50 Property Management Acronyms Explained

New to the industry? You’re bound to come across some unfamiliar industry lingo in the form of property management acronyms. It doesn’t take long to see that property managers, owners, investors and even software providers have a way of speaking in shorthand. For instance, it’s a lot faster to say “IRO,” as a single word (or with each letter individually pronounced), than to keep saying “independent rental owner.”

Speaking shorthand make sense for those with industry exposure. Unfortunately, too many acronyms can make it difficult for newcomers to jump into jargon-heavy or industry-related conversations, professional development sessions, articles and reports. Plus, there are hundreds of real estate and property management acronyms.

That’s why we defined some of the most frequently used terms. The following property management acronyms are listed in alphabetical order.

Property management acronyms

1. AHI        affordable housing industry  
2. ARM      Accredited Residential Manager
3. BGF       Better Government Fund
4. BOMA   Building Owners & Managers Association
5. CAM      Common Area Maintenance
6. CEC       Continuing Education Credit
7. CPM      Certified Property Manager
8. CRE       Commercial Real Estate
9. DHS       Department of Homeland Security 
10. DOJ       U.S. Department of Justice 
11. DOL       U.S. Department of Labor 
12. EIN         Employee Identification Number 
13. EPA        Environmental Protection Agency
14. FEMA    Federal Emergency Management Agency 
15. FHAP     Fair Housing Assistance Program
16. FHEO     Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
17. FMR       Fair Market Rents 
18. FSBO     For Sale By Owner
19. GPR       gross potential rent 
20. HCCP     Housing Credit Certified Professional
21. HCV       Housing Choice Voucher
22. HERA     Housing Education and Research Association 
23. HOA       Homeowners Association
24. HOME   Home Investment Partnerships
25. HUD       U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
26. ILS         Internet Listing Service
27. IREM     Institute of Real Estate Management
28. IRO        Independent Rental Owner
29. IROP      Independent Rental Owner Professional
30. IROC      Independent Rental Owners Committee 
31. LIHTC     Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
32. LLC         Limited Liability Corporation
33. MH         manufactured housing
34. MHI       Manufactured Housing Institute
35. NAA       National Apartment Association
36. NAR       National Association of Realtors 
37. NFPA     National Fire Protection Association 
38. NGBS     National Green Building Standard 
39. NGO      Non-Governmental Organization   
40. NIMBY Not In My Backyard 
41. NMHC   National Multifamily Housing Council
42. NOI        net operating income
43. OO         Owner Occupied
44. PAC        Political Action Committee 
45. PHA       Public Housing Authority
46. REIT       real estate investment trust 
47. RFP        request for proposal 
48. ROI         return on investment
49. RPM      Residential Property Management
50. SaaS      software as a service 

If you’d like to see a larger list, check out these property management acronyms from NAA.