Real estate, or immovable property, is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate (immovable property) is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to the land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate.

The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property. Property law, the area of the common law that governs real property, differs from contract law in that it focuses primarily on rights that one person holds over all other people, as opposed to specific individuals.

Background

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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 or 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 mortgages -- bank 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 foreclose, that is, file a court action that lets them take the property and sell it to get their money back. However, 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.

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A piece of Hollywood real estate history: Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr.'s home http://ow.ly/T8ly
brandname1984 (Brandon Swanson) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:34:24 -0000
A piece of Hollywood real estate history: Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr.'s home http://ow.ly/T8ly
MBA Sees Distress in Q3 Commercial Real Estate Data - MortgageNewsDaily.com (source: Big News Network) http://ow.ly/16h5xd
britprocessing (Aaron Corly) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:34:00 -0000
MBA Sees Distress in Q3 Commercial Real Estate Data - MortgageNewsDaily.com (source: Big News Network) http://ow.ly/16h5xd
@desireeadaway Now they're discussing Parisian real estate and films. They're so surreal. :)
melle (Melanie Baker) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:33:49 -0000
@desireeadaway Now they're discussing Parisian real estate and films. They're so surreal. :)
is heading to Brooklyn Bowl for Real Estate and Babies.
OldFlameRecords (Rob) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:33:28 -0000
is heading to Brooklyn Bowl for Real Estate and Babies.
@inkydynk It was disgust at the lede for this: http://is.gd/5NlNh But, it also applies to the interminable real estate conversations.
gga (Giles Alexander) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:33:22 -0000
@inkydynk It was disgust at the lede for this: http://is.gd/5NlNh But, it also applies to the interminable real estate conversations.
RT @stephenbsanders: Brookfield Sells Stake in 2 DC Area Offices for $274M|The commercial real estate company Brookfield Properties .. h ...
fhopartners (FHO Partners) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:33:11 -0000
RT @stephenbsanders: Brookfield Sells Stake in 2 DC Area Offices for $274M|The commercial real estate company Brookfield Properties .. h ...

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