Land, Real Estate and Real Property

The real estate business centers around the ownership, possession, and transfer of land. The ownership and possession of land brings into play a body¹ of highly complex laws that define the various rights and interests of property owners, third parties, and the general public. Land is further affected by local and state laws and court decisions that regulate the orderly transfer of real estate.

You may have heard the terms land, real estate, and real property used interchangeably. Though they may seem to be describing the same thing, there are important differences in their meanings.

The land is commonly thought of as the ground or soil, but from a legal point of view, land ownership also includes possession and control of the minerals and substances² below the earth's surface together with the airspace above the land up to infinity³. Thus, land is the earth's surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward to infinity, including those things permanently attached by nature, such as trees and water.

The term real estate is broader than the term land and includes not only the physical components of the land as provided by nature, but also anything that is permanently affixed to the land by either natural or artificial attachment.

Items attached to the land by a root system are considered natural attachments. Fructus naturales (real property) are products of the earth that are naturally grown and require no annual labor or cultivation, such as trees or bushes. Fructus industriales (personal property) are products of the earth that require annual planting or cultivation, such as unharvested⁴ wheat or vegetables.

Artificial attachments, called improvements, are normally those things that have been placed on the land by people. Improvements may be embedded in the land, such as walls, in-ground swimming pools, water and gas lines; placed or resting upon the land, such as building slabs⁵, driveways, streets, and patios; erected on the land, such as buildings and towers or any other man-made additions to property.

Real estate, therefore, is defined as the earth's surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward into space, including all things permanently attached to it by nature or by people.

In practice, the term real estate is most often used to describe that commodity with which real estate as a business and the real estate broker and salesperson are concerned. It is sometimes referred to as realty.

The term real property further broadens the definition of real estate to include the bundle of legal rights involved in real estate ownership. Thus, real property is defined as the earth's surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward into space, including all things permanently attached to it by nature or man, as well as the interests, benefits, and rights inherent in its ownership.

Notes: body¹ – совокупность, substance² – вещество, infinity³ – бесконечность, unharvested⁴ – неубранный (об урожае), building slabs⁵ – строительные панели

Дата добавления: 2015-08-27