Real estate

From ArticleWorld

Real estate is a term used to define land and all physical property on, below or attached to the land. Thus, houses, sewers, trees and crops are all real estate. Real estate also includes anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, things attached to the buildings - such as light fixtures, plumbing and heating fixtures, or other such items that would be personal property if not attached. Then again the term may also refer to rights in real property as well as the property itself. The term real estate and its synonym real property are standard terms in common law states, civil law jurisdictions prefer to use the term ‘immovable’ property instead.

Root of the word

The ancestry of the word real estate may be traced to the times when all land belonged to the king and hence was ‘royal estate’. It came to England via the French royale and became real in transition. The term and the business of real estate have gained great business value in recent years. Investment in land and real estate is considered the safest as well as the fastest way to invest money and requires a lot of business acumen to grasp. The value and the valuation of different tracts of land is a very complicated business involving several factors and sub-factors before the correct value of an estate is finally estimated.

Collateral

Real estate can be used as a security for procuring loans in most advanced countries. It is the most favored collateral because of its high resale value. Banks are favorably disposed towards such loan proposals because if the borrower is not able to return the loan banks have the right to file an action in the court that gives them the authority to take over the real estate and sell it to recover their costs (loan).

Thus, small businesses and individuals find that real estate mortgage is one of the most popular ways of getting a loan sanctioned. Sadly this choice is not available to small investors in third world and developing countries because the banks in such states find themselves without the right to foreclose.

Places with escalating real estate prices may be safely slotted as growing in importance. Vancouver and British Columbia in Canada and Tokyo in Japan have some of the highest priced real estate in the world today.