as baseboards where walls and floors join or molding around ceilings or openings such as windows and doors.

TRUSS - A structural frame composed of straight members whose form is based on the triangle.  A truss is rigid under anticipated loads and can span large distances without supporting columns.

TYPICAL OPERATOR CONCEPT - The premise that a purchaser will pay for a farm on the basis of its productivity when farmed by the typical farm operator using typical management practices for the area in which the farm is located.

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UNDER IMPROVEMENT - An improvement which is not the most profitable for the site on which it is placed because of a deficiency in size, cost or quality, and which is consequently unable to develop the maximum possible land value.

UNIFORM PERCENTAGE OF VALUE - The standard of assessment in New York State.  All properties in an assessing unit must be assessed at the same percentage of their market values except where classified assessments are allowed, in which case all properties in the same class must be assessed at the same percentage of their market values.

UNIT-IN-PLACE METHOD - A procedure for estimating construction cost.  This method groups all of the related costs of individual building components (framing, windows, plumbing, etc.) “in place” to arrive at a cost estimate for the entire building.

UNIT OF COMPARISON - The components into which an appraiser divides a property so that it may be compared to similar properties; for example, dollars per square foot, acre or front foot for vacant land; dollars per alley for bowling lanes or dollars per rentable room for motels.

UNITS BUILDABLE - A unit of comparison used when market analysis indicates that similar sites are purchased based the number of homes, condominiums, rental units or other improvements that can be built per acre of site.

UPDATE - A major adjustment of assessed values on a roll, usually using some type of CAMA, but short of a revaluation in that there is no full-scale data collection.  Also, to place current data on a computer master file.

UPSET PRICE - At an auction, the minimum acceptable bid for which a property may be sold.

USEFUL LIFE - The length of time during which an improvement may reasonably be expected to be able to perform the function for which it was designed and intended.  Not exactly the same as “Economic Life.”

USUFRUCT - The right to use and enjoy the profits and other advantages of something belonging to another.

UTILITY - Usefulness; the capacity of an object to satisfy human needs and desires.  A house has utility because humans need shelter from the elements.

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VACANCY RATE - The percentage used to determine the deduction from potential gross income for uncollected rent due to vacant rental units.  The vacancy rate can be calculated by dividing the number of units vacant by the total number of units or by dividing the amount of rent lost by the potential gross income.

VALUATION - The process of estimating market value, investment value, insurable value, or other properly defined value of an identified interest or interests in a specific parcel or parcels of real property as of a given date.  See “Valuation Date.”

VALUATION DATE - The date on which a value estimate applies.  For assessment purposes, the valuation date in New York State is set by statute in all but a few jurisdictions as January 1 of the current year.  Appraisals for other purposes may have various valuation dates.

VALUATION INVENTORY - The physical characteristics of a property on the valuation date.

VALUE AFTER THE TAKING - When a property is partially condemned, it is the market value of the remainder of the original parcel considered as a new parcel.

VALUE BEFORE THE TAKING - In a condemnation proceeding, it is the market value of the entire property affected by the taking.

VALUE IN EXCHANGE - The amount of goods, services or money which a knowledgeable purchaser, would offer in trade for something having economic worth under specific market conditions.

VALUE IN USE - A concept of value which is based on the productivity of an economic good to its owner-user.  Structures on a parcel may be so specialized that it would be difficult to prove that the property has any market value, but it might still have substantial value to its owner for the purpose for which it was built.

VALUE INTERVAL - The lowest level of stratification used in a market value survey by the State Office of Real Property Services (ORPS).  For example, the residential class might be divided into three intervals based on assessed value to ensure that all types of houses are adequately represented in the survey.

VARIABLE - A measurable characteristic.  A continuous variable such as square feet of living area can assume any numeric value.  A discrete variable such as dwelling style can assume only certain specified values such as ranch, cape cod, colonial, etc.  A binary variable such as central air-conditioning can assume only a “yes/no” value.

VARIABLE EXPENSES - Costs such as management, utilities and trash removal which vary with occupancy.  They must be stabilized using market data.

VARIABLE RATE MORTGAGE - A loan having an interest rate that fluctuates with changes in market rates such as the prime rate or government bond rates.

