Glossary

Plain-English definitions for terms we use on this site.

Screening

A human-reviewed summary of observable conditions and public records. It is not an inspection, survey, or engineering study.

A physical, hands-on examination of a property by a licensed professional. Not the same as a screening.

Geographic Information Systems: mapping technology used to layer property data such as ownership, zoning, and topography.

National Flood Hazard Layer: FEMA's dataset identifying flood zones, used as one data source in environmental screening.

The minimum distance a building or structure must be from a property line. Assumed in our buildable-acreage method and listed explicitly.

The portion of a parcel that can realistically be developed, given topography, access, and regulatory factors we document.

A review of visible standing water and publicly available topography that flags likely concerns, capped with a confidence statement.