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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RT @mortgagereports: I just released a WordPress widget/plugin called Real Estate Chart of the Day. Find it in Plugins > Add New.
hallublin (Hal Lublin) Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:50:27 -0000
RT @mortgagereports: I just released a WordPress widget/plugin called Real Estate Chart of the Day. Find it in Plugins > Add New.
USA: Real estate closing fees sometimes may be cut if you know how to look http://bit.ly/cjafZ
propertybookman (Paul Tooze) Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:50:21 -0000
USA: Real estate closing fees sometimes may be cut if you know how to look http://bit.ly/cjafZ
What would you prefer? Monthly income stream or cash lump sum? Basically flip real estate or rent houses out?
Jonesjohnson320 (Yaritza Johnson ) Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:50:15 -0000
What would you prefer? Monthly income stream or cash lump sum? Basically flip real estate or rent houses out?
@remaxne A tall Celtics player? That could be anyone, but it does rule out the obvious match for a real estate company - Eddie HOUSE!
The_Fliz (Kevin Flight) Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:50:04 -0000
@remaxne A tall Celtics player? That could be anyone, but it does rule out the obvious match for a real estate company - Eddie HOUSE!
Check out my one-minute video about search engine optimization for real estate. http://is.gd/5
charlie_conard (Charlie Conard) Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:49:52 -0000
Check out my one-minute video about search engine optimization for real estate. http://is.gd/5
Ivana Trump's former Palm Beach home sells near $4M: The former home of Ivana Trump, the first wife of real estate... http://bit.ly/8S4b7p
trdmiami (trdmiami) Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:49:40 -0000
Ivana Trump's former Palm Beach home sells near $4M: The former home of Ivana Trump, the first wife of real estate... http://bit.ly/8S4b7p

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