US Real Estate Info
Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions, notably in the USA) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is stationary or fixed in location. Real estate is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property. However, in some situations the term "real estate" refers to the land and fixtures together, as distinguished from "real property," referring to ownership rights of the land itself.
The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.
In French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish and German, real estate is called "immovables" (French: immobilier, Italian: immobiliare, Spanish: inmueble Portuguese: imóvel, Romanian: imobiliare and German: Immobilie); other property is called "movables" (French: mobilier, Spanish: mueble, and German: Bewegliche Sachen).
Real estate in Mexico and Central America
The real estate business 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, U.S. title companies are doing work for U.S. 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 U.S., one example being Mexico City. U.S. banks have begun to give home loans for properties in Mexico, but, so far, not for other Latin American countries.
One important difference from the United States is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, in Mexico, foreigners 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.
Real estate businesses 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 services
- Brokerages: Assisting buyers and sellers in transactions
- Development: Improving land for use by adding or replacing buildings
- Property management: Managing a property for its owner(s)
- Real Estate Marketing: Managing the sales side of the property business
- Real Estate Investing: Managing the investment of real estate
- Relocation services: Relocating people or business to a different country
- Corporate Real Estate: Managing the real estate held by a corporation to support its core business-unlike managing the real estate held by an investor to generate income
Residential real estate
The legal arrangement for the right to occupy a dwelling is known as the housing tenure. Types of housing tenure include owner occupancy, Tenancy, housing cooperative, condominiums (individually parceled properties in a single building), public housing, and squatting.
Major physical categories in North America and Europe include:
- Apartment ("flat" outside North America) An individual unit in a multi-unit building. The boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in multi-story apartment buildings.
- Multi-family house Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is a separate apartment or unit.
- Terraced house (a.k.a. townhouse or rowhouse) A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a continuous row with shared walls and no intervening space.
- Duplex Two units with one shared wall.
- Mobile homes Potentially a full-time residence which can be (might not in practice be) movable on wheels
- Houseboats A floating home
- Tents Usually very temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material.
The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters. In the United States this includes the area of "living space", excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. The "square meters" figure of a house in Europe reports the area of the walls enclosing the home, and thus includes any attached garage and non-living spaces.
Real Estate Market Sector Value
It has been predicted by the Real estate market leaders that in the near future foreign investment and ownership of U.S. real estate will increase fourfold, from 3% to 12%. Over the next ten years foreign investors will make real estate their single largest foreign investment.
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