In general use, esp.

North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; (also) an item of real property; (more generally) buildings or housing in general. Also: the business of [1] real estate; the profession of buying, selling, or renting land, buildings, or housing." It is a legal term in some jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, United States of [2] America, Dubai, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and The Bahamas. 'Real Estate Law' is the body of regulations and legal codes which pertain to such matters under a particular jurisdiction and include things such as commercial and residential property ownership, development and transactions. Real estate is often considered synonymous with real property (sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (sometimes called 'chattels' or 'personalty' under 'chattel law' or 'personal property law'). The terms 'real estate' and 'real property' are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property. However, in some situations the term 'real estate' refers to the land and fixtures thereon together, as distinguished from 'real property', referring to the ownership of land and its appurtenances, including anything of a permanent nature such as structures, trees, minerals, and the interest, benefits, and inherent rights thereof. Real property is typically considered to be immovable [3] property.
Contents
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1 Etymology 2 Real estate terminology and practice outside the United States (around the world)

o o

2.1 Real estate as "real property" in the U.K. 2.2 Real estate in Mexico and Central America

3 Business sector 4 Residential real estate 5 Market sector value 6 Mortgages in real estate 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit]Etymology In the laws of the United States of America, the 'real' in 'real estate' means relating to a thing (res/'rei', thing, from [4] O.Fr. 'reel', from L.L. 'realis' 'actual', from Latin. 'res', 'matter, thing'), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between 'real' property (land and anything affixed to it) and 'personal' property or chattels (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between 'immovable property', which would transfer title along with the land, and 'movable property', which a person could lawfully take and would retain title to on disposal of the land. The oldest document using a term recognizable as 'real estate' in historical records is dated 1605. This use of 'real' also reflects the ancient feudalcustoms in relation to land and the ownership (and owners) thereof, introduced into England over 500 years earlier, by William the Conqueror in 1066.
[5]

Some people have claimed that the word 'real' in this sense is descended (like French 'royal' and Spanish 'real') from the Latin word for 'king'. In the feudal system (which has left many traces in the common law) the king was the owner of all land, and everyone who occupied land paid him rent directly or indirectly (through lords who in turn paid the king), in cash, goods, or services (including military service). Property tax, paid to the state, can be seen as a relic of [6] that system, as too is the term fee simple. Some say this derivation is a misconception; but that is countered by evidence that the earliest meaning of 'real' in English included "Of, relating to, or characteristic of a monarch, royalty, [7] or (by extension) the nobility, esp. with regard to power, wealth, or dignity; (also) befitting a monarch." Additionally, there is evidence that the earliest meaning of 'real' in English included "Having an objective existence; [8] actually existing physically as a thing, substantial; not imaginary." which supports the statement in the first paragraph of this section on the Etymology of the term 'real estate' that 'real' = 'relating to a thingas distinguished from a person'. However, it needs to be borne in mind that the time between the Norman Conquest and the earliest recorded documentary appearance of 'real estate' allowed for both meanings of the word 'real' to gain common currency in verbal and written use in England, as individual words; and for the term 'real estate' to gain common currency in verbal and written use with the word 'real' in it having the same meanings, or, one, or even more, different [9] meanings, to when it was used on its own; but of which there is no specific, historical documentary evidence. On that basis, the reason for these several possible meanings of 'real' in relation to 'real estate' may have been that not all of England and Wales became 'real estate' in the 'royal' sense by reason only of the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book provides evidence that some holdings of land in England and Wales remained in the hands of people, who were not the king. In other words, they wereallodial land. Two main classes of that allodial land are distinguishable, by inference and synthesis, from, the Domesday Book; the passage and enforcement of the Act of Supremacy 1534 and Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 by Henry VIII of England; Welsh Law prior to 1535; and the history of Probate in England and Wales; namely, that of the Roman Catholic Church, and that of the parts of Wales where the custom known as 'dadunnedd' under Welsh Law applied. Another etymological consequence of those radical measures by Henry VIII was that the expression 'real estate' became an official English expression, and the English 'law of real estate' became the official real estate law of England and Wales, because the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 included clauses requiring that, upon the day appointed by the statute, and thereafter, no law or language other than those of England shall be used in the courts of England and Wales. This meant that the laws of the Roman Catholic Church and of the former Welsh kings were eradicated from use throughout England and Wales. The clauses concerning language were repealed by Elizabeth II in 1993, to facilitate use of minority languages in the courts of England and Wales as the populations of those nations had by then become multi-cultural, because those clauses infringed the human rights of the people that spoke them. English Real Estate Law recognises rights of way, etc., on land beyond the limits of the subject land, including rights of passage and repassage over other lands, including such parts of those other lands between the high and low water marks of tidal waters adjoinging them, for use by the king of the subject land and his servants and assigns for the purposes of travel and transportation, subject to the rule, 'All that the king has is the right of passage and repassage for himself and his subjects.' Such rights of passage and repassage were known as the 'King's [10] Highways', or, as nowadays, the 'Queen's Highways', depending on the gender of the monarch, and have a history [11] in England stretching back to at least the year 859 of the modern era and at least the C14th in [12][13][14] [15] Wales, though there is evidence that it was much earlier than both. Such antiquity and the origins and purposes of the Law of Hywel Dda, and of its supposed blessing by the Pope, strongly suggests that the concept of 'the King's Highways' in law may have originated in the days of the Roman Empire after Christianity became its official religion, and that the 'king' in 'King's Highways' meant the Son of God, in his capacity as the 'King of Kings', and that it meant all of the earth above sea level apart from the rivers and lakes on it, because, as Christianity believes, he can walk on water, and that 'real estate' originally meant all of the earth and all objects and life on and in it, as that is what Christianity believes to be his inheritance. It is evidence from the period of the Crusades in Europe that pilgrims, adherents, servants and soldiers of the Roman Catholic Church had similar rights throughout over most, if not all, of that continent, and of parts of the Middle East and North Africa, which again