VARIANCE - A measure of the degree to which individual values in a set of data vary from the median or mean value.  It is calculated by subtracting the median (or mean) value from each individual value, squaring the differences, summing the squared differences, and dividing this sum by the number of observations.  The square root of the variance is the standard deviation.

VENEER - A thin layer of material covering a thicker base of some other substance, such as walnut veneer on less valuable wood or a brick exterior finish over wood sheathing or a concrete wall.

VERIFIED SALE - A sale whose pertinent data has been confirmed by consultation with the buyer, seller or an authorized agent of either party.

VISUAL CENTER - A point an a tax map lying within the boundaries of a parcel which appears, without taking precise measurements, to be approximately at the center thereof.

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WALL-BEARING CONSTRUCTION - Describes a structure in which masonry walls bear the loads of the floors and the roof; there is no internal framing system.

WARRANTY DEED - A legal document conveying title to a property to a grantee free of any encumbrances except those specifically mentioned in the document.

WASTING ASSETS - Reserves of oil, natural gas and mineral ores which are depleted as they are extracted from the ground and, eventually, exhausted.

WATER RIGHTS - The right to use a stated quantity or flow of water for a stated period of time.  The most usual uses are for irrigation of crops and for hydroelectric power.  The right may be granted by a government, may be a common law riparian right or may have been acquired by prescription which is similar to adverse possession.

WATERSHED - An area from which surface water drains into a particular river or stream.  Also called a drainage basin.

WEIGHTED AVERAGE - A mean (average) quantity composed of components that have been properly weighted in accordance with their proportionate influence on the final result.  If houses in a subdivision have 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 baths, the weighted average number of baths would be ((1.5 x A) + (2.0 x B) + (2.5 x C)) ÷ X where A, B, and C are the number of houses with each quantity of baths and X is the total number of houses in the subdivision.  See also “Band of Investment.”

WEIGHTED RATE - A freighted average of several different percentages (rates).  See “Band of Investment” and “Weighted Average.”

WELCOME STRANGER ASSESSMENT - The practice of increasing assessments on properties based on their recent selling prices while leaving untouched the assessments of properties that have not sold.  This practice has been declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court and by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court.

WHARF - A structure usually constructed parallel to the shoreline alongside which vessels can be docked for loading and unloading.  A pier, by contrast, is perpendicular to the shore and extends into the adjoining water.

WHOLLY EXEMPT PROPERTY - A property which is completely exempt from the general levies (county, city or town, school) but may be subject to some special district taxes.  Found in section 8 of the assessment roll.

WIND LOAD - The pressure, usually measured in pounds per square foot, of the force of the wind on the walls and roof of a structure.  Can be very significant for high-rise buildings.

WORD PROCESSING - The creation, editing and storing of text using a computer.  A document may be corrected and amended many times before the final copy is produced without the continuous re-typing required on a manual typewriter.  A hard disk can store thousands of documents that would require several file drawers if paper copies were kept.

WRAPAROUND MORTGAGE - A loan agreement subordinate to but including any existing mortgages on a property.  A third party lender may refinance a property by agreeing to assume the existing debt and its service and including (wrapping around) same under a new junior mortgage.

WRIT OF CERTIORARI - A legal instrument (writ) from a superior legal body directing the review of the proceedings of an inferior court, tribunal or board.  In New York State, the method instituting judicial review of an allegedly illegal or erroneous assessment if a property owner is not satisfied by the action of the local Board of Assessment Review.

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YIELD - The rate or amount of return on invested equity capital.  A $50 stock with a dividend of $2.50 would have a yield of 5%.  The owner of 100 shares would have an annual yield of $250 on this investment.  In agriculture, the ability of land to produce some crop expressed in bushels per acre or some similar measurement.

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ZONING - A police power which allows a municipality to regulate types and intensities of land use.  Typically, a zoning ordinance will determine the different types of uses (residential, commercial, open space, etc.) permitted in different parts of a city, town or village and density limitations (five dwelling units per acre or two-acre minimum buildings lots, for example).  Characteristics of improvements such as height, setback and even architectural style are often controlled by zoning ordinances.

ZONING VARIANCE - A permitted use of a property which does not conform to the existing zoning regulations for the area surrounding that property (i.e., a house on a half-acre lot in an area zoned for two-acre lots).  Often a use is “grand-fathered” because it existed prior to the establishment of the zoning ordinance.

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