PREPAID INTEREST - The paying of interest before it is due.
PREPAYMENT PENALTY - Amount set by the creditor as a penalty to the debtor for paying off the debt prior to its maturity. The prepayment penalty is charged by the lender to recoup a portion of interest that he had planned to earn when he made the loan. PREPAYMENT PRIVILEGE - The right of the debtor to pay off part or all of the debt without penalty prior to maturity. 
PRE-SALE - A pre-construction sale program by a condominium developer who is required to sell a certain percentage of units before a lender will commit to finance construction of the project.
PRESCRIPTION - The acquiring of a right in property, usually in the form of an intangible property right such as an easement or right-of-way, by means of adverse use of property that is continuous and uninterrupted for the prescriptive period.
PRESENT VALUE OF ONE DOLLAR - A doctrine which is based on the fact that money has a time value. The present worth of a payment to be received at some time in the future is the amount of the payment less the loss of interest.
PRIME RATE - The minimum interest rate charged by a commercial bank on short-term loans to its largest and strongest clients. 
PRINCIPAL - The capital sum; interest is paid on the principal. NOT spelled principle.
PRINCIPAL BROKER - The licensed broker directly in charge of and responsible for the real estate operations. 
PRIVATE MORTGAGE INSURANCE - A special form of insurance designed to permit lenders to increase their loan-to-market-value ratio, often up to 95 percent of the market value of the property.
PROBATE - The formal judicial proceeding to prove or confirm the validity of a will. The will is presented to the probate court, and creditors and interested parties are notified to present their claims or to show cause why the provisions of the will should not be enforced by the court.
PROCURING CAUSE - That effort which brings about the desired result, as in producing the buyer for the listed property.
PRO FORMA STATEMENT - A projection of future income and expenses. PROMISSORY NOTE - An unconditional written promise of one person to pay a certain sum of money to another, or order, or bearer, at a future specified time.
PROPERTY - The rights or interests a person has in the thing owned; not, in the technical sense, the thing itself. These rights include the right to possess, to use, to encumber, to transfer and to exclude, commonly called the "bundle of rights."
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT - That aspect of real estate devoted to the leasing, managing, marketing and overall maintenance.  PROPERTY REPORT - A disclosure document required under the federal interstate land sales act where applicable to the interstate sale of subdivided lots.
PROPRIETARY LEASE - A written lease in a cooperative apartment building, between the owner-corporation and the tenant-stockholder, in which the tenant is given the right to occupy a particular unit.
PRORATE - To divide or distribute proportionately.
PROSPECT - A person or corporation who may be interested in buying or selling real property. The prospect does not become a client until the parties establish a fiduciary relationship, such as upon signing a listing contract or upon executing a DROA.
PROSPECTUS - A statement distributed to describe, advertise and give information on a business, venture, project or stock issue.
PUFFING - Exaggerated or superlative comments or opinions not made as representations of fact and thus not a grounds for misrepresentation. A statement such as "the apartment has a fantastic view," is puffing because the prospective buyer can clearly assess the view in each case.
PUNCH LIST - A discrepancy list showing defects in construction which need some corrective work to bring the building up to standards set by the plans and specifications.
PURCHASE MONEY MORTGAGE - A mortgage given to the seller as part of the buyer's consideration for the purchase of real property, and delivered at the same time that the real property is transferred as a simultaneous part of the transaction.