Glossary

Words that come up in the app and in these docs. Each docs page that uses one of them defines it again at the bottom of the page.

Buildable acres

The parcel's mapped acres minus the parts in the FEMA 100-year flood zone or floodway, mapped wetland, open water, and ground steeper than 15%. Each spot is only taken out once, even where two of these overlap.

Road frontage

The length of the parcel's boundary that runs along a public road centerline, in feet. Zero means no mapped road touches the parcel: it may be landlocked or reached by an easement.

Absentee owner

An owner whose tax bill goes to an address other than the parcel itself. Out-of-state and overseas owners are kinds of absentee owner.

Assemblage

Two or more adjoining parcels that could be bought together, most often because the same owner holds them. Together they can make a site none of them makes alone.

Tax value

The county's assessed value, used to set property tax. It is set on the county's schedule, often years apart, and is not what the land would sell for.

Sale price

What was paid at the last recorded sale, from the deed. Sales under $1,000 (gifts, family transfers, corrections) are not treated as market sales.

Buy box

The set of rules a parcel has to meet before you'll look at it: size, price, how much is buildable, frontage, zoning, owner and so on. In Acresift, your filters are your buy box.

Parcel

One piece of land as the county's tax map draws it, with its own parcel number. A deed can cover several parcels and a parcel can have several owners.

Stormwater program

The rules that say how new building must handle rain runoff. In North Carolina, some areas have a local program, some fall under the state, and some have none, which usually means less cost and review for a small subdivision.