suggests that they originated in the days of the Roman Empire after Christianity became its official religion and originally meant all of that land, not just narrow strips of it. So, the land designated in law over which such travel and transportation rights of passage and repassage for a king and his subjects existed could be a candidate for the 'real' in 'real estate' meaning 'relating to a thing, distinguished from a person', the 'thing' being the lawful entitlement 'title' of the king and his subjects to the use and enjoyment of those rights of passage and repassage. But the term 'highways' is the lawful name of such strips of land in Britain. The earliest legal document containing a word that is recognizably 'highway' was the one in the year [16] 859 mentioned above. Though frequently used in official documents, such as property deeds and court records in England for many centuries in common law, the first statutory law of highways was the Highways Act 1555 byElizabeth I of England, the second daughter of Henry VIII, who sought to rectify the confusion that her sister, Mary I of England, caused by attempting to reinstate the status of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales because she became a Roman Catholic in order to marry Philip of Spain. Until then, with only one exception, namely the Statute of Bridges, the law of highways in England and Wales had relied solely upon the common law of England (and before 1535, on the separate common law of those two nations, hence Henry VIII's need to eradicate the common law of Wales on 1535). The reign of Elizabeth I is particularly noteworthy as the start of the growth and development of the British Empire beyond the shores of Great Britain; and, the word 'highway' became common currency wherever English was spoken in those parts of the world. Vast tracts of land became regarded as highways in these new territories where wide, open space was common, such as the routes of pony-express riders, wagon trains, cattle droves and gold miners in North America, and, where settlement occurred, roads and streets were formed by the inhabitants under the provisions of the Highways Acts 1555 and 1562, and, any immigrant allowed access to those parts of the world via their borders became regarded as subjects of the Crown of Great Britain for the duration of such visa granted by the border authority, and thus entitled to the use and enjoyment of those highways, roads and streets. Great Britain retained such rights of passage and repassage for the Sovereign Head of Great Britain and its subjects for the purposes of travel and transportation in, over and across land comprising its former territory overseas when those lands became independent of Great Britain, by declaring them highways before they were awarded independence, such as in the British territories that became independent of Britain in the United States of America due to the American Revolutionary War and Peace of Paris (1783). According to the Wikipedia article on allodial land, there is no longer any allodial land in England and Wales. Therefore, it follows that all of England and Wales is now 'real estate' in the 'royal' sense, and Great Britain no longer has any need to retain any currency for the 'relating to a thing, distinguished from a person' sense in Britain except as an academic interest in the history of the land law of Britain, and only to ensure currency of the 'highway' sense in the territories outside Great Britain, such as its former colonies in the United States of America. The need for departure from the 'royal' sense of 'real estate' in the United States of America sprang from the British Crown's abandonment of any claims to its territories in the United States of America by the Treaty of Paris, 1783; but, events that had happened in England and Wales since the Fall of the Roman Empire had consequences in the United States of America both before and after its former British territories acquired independence from Britain, to this day, which are worthy of note in the context of the meaning, protection and assertion of the 'real estate' of Great Britain throughout the world, but in the United States of America in particular. The connection between king and church throughout history since Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire is the reason for those consequences. Whilst Christianity believes that God can be and is everywhere at once throughout the universe, it is not physically possible for a king to be everywhere at once on all parts of his kingdom and throughout the rest of the world to superintend all of the 'real estate' in the 'royal' sense, of all of the property and rights of passage and repassage entrusted to him until, as Christianity believes, the 'king of kings', in the form of the resurrected Son of God, returns to reclaim God's kingdom on earth and rule over it.

