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title: Real Estate Glossary: EOI, Stacking Plan, Absorption | XSquare
description: Plain definitions of real estate terms: off-plan, EOI, payment plan, post-dated cheque, stacking plan, escalation, absorption rate, NPV and retention.
---

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Glossary
# Real estate development, in plain words.
Short definitions of the terms developers, sales teams and finance teams use every day.

**Absorption rate**
The share of available stock sold per month. It shows how fast a project or segment is selling.

**Balloon payment**
A larger payment at the end of a plan or a period, which keeps earlier installments lower.

**Booking**
A reservation of a unit, usually with a deposit, for a limited hold period before the contract.

**Break-even cash discount**
The most a cash buyer should get off the price: the gap between the list price and the present value of a payment plan.

**Deposit slip**
A list of cheques taken to the bank together for deposit.

**Expression of interest (EOI)**
A refundable payment before a project opens, which gives the buyer priority at launch.

**GDV (gross development value)**
The total sales value of a project or a group of units at their prices.

**Grace period**
A time after signing before installments begin.

**Handover**
Delivering a finished unit to the buyer, often the point when handover and maintenance installments fall due.

**Installment aging**
Overdue amounts grouped by how late they are, such as 1–30, 31–60, 61–90 and over 90 days.

**IRR (internal rate of return)**
For a payment plan, the yearly rate at which its installments are worth exactly the cash price.

**Masterplan**
The site plan of a whole development. An interactive one is clickable and connected to live unit data.

**NPV (net present value)**
What all the installments of a plan are worth today, after discounting each for the time until it is paid.

**Off-plan**
Sold before the building is finished, usually with installments over several years.

**Payment plan**
The schedule of a buyer's down payment and installments.

**Post-dated cheque**
A cheque dated in the future, usually one per installment, deposited when it falls due.

**Premium**
An amount added to or removed from a base price for a feature such as view, floor or corner.

**Price escalation**
Raising prices in planned steps during sales, by time or as units sell.

**Release**
A set of units brought to market together at launch prices.

**Retention**
Part of a contractor's payment held back until a milestone or handover.

**Snag**
A defect found at or after handover, followed until it is fixed.

**Stacking plan**
A view of a building by floor and column, showing every unit, usually coloured by price or status.

**Unit swap**
Moving a buyer to another unit, with what was already paid counted toward the new one.

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