Glossary of Terms

Promotes economic revitalization in distressed communities throughout the United States by providing financial assistance and information to community development financial institutions (CDFI). 

Face rent is also known as Stated Rent.

Firms leverage these factors to generate economic profits by generating revenues from the sale of a good or service that exceeds the costs of producing or maintaining these factors.

Fannie Mae is the more common alias of The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) is a publicly traded

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is an independent federal agency tasked with insuring customer deposits at US banks and thrifts. Created in 1933, the FDIC seeks to maintain public confidence and stability throughout financial crises by promoting sound banking practices.

The interest rate at which banks lend reserve balances to each other on an overnight basis. Depository institutions are required by law to maintain a certain percentage of their customer’s money in reserves, causing banks to lend money back and forth to maintain an acceptable level of cash on hand. Banks will try to stay as close to the minimum reserve limit as possible, as excess reserves earn a rate of return of zero and can lose value over time due to inflation.

See Freddie Mac.

See Fannie Mae.

The Federal Reserve is comprised of the Board of Governors and 12 Federal Reserve Banks in cities around the United States.

The most absolute type of ownership of land. The owner has complete rights over the property, and may possess, use, and dispose of the land as he or she desires. Contrary to a leasehold ownership, an owner of a fee simple interest in a property has taken title, and owns both the land and any improvements that exist on the land indefinitely. Expect for a few unique situations, no one can legally take ownership of land from someone with pre-existing fee simple ownership.

Unlike a commodity currency, fiat money is not backed by any physical asset such as gold or silver. Instead, it relies on the faith people have in the currency and the government behind it. The U.S. dollar is a fiat currency and is considered the least risky currency of all the other fiat currencies. The U.S. dollar has become a global safe haven because of the U.S. government’s stability. It is backed by the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. government.

A fiat currency provides a country’s central bank with more control over the money supply — credit supply, liquidity, interest rates, and money velocity. Because central banks can print money, unless there are checks and balances, the situation can get out of control, leading to hyperinflation, as was the case in Zimbabwe and the Weimar Republic of Germany.

Finance is a term that describes the study and system of money, investments and various other financial instruments. Generally, finance is broken into three categories: public finance, corporate finance and personal finance.

Finance charges provide lenders an incentive to provide funds to consumers and businesses. Without the, lenders would receive no compensation for providing liquidity to individuals and businesses.

Financial institutions are entities such as banks, insurance companies, brokerages, and even auto dealers and the United States Postal Service. Financial institutions engage in the business of financial and monetary transactions. Banks make money by earning more interest loans than the interest paid on deposits. Brokerages make money through investor trading commissions.

Financial institutions are an important component of the economy. Given the importance of their role, they are heavily regulated by the government. Risk and other metrics critical to the proper functioning of these institutions are closely monitoring through these regulations. Part of their importance is because businesses and consumers depend on financial institutions for loans and other financial transactions.

Financial leverage is the use of borrowed funds to acquire an investment. In the context of commercial real estate, this typically involves the use of a mortgage

A financial plan is a roadmap for an individual to achieve specific financial goals. It is a long-term plan. Financial planning is the process of creating, updating, and following this roadmap. A financial plan can be created by the individual or with a financial planner.

Creating a financial plan involves an analysis of your current financial state. Adding up all of your assets and deducting all your liabilities equals your net worth. A financial plan will often ensure you have enough money for retirement and other needs years from now. For many, it should also increase their net worth. Some elements of a financial plan include retirement, tax strategies, risk management, investment strategies, and estate planning.

FinTech, which is short for Financial Technology, is the word used to describe new technology that is developed to automate and improve the financial and banking services sectors. Typically delivered through different algorithms and software packages on computers and smartphones, FinTech looks to help corporations, business owners, and consumers facilitate and manage their financial operations and needs.

See Deed of Trust.

First loss position is an investment’s or security’s position that will suffer the first economic loss if the underlying assets lose value or are foreclosed upon.

A government can implement fiscal policy in the form of lower tax rates in order to influence higher levels of consumer spending. It could also promote economic expansion by building infrastructure such as public transportation or highways that will allow individuals and businesses higher levels of connectivity and ability to expand productivity.

The Internal Revenue Service dictates that a fiscal year consists of twelve consecutive months ending on the last day of any month with the exception of December. Thus, a firm can report its financial statements to various regulators and shareholders as of the fiscal year ending February 28. 

A fixed cost is a critical input in a firm’s break-even analysis, which is used to determine pricing and production for the firm’s inputs and products.

A type of loan where the interest rate is predetermined, and does not fluctuate during the term of the loan. Fixed rate loans allow borrowers to accurately calculate future financial obligations, in the form of both principal and interest payments.