The Roman solution to this dilemma had been typically organisational: partitioning its empire into divisions and appointing suitably qualified and trusted persons for the purpose of superintending those divisions and the development of settlements, roads, bridges, etc. within them, under a pyramidal heirarchy of governance reaching up to the emperor himself, similar to many other empires, states, and nations in the history of world civilization, be they monarchical, democratic, republican or communist. This challenged the remaining occupants of the abandoned divisions when the Roman organisation model collapsed on the demise of its Empire, hence the emergence of kings ('king' from Old English 'cyning', 'cynig'; 'cynn' meaning [17] 'race'; Old Welsh 'cynog', Old Saxon 'kuning') to superintend and govern so much of the former Roman Empire as they were able to acquire by agreement or by conquest, or as much of it as fell to them by election or by inheritance, on behalf of God, under the pyramidal organisational umbrella of the Roman Catholic Church headed by the Pope. Some believe there is evidence that these kings may have claimed, or have been attributed to be, direct descendents of the Son of God from his visit to earth in human form at the time of the Roman Empire in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (see The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail), hence the 'royal blood line' which Henry VIII claimed to have, by direct lineage via the claim of his father, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor dynasty, to be descended from [18] Rhodri Mawr, the first king of Wales, via Hywel Dda; which he regarded as giving him divine authority to set up the Church of England and confiscate all the property of the Roman Catholic Church in both England and Wales, which the Pope did not prevent, even by force, which suggests that he thought too. So, even in late Medieval times, regal minds were still centred on the emergence of kings on and after the demise of the Roman Empire to govern the territories they acquired and what were those kings' claims to kingship. The dilemma that a king could not be everywhere at once on his kingdom and all the earth to superintend the 'real estate' interests he had a duty of God to assert and protect, was solved in England and, subsequently, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the English Channel Islands, the British colonies and the rest of the world, by the king of England chartering and commissioning civilian and military personnel, called esquires, specifically for the task, appointed under sworn oath to assert and protect the works and highways interests of the English crown on those territories, and the tradition continues to this day,under the Queen of Great Britain and its Territories, Elizabeth II of England. [19] [20] The etymological origins of the title Esquire and its cognate Squire attest to its antiquity. During the massive expansion of British territory into the British Empire that began in the late C16th, there had to be a consequential increase in the number of thus qualified people to assert and protect the 'real estate' comprising the new territory, and, because the title had no protection under common or statutory law from being used by persons who were not royally entitled to use it, people who were not awardered the title by the Crown Head of Great Britain, or authorised to award the title by the Crown of the Great Britain, assumed the title unto themselves and awarded it to others who were also not so royally entitled, even their children, including foreign nationals relative to Britain, to give them the appearance of being qualified by the British Crown. In time, even the Palace administration began addressing letters using the subnominal title or its abbreviated form regardless of whether the addressees had been so chartered and commissioned, giving the addressees that had not been so chartered and commissioned the appearance of also having been professionary qualified by the British Crown. Consequently, the long-standing merit of the title, of certifying that the background, physical and mental health, education, training, experience, commitment, morality and loyalty of the person entitled to use it had been examined and found suitable by the Crown to assert and protect its real estate interests at home or abroad, was undermined. For example, the Parish Tithe Maps and Schedules of England and Wales produced under the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 included many entries with the abbreviated postnomial title 'Esq.' written after the names of respective property holders, whereas the enumerators books for the 1841 population census of the United Kingdom, at about the same time as the Parish Tithe Maps and Schedules were being published, contained instructions to enumerators, including, with regard to the "Names" column, "Insert without distinction or omission, every living person who abode or slept in each house...The words "Lord", "Lady", "Sir", "Rt. Hon.", "Hon." may be put before the names to whom they belong." and with regard to the column headed "Profession, Trade, Employment, or Of Independent Means",

