An estate in real property consisting of an individual interest in an apartment or commercial unit, and an undivided common interest in the common areas such as the land, parking areas, elevators, stairways, and the like.

A condominium property regime (CPR) is a form of ownership of real property where the owner has title to a specific dwelling unit as well as an undivided interest in a proportion of the common areas as a tenant in common.

See also Title, Strata title, Company title, and Common areas.

1. An easement designed to preserve and protect open space or important natural areas.
2. A legal agreement between a landowner and either a land trust or government entity that restricts land use and development on a parcel of real property so as to preserve and protect its conservation and natural resource values.

A life estate that is intentionally and voluntarily created by an owner of real estate, either by deed if the owner is alive or through a will if he or she is deceased. The estate is conveyed to a life tenant, who holds the estate until his or her death. During the life of the life tenant, he or she enjoys all the rights and privileges of property ownership, except that he or she is prohibited from laying or committing waste to or upon the property (damaging the property or causing its value to diminish). A conventional life estate ends upon the death of the life tenant. Ownership of the property passes to another or reverts to the original owner or his heirs, depending on the provisions of the life estate.

If the conventional life estate is also an estate pur autre vie, the estate is held for the duration of the life of some other specified person rather than the life tenant.

1. The transfer of title to real property by means of a written instrument such as a deed, a will, or an assignment of a lease.
2. The act of transferring title to real property from the owner(s) to another person or group of persons.

1. Real or personal property that is visible and has physical form, as opposed to intangible property such as rights or patents.
Same as tangible property.
2. Real property consisting of land, improvements to the land (tenements), and physical appurtenances such as sidewalks.

Curtesy is the legal right or interest (estate) a husband acquires in property owned by his wife at any time during the marriage.

Dower and curtesy are legal life estates that are created upon the death of a spouse who owned real estate. Dower is the life estate that a wife acquires in the real property of her deceased husband, while curtesy is the estate a husband holds in real property owned by his wife following her death. Dower and curtesy entitle the surviving spouse to a portion (usually one-third to one-half) of the interest in the real property owned by the deceased spouse, even if that property was willed to someone else. Dower and curtesy are forms of tenancy by the entirety, and are only used in states that practice that system of common law. Tenancy by the entirety is contrasted with another common law system used by other states, known as community property.

Note that in some states, curtesy refers to either a husband's or wife's interest in the property of the other.

A written instrument by which a property owner (grantor) transfers to a grantee ownership of and title to real property.

That which can be voided, altered, challenged, undone, cancelled, defeated, or annulled, especially through operation of law.

Any fact, claim, lien, encumbrance, or document that is sufficiently valid to adversely affect, injure, impair, or cast doubt upon the title to a parcel of real property.

Manner of acquiring title and ownership of real or personal property through hereditary succession, as when an ancestor's estate is left intestate. The process of descent is formally described as the acquisition of an estate through operation of law by a legal heir ("heir-at-law"), with the heir succeeding to the property of the decedent.

A gift of real property by will. The person who gives the property is known as the testator, and the person who receives it is known as the devisee.

One who inherits or receives a gift of real property by will following the death of the testator.

One of the two parcels of real estate of an appurtenant easement; the dominant tenement is the property for which the easement is necessary, as opposed to the servient tenement, which provides the easement.

A lease agreement, usually long-term commercial or industrial, in which the tenant (lessee) agrees to pay property taxes and insurance in addition to periodic rent, and the landlord (lessor) agrees to pay for property maintenance.
Also known as a net,net lease (or net-net lease).

Dower is the legal right or interest (estate) a wife acquires in property owned by her husband at any time during the marriage.