A fixture is something that is permanently attached to real property.  Examples include items such as HVAC systems, ceiling lights, awnings, window shades,

Refers to a tax system that utilizes the same marginal tax rate across individual taxpayers or businesses. Opposite of the progressive tax structure, this method ensures that higher income earning entities don’t pay a proportionately higher amount of taxes. 

FAR stands for Floor Area Ratio and is the total usable floor space in a building compared to the building’s lot size. The formula for FAR is (total floor area of building) / (gross lot area). The total building floor space may also be based on permitting. A high FAR means more density. City governments use FAR for zoning.

Usable space varies across buildings. Elevator shafts, stairwells, pillars, and other occupiable spaces do not count as usable space. Developers desire a higher FAR, as it allows for more occupancy per lot. City planners must balance the desire for more usable space with the strains it can put on a city, known as a safe load factor.

If an investor holds its interest in the QOF for 10 years or more, for purposes of determining the gain or loss the investor recognizes from the sale or exchange of such QOF interest, the investor may elect for the basis of such QOF interest to be equal to its fair market value on the date such QOF interest is sold or exchanged.

Foreclosure is the legal process by which the mortgage holder attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has defaulted by forcing the sale

Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) is a United States tax law that imposes a tax on foreign persons disposing of United States real property interests. To ensure tax collection from

One of the several tax forms distributed by IRS, Form 1099 is used in the United States to report various types of income other than wages, salaries, and tips. The form is primarily used to report payments to independent contractors, income from rental properties, and income from interest and dividends.

Form 8824 is a form to be filled out with an exchanger’s tax return in order to report the completion of a 1031 like-kind exchange to the IRS.

Percentage ownership over real property. A common structure for assets that require significant pooling of capital, fractional ownership allows the costs and profits of a particular investment be split amongst the owners of title. Percent ownership is typically determined by the amount contributed to the entity’s overall capitalization.

There are two primary options one can take when considering 1031 eligible fractional ownership in investment property: Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs) and Tenant-In-Common investments (TICs). These structures allow smaller investors to enter into larger, investment-grade properties that were originally restricted to institutional investors, such as banks and insurance companies.

Freddie Mac is the more commonly known alias of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) which is a publicly traded

In a community with shared resources, such as a town, there are some people who use what they pay for and others who overuse resources. Others pay nothing and still use resources. Those who use more than they’ve paid for are called free riders.

Free trade is a policy that seeks to allow buyers and sellers from economies around the world to trade freely without incurring government tariffs, quotas or subsidies. Free trade is synonymous with “laissez-faire trade” which seeks to eliminate discrimination against imports and exports and allow markets to find equilibrium organically in the absence of government policies. Free trade allows the expansion of an economy’s offering of services and products by allowing the best producer the opportunity to penetrate a market regardless of its national denomination. This allows an economy to expand its product offerings, knowledge, skills and promotes specialization and the division of labor. 

Fringe benefits are an additional, often non-monetary compensation for employees. They can be used to help set a company apart from its competition by offering benefits that other companies don’t offer. This differentiation helps in attracting hard-to-find talent.

Some common fringe benefits include health and life insurance. Other benefits can include a gourmet cafeteria (as is the case with Google), 20 weeks paid leave (Microsoft), commuter passes, gym memberships, and more. Fringe benefits help enhance the work environment for employees, making it a more desirable place to work. For this reason, and in addition to attracting talent, fringe benefits help retain and keep employees motivated.

A fully amortizing loan is a type of loan which is completely paid off by the end of its term, given the borrower makes complete payments based on the loan’s amortization schedule. Whereas fixed rate loans will have equal payments of interest and principal over its term, debt service on floating rate loans will change as the interest rate changes. Due to the fact that all principal will be paid off, fully amortizing loans will not see a balloon payment at the end of its term, regardless of whether it is fixed or floating.

With regard to corporate-level investment strategies, fund types can include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or hedge funds. Different types of funds have different investment theses which attract investors with risk profiles that align strongly with a fund’s strategy.

Future value is a time value of money (TVM) concept that represents the expected value, as of a defined date in the future, resulting from

To become a Qualified Opportunity Fund, an eligible taxpayer self-certifies.  As of now, no approval or action by the IRS is required.

An investment vehicle that is set up as either a partnership or corporation for investing at least 90% of its assets in eligible property (see “Opportunity Zone Property”) that is located in an Opportunity Zone and that utilizes the investor’s gains from a prior investment (an unlimited amount) from the sale or exchange of any property (whether or not the asset sold was located in or related to a low-income community).

FICA contributions are mandatory. Funds collected as a result of this payroll tax help fund programs such as Social Security and Medicare that pay for current retirees’ and other beneficiaries’ benefits.