"Rank, or any such term as "Esq." or "Gentleman" must not be entered in this column." Effectively this meant the terms "Esquire" and "Esq." were expressly excluded from the census. Nevertheless, any misuse of any title can be deemed to be supporting evidence of fraud, if the object of its being so used is proven to have been wilfully intended to deceive for the purposes of fraud. The Wikipedia article on Esquire contains references to use of that title in the United States of America by persons qualified to practice law in the United States of America, of which references 3 and 10 are of particular interest in the above regard. [edit]Real

estate terminology and practice outside the United States (around the
estate as "real property" in the U.K.

world)
[edit]Real In British usage, "real property", often shortened to just "property", generally refers to land and fixtures, while the term "real estate" is used mostly in the context of probate law, and means all interests in land held by a deceased person [21] at death, excluding interests in money arising under a trust for sale of or charged on land. As one main object of "probate" is to "prove" title to the real estate interests in the property held by a deceased person at the time of death, [22] and the earliest recorded use the word in this capacity is 1463, it is reasonable to assume this tradition dates back to the death of the first owner of the 'allodial land' referred in the Etymology section above to die. See Real property for a definition and Estate agent for a description of the practice in the UK. [edit]Real

estate in Mexico and Central America

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

The real estate businesses in Mexico,Canada,Guam and Central America are different from the way that they are conducted in the United States. Some similarities include a variety of legal formalities (with professionals such as real estate agents generally employed to assist the buyer); taxes need to be paid (but typically less than those in U.S.); legal paperwork will ensure title; and a neutral party such as a title company will handle documentation and money to make the smooth exchange between the parties. Increasingly, U.S. title companies are doing work for U.S. buyers in Mexico and Central America. Prices are often much cheaper than most areas of the U.S., but in many locations, prices of houses and lots are as expensive as the U.S., one example being Mexico City. U.S. banks have begun to give home loans for properties in Mexico, but, so far, not for other Latin American countries. One important difference from the United States is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, in Mexico, foreigners cannot buy land or homes within 50 km (31 mi) of the coast or 100 km (62 mi) [23] from a border unless they hold title in a Mexican Corporation or a Fideicomiso (a Mexican trust). In Honduras, however, they may buy beach front property directly in their name. There are different rules regarding certain types of property: ejidal land communally held farm property can only be sold after a lengthy entitlement process, but that does not prevent them from being offered for sale. In Costa Rica, real estate agents do not need a license to operate, but the transfer of property requires a lawyer. In Mexico, real estate agents do not need a license to operate, but the transfer of property requires a notary public. [edit]Business

sector

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With the development of private property ownership, real estate has become a major area of business, commonly referred to as commercial real estate. Purchasing real estate requires a significant investment, and each parcel of land has unique characteristics, so the real estate industry has evolved into several distinct fields. Specialists are often called on to valuate real estate and facilitate transactions. Some kinds of real estate businesses include:

Appraisal: Professional valuation services Brokerages: A mediator who charges a fee to facilitate a real estate transaction between the two parties. Development: Improving land for use by adding or replacing buildings Net leasing
[24]

