Last updated: November 5, 2026
Proptech means property technology: the software, hardware, and data tools that help people buy, sell, lease, finance, build, and operate real estate. This glossary defines the core terms investors, operators, lenders, and marketers use every week, with plain English first and context second.
Proptech is the umbrella for digital products that touch real estate. It covers residential and commercial markets, and it spans leasing, property management, lending, construction, brokerage, and analytics. Use the term as a category label, then name the workflow you actually mean.
People also write PropTech or real estate tech. CRE tech usually means commercial software. The label matters less than the buyer: owner operator, lender, broker, builder, or corporate occupancy team.
NOI is a property's income after operating expenses and before debt service and capital expenditures. Investors use it to compare assets on an apples to apples operating basis.
Typical inputs include rent and other income minus taxes, insurance, utilities the landlord pays, repairs, management fees, and similar operating costs. Mortgage payments are not an operating expense for NOI.
Cap rate is NOI divided by property value or purchase price, expressed as a percentage. A higher cap rate usually signals higher yield and often higher perceived risk or weaker growth expectations.
Cap rates vary by asset class, market, and interest rate environment. They are a snapshot, not a full investment thesis.
DSCR is NOI (or sometimes underwritten rental income) divided by annual debt service. Lenders use it to judge whether a property can cover its loan payments. Many investment property loans qualify on DSCR rather than personal W-2 income.
A DSCR of 1.0 means income equals debt payments. Lenders often prefer ratios above 1.0, and exact floors vary by program, credit, and property type. See the DSCR guides on Briefcase for formulas and examples.
Loan to value (LTV) is loan amount divided by appraised or purchase value. Loan to cost (LTC) is loan amount divided by total project cost and shows up more in construction or value add financing.
Lower LTV generally means more borrower equity and less lender risk. DSCR loans still care about LTV alongside the coverage ratio.
In a triple net lease, the tenant typically pays base rent plus property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. Landlords like NNN for more predictable net income; tenants take on more operating variability.
NNN is common in retail and industrial single tenant deals. Always read the lease: net structures vary, and some costs still sit with the landlord.
A property management system (PMS) is the system of record for units, leases, work orders, and often accounting. A customer relationship management (CRM) system tracks leads, deals, and relationships for brokerage, lending, or sales teams.
Proptech stacks often connect PMS, CRM, payments, and access control. Integration quality matters as much as feature lists.
Use categories to organize research, not to force every company into one box. Common buckets include search and marketplace, brokerage CRM, lending and underwriting, property management and accounting, leasing and resident experience, maintenance and smart building, construction controls, and data or valuation.
When you evaluate software or write marketing, define the term in one sentence, then show the metric it moves. Days to lease, maintenance response time, underwriting turnaround, and NOI variance beat vague digital transformation language.
For deeper guides, see What Is Proptech, the DSCR loan guide, and the commercial real estate glossary on Briefcase. Briefcase Studio helps proptech brands turn these concepts into clear GTM content; Square Footage is the free weekday briefing of top US real estate stories.
Briefcase Studio builds newsletters, animated data visuals, short-form video, and launch campaigns for proptech and real estate brands. Retainers typically run $3,000 to $6,000 per month.
Explore Briefcase StudioSubscribe to Square Footage