gcfr

Definition

Ground Coverage Floor Ratio—the percentage of a lot covered by a building's footprint, regulating density and preserving open space. A municipality's way of preventing you from covering every square inch with structure.

Example Usage

With a GCFR of 40%, we can only build a 2,000-square-foot footprint on this 5,000-square-foot lot.

Origin

Modern zoning terminology from mid-20th century urban planning

Fun Fact

GCFR differs from FAR (Floor Area Ratio), which considers total floor area including upper floors, leading to creative architectural solutions like tall, narrow homes.

Source: American Planning Association zoning standards

Related Terms

Beginner

disclosures

Legal documents where sellers reveal known defects, issues, or stigmas about a property. It's where you learn that 'charming' means 'haunted' and 'original fixtures' means 'nothing works.'

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

subject property

The specific property being appraised, analyzed, or discussed, as opposed to all those comparison properties. It's like referring to the guest of honor at a party—everyone else is just there for context.

🏠 Real Estate

Beginner

comparables

Recently sold properties used to determine market value, cherry-picked by whichever party needs to prove their point. The art of comparing apples to slightly different apples.

🏠 Real Estate

Beginner

warranty

A seller's promise that their product won't immediately explode or fall apart, though the fine print will explain in excruciating detail all the ways you can void this promise. This legal guarantee assures buyers that goods or property meet certain standards and provides recourse if things go wrong—assuming you kept the receipt, didn't use it wrong, and performed ritual maintenance every third Tuesday. Extended warranties are the profitable cousin that exists solely to make you second-guess your purchase.

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

Comparable

A nearby property that supposedly proves your house is worth what someone says it is, despite having completely different everything. It's the real estate version of comparing apples to slightly different apples that sold six months ago.

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

Zoning

Government rules about what you can and cannot do with your own property, because apparently buying it doesn't mean you get to decide what happens on it. Want to build a shed? That'll be six permits and a public hearing.

🏠 Real Estate

Translate This Term

See “gcfr” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on X Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Beginner

n2mhbu

not too much how about you?...