LOL, SMH, OMG, AOL, POTUS, acronyms are everywhere. Social Media, business, personal, Medical, Dental, Construction, Retail, personal and yes, even Commercial Real Estate.
What is an acronym and where did it come from? An Acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of a name or phrase. It is pronounced as if it were a word. The most common one is probably LOL (laugh out loud) or SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
Now one would think that acronyms have only been around since the 20
th Century, but you would be wrong. Acronyms are ancient, or so research states. Acronyms were used in Rome before the Christian era. For example, the official name for the Roman Empire, and the Republic before it, was abbreviated as
SPQR (
Senatus Populusque Romanus).
One of the drivers for the adoption of acronyms was modern warfare with its many highly technical terms. While there is no recorded use of military acronyms in documents dating from the American Civil War (acronyms such as ANV for “Army of Northern Virginia” post-date the war itself), they had become somewhat common in World War I and were very much a part even of the vernacular language of the soldiers during World War II, who themselves were referred to as G.I.s.
In the Commercial Real Estate world there are several common acronyms but some that are less common.
Here are a few of the common acronyms
BOV – Broker Opinion of Value
ESFR – Early Suppression Fast Response
FS – Full Service
IRR – Internal Rate of Return
LOI – Letter of Intent
TI – Tenant Improvements
Here are a few of the less common acronyms
TOD – Transit Oriented Development
SOR – Standard Direct Rate
FV – Future Value
GRM – Gross Rent Multiplier
LPTI – Landlord-paid Tenant Improvements
There is a time and place for everything and that includes acronyms also. The whole point of using them is to make your writing clearer. However if you abuse them you will accomplish just the opposite and will turn your correspondence into a confusing brew of alphabet soup.
For those that are interested, here are a few links with Acronyms for Commercial Real Estate
http://www.reiclub.com/real-estate-abbreviations.php
http://www.westerwelle.net/abbreviations.htm
http://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/real-estate-abbreviations/
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&sqi=2&ved=0CFIQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.realtor.org%2Fncommsrc.nsf%2Ffiles%2Fcommercial%2520real%2520estate%2520glossary.pdf%2F%24file%2Fcommercial%2520real%2520estate%2520glossary.pdf&ei=wU3BVPeaNMmdgwSuzIPgBQ&usg=AFQjCNFL1VzN7z6SJ_SjD_4iqOLz6zUK0A&bvm=bv.83829542,d.eXY&cad=rja