Dower and curtesy are legal life estates that are created upon the death of a spouse who owned real estate. Dower is the life estate that a wife acquires in the real property of her deceased husband, while curtesy is the estate a husband holds in real property owned by his wife following her death. Dower and curtesy entitle the surviving spouse to a portion (usually one-third to one-half) of the interest in the real property owned by the deceased spouse, even if that property was willed to someone else. Dower and curtesy are forms of tenancy by the entirety, and are only used in states that practice that system of common law. Tenancy by the entirety is contrasted with another common law system used by other states, known as community property.

Note that in some states, dower refers to either a husband's or wife's interest in the property of the other.

1. Strict adherence to and accomplishment of professional (especially fiduciary) responsibilities, duties, and tasks; attention to detail in research or the performance of legal and professional obligations, especially by one acting as agent or attorney.
2. The obligation of a buyer (or prospective buyer) of real or personal property to verify and substantiate all claims and representations made by the seller and/or his or her agents. Due diligence on the part of the buyer is often accomplished by retaining qualified, licensed professionals to conduct various inquiries or perform various duties on his or her behalf. Examples of such professionals include, but are not limited to:
   Real estate brokers, agents and salespersons
   Licensed home inspectors
   Real estate attorneys
Title research and title insurance companies
   Licensed real estate appraisers

The cash deposit (including initial and additional deposits) paid by the prospective buyer of real property as evidence of his good faith intention to complete the transaction; called hand money or a binder in some states.

Any claim, lien, charge or liability attached to and binding upon real property which may lessen the value of the property but will not necessarily prevent transfer of title.

The right of a mortgagor who has defaulted on the mortgage note to redeem or recover the title to the property by paying off the entire mortgage note prior to the foreclosure sale.

The reversion of property to the state when a decedent dies intestate and there are no heirs capable of inheriting, or when the property is abandoned.

Definition:
1. All the property, possessions, and capital one owns, both real and personal, tangible and intangible.
2. The degree, level, quantity, quality, nature, characteristics, duration, and extent of the possessory interest one owns in real property.
3. In the feudal era, any of the three political classes: the Lords Spritual (the clergy), known as the first estate; the Lords Temporal (nobility, royalty, tenants-in-chief, etc.), known as the second estate; and the Commons (bourgeoisie), known as the third estate. In contemporary usage, journalists are known as the fourth estate.
4. The assets and liabilities of a deceased person, or one that is bankrupt.
5. A parcel of real property, varying in size but generally larger than a standard lot, with a residence (often a large house or mansion) and several outbuildings consisting of guest and servant quarters, barns, storage facilities, or the like.


Terms and Definitions: Real Estate, Legal (Law), Management, Appraisal, Auction, Finance and Investment, Taxes and Taxation, Title and Title Insurance

A freehold estate in real property in which the interest in the property is held until the death of the owner or some other person specified by the grantor of the estate. Unlike other freehold estates, life estates cannot be inherited by the heirs of the grantee. Transfer of property ownership following the end of a life estate occurs according to the provisions stipulated by the grantor. There are three types of life estates: legal life estates, conventional life estates, and estates pur autre vie (technically a type of conventional life estate).

A estate for the life of another is known legally as an estate pur autre vie, French for "for the life of another". An estate pur autre vie (also known as pour autre vie) is a form of conventional life estate wherein the duration of the estate is measured not against the life of the life tenant, but against the life of another person specified by the grantor of the estate. An estate pur autre vie is the only life estate that has a right of inheritance: during the life of this other person against whose lifespan the duration of the estate depends, the life tenant's heirs may inherit the property. Once the "other person" is deceased, this right of inheritance ends.

An estate in fee simple absolute is a type of freehold estate; it is the highest and most complete form of land ownership under the common law system. Fee simple estates are limited only by the governmental rights of taxation, eminent domain, escheat, and police power. Holders of estates in fee simple may transfer, give, sell, will (devise), or otherwise dispose of real property in any way they wish, within the confines of the law. Fee simple estates may be held indefinitely; in legal terms, they are said to run forever.
Also known as estate in fee simple, fee simple, fee, fee ownership, or estate of inheritance.