U.S. interpretation

In the United States, each state has its own real immovable property law. All states except Louisiana rely on variations of common law for the basis of their real immovable property laws. Louisiana's laws are derived from Napoleonic Code[citation needed] but have adopted some of the common law terms over the years.

Etymology

In law, the word real means relating to a thing (from Latin res/rei, thing), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between "real" property (land and anything affixed to it) and "personal" property (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 would retain title to. (The word is not derived from the notion of land having historically been "royal" property. The word royal — and its Portuguese cognate real — come from the related Latin word rex-regis, meaning king.).

British, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish usages of the term

In British usage, however, “real property”, often shortened to just “property”, refers rather 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.[1]In French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, real estate is called "immovables" (immobilier in French, immobili in Italian, imóvel in Portuguese and inmueble in Spanish); other property is called "movables" (mobilier and mueble).

Levels

According to The Economist, "developed economies'" assets at the end of 2002 wasResidential property: $48 trillionCommercial property: $14 trillionEquities: $20 trillionGovernment bonds: $20 trillionCorporate bonds: $13 trillionTotal: $115 trillionThat 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, and human assets; also it is not clear if all debt and equity investments are counted in the categories equities and bonds. For US asset levels see FRB: Z.1 Release-- Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States.

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 servicesBrokerages - Assisting buyers and sellers in transactionsDevelopment - Improving land for use by adding or replacing buildingsProperty management - Managing a property for its owner(s)Real Estate Marketing - Managing the sales side of the property businessReal Estate Investing - Managing the investment of real estateRelocation services - Relocating people or business to a different countryWithin 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."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.

Real estate in Mexico and Central America

Real estate 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, US title companies are doing work for US 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 US, one example being Mexico City. U.S. banks have begun to give home loans for properties in Mexico, but, so far, not for other Central American countries.One important difference from the United States is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, in Mexico, they 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: ejidos - communally held farm property - 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. by bharat 9/30/07 Delete