Property management: Managing a property for its owner(s) Real estate marketing: Managing the sales side of the property business Real estate investing: Managing the investment of real estate Relocation services: Relocating people or business to a different country Corporate Real Estate: Managing the real estate held by a corporation to support its core businessunlike managing the real estate held by an investor to generate income

Within each field, a business may specialize in a particular type of real estate, such as residential, commercial, or industrial property. In addition, almost all construction business effectively has a connection to real estate. Professional university-level education in real estate is primarily focused at the graduate level. Focus in towards the commercial real estate sector, primarily real estate development or investment rather than residential real estate sales conducted by a REALTOR. See also graduate real estate education for a discussion and list of university-level real estate programs. "Internet real estate" is a term coined by the internet investment community relating to ownership of domain names and the similarities between high quality internet domain names and real-world, prime real estate. [edit]Residential

real estate

The legal arrangement for the right to occupy a dwelling in some countries is known as the housing tenure. Types of housing tenure include owner occupancy, Tenancy, housing cooperative,condominiums (individually parceled properties in a single building), public housing, squatting, and cohousing. The occupants of a residence constitute a household. Residences can be classified by, if, and how they are connected to neighboring residences and land. Different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residents might be owned by a single entity and leased out, or owned separately with an agreement covering the relationship between units and common areas and concerns.

'Single-family detached home'

Major categories in North America and Europe

Attached / multi-unit dwellings

Apartment - An individual unit in a multi-unit building. The boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in multi-story apartment buildings.

Multi-family house - Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is a separate apartment or unit.

Terraced house (a.k.a. townhouse or rowhouse) - A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a continuous row with shared walls and no intervening space.

Condominium - Building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals. Common grounds and common areas within the complex are owned and shared jointly. There are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well.

Cooperative (a.k.a. "co-op) - A type of multiple ownership in which the residents of a multi-unit housing complex own shares in the cooperative corporation that owns the property, giving each resident the right to occupy a specific apartment or unit.

Semi-detached dwellings

Duplex - Two units with one shared wall.

Single-family detached home Portable dwellings

Mobile homes - Potentially a full-time residence which can be (might not in practice be) movable on wheels. Houseboats - A floating home Tents - Usually very temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material.

The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters. In the United States, this includes the area of "living space", excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. The "square meters" figure of a house in Europe may report the total area of the walls enclosing the home, thus including any attached garage and non-living spaces, which makes it important to inquire what kind of surface definition has been used. It can be described more roughly by the number of rooms. A studio apartment has a single bedroom with no living room (possibly a separate kitchen). A one-bedroom apartment has a living or dining room separate from the bedroom. Two bedroom, three bedroom, and larger units are common. (A bedroom is defined as a room with a closet for clothes storage.) Major categories in India and the Asian Subcontinent

Housing Societies (CGHS) Condominiums Builder flats Chawls Havelis Lal Dora - Where people carry out commercial and residential activities both.

The size is measured in Gaz (square yards), Quila, Marla, Beegha, and acre. See List of house types for a complete listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market and house or home for more general information.

[edit]Market

sector value

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) According to The Economist, "developed economies'" assets at the end of 2002 were the following:

Residential property: $48 trillion; Commercial property: $14 trillion; Equities: $20 trillion; Government bonds: $20 trillion; Corporate bonds: $13 trillion; Total: $115 trillion.

That makes real estate assets 54% and financial assets 46% of total stocks, bonds, and real estate assets. Assets not counted here are bank deposits, insurance "reserve" assets, natural resources, and human assets. It is not clear if all debt and equity investments are counted in the categories equities and bond. [edit]Mortgages

in real estate

In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich and poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings. In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgage loans (or other instruments). These are loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because, if the borrower does not make payments, the lender can forecloseby filing a court action which allows them to take back the property and sell it to get their money back. For investors, profitability can be enhanced by using an off plan or preconstruction strategy to purchase at a lower price which is often the case in the pre-construction phase of [citation needed] development. But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry, as such, either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes.