The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.
Real estate as "real property" in the U.K.
In British usage, “real propertyâ€Â, often shortened to just “propertyâ€Â, generally refers to land and fixtures as such 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 at death excluding interests in money arising under a trust for sale of or charged on land.
French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and German usages of the term
In French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and German, real estate is called "immovables" (French: immobilier, Italian: immobiliare, Portuguese: imóvel, Spanish: inmueble and German: Immobilie); other property is called "movables" (French: mobilier and Spanish: mueble).
Real estate in Mexico and Central America
The real estate business in Mexico and Central America is different from the way that it is 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 monies in order to smoothly make the 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 50km of the coast or 100km from a border, while, in Honduras, they may buy beach front property. There are also different special rules regarding certain types of property: ejidosâ€â€communally held farm propertyâ€â€cannot be sold to anyone, but that does not prevent them from being offered for sale.
Many websites advertising and selling Mexican and Central American real estate exist, but they may need to be researched.
Business sector
With the development of private property ownership, real estate has become a major area of business. 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: Assisting buyers and sellers in transactions
- Development: Improving land for use by adding or replacing buildings
- 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 businessâ€â€unlike managing the real estate held by an investor to generate income
"Internet Real Estate" is a term coined by the internet investment community relating to the parallel that exists between high quality internet domain names and real-world, prime real estate. Many internet companies actually use the address of properties as domain names.
Residential real estate
The legal arrangement for the right to occupy a dwelling 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, and squatting. Variants include timeshares and cohousing.
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.
Major physical categories in North America and Europe include:
- Attached / multi-unit dwellings
- Apartment ("flat" outside North America) - 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 are owned and shared jointly.
- 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 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.
It can also 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 also common. (A bedroom is defined as a room with a closet for clothes storage.)