Real Estate, Property
Real Estate, in broad definition, land and everything made permanently a part thereof, and the nature and extent of one's interest therein. In law, the word real, as it relates to property, means land as distinguished from personal property; and estate is defined as the interest one has in property.
Real estate may be acquired, owned, and conveyed (or transferred) by individuals; business corporations; charitable, religious, educational, fraternal, and various other nonprofit corporations; fiduciaries, such as trustees and executors; partnerships; and generally by any legal entity as determined and defined by the laws of the various states of the U.S. Limitations are established in connection with sales of real estate by minors, incompetents, and certain types of corporations, and generally in cases involving some form of legal disability or lack of capacity. In such instances, it is necessary in some jurisdictions to make application to the courts for permission to sell; in other jurisdictions such transfers are governed by statute.
Real property is generally acquired by purchase, by descent and devise, or by gift. When acquired by purchase, a deed is given by the seller, or grantor, to the purchaser, or grantee. The deed contains a legal description of the property conveyed; it must be drawn, executed, and acknowledged in proper form to be entitled to record. It is customary for the seller and the purchaser to enter into a contract, at which time the purchaser makes a deposit on account of the purchase price. The purchaser engages an attorney or a title company to search the title to the property. The title company ensures that the seller can convey clear title. The transaction is then closed; that is, the property title is transferred and the balance of the purchase price is paid. See also Torrens System.
When an owner of real property has died intestate, or without leaving a will, title to the property is said to pass by descent to the heirs; when he has died testate, or leaving a will that has been probated, the property passes by devise to the person or persons so designated in the will.
Transfer of real property by gift, as, for instance, to churches, educational institutions, or fraternal orders, is easily accomplished merely by the execution and delivery of a deed.
The greatest and most extensive interest that may be acquired in realty is described in law as a fee interest, a term that implies a proprietary ownership, free and clear of conditions. Fee interest is the most common form of ownership; with certain exceptions, private homes, apartment buildings, factories, office buildings, and similar properties are owned in fee
Estate, in law, the degree of interest or ownership that a person has in property. The term estate is also used in a more general sense to denote the whole property possessed by an individual, for example, the estate of a deceased person. Sometimes debts are also included in this wide meaning, with all rights and duties regarded as a single entity. Estate in this sense of “the total belongings of a person” is divided into realty, or real estate, and personal estate.
Mortgage, legal instrument that pledges a house or other real estate as security for repayment of a loan. By providing a guarantee that the loan will be paid back, a mortgage enables a person to buy property without having the funds to pay for it outright. If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the lender may foreclose on the property—that is, force the sale of the house to recover the amount of the loan (see Foreclosure).
The mortgage lending process has two instruments, a note and a mortgage. The note specifies the financial terms of a loan agreement. The mortgage contains a legal description of the property and a statement that pledges the property as security for the loan. However, the word mortgage commonly refers to both parts of the loan agreement as a whole.
Property, any object or right that can be owned. Ownership involves, first and foremost, possession; in simple societies to possess something is to own it. Beyond possession, ownership in modern societies implies the right to use, prevent others from using, and dispose of property, and it implies the protection of such rights by the government.
Property is usually obtained by purchase, inheritance, or gift. Ownership may be public or private. Public ownership is by the government. Private ownership is by an individual, a group of individuals, a corporation, or some other form of organization.
Land, in the law of real property, term including the surface of the earth, the land beneath the surface to the center of the earth, and the air above. The term also includes property permanently affixed to the soil, such as water collected in wells, houses, and fences. The ownership of land may be classified according to the various types of interests, the principal of which are estates in fee simple, life estates, reversions, remainders, and leaseholds. In the U.S. a private owner of land on the shore of an ocean, tidal river, or navigable waterway may claim title only to the land above the high-water mark; title to land below that point is held by the state. States may, however, sell or lease ownership to private persons. State statutes also regulate the use of land by the owner to conserve its natural resources. By the power of eminent domain, the government may take land from the owner for public use on payment of its reasonable value.
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