Estates and Interests in Real Property

Land, Real Estate and Real Property

Land is the earth's surface extending down to the center of the earth and up into the air, including things permanently attached by nature such as trees and water. Real estate is land plus permanent man-made improvements. Real property is real estate plus the bundle of legal rights that come with ownership: possession, control, enjoyment, exclusion and disposition. Ownership can include surface, subsurface (mineral) and air rights, which can be sold separately; New York City's sale of unused development rights is a classic example of air rights. Water rights include riparian rights (along a river or stream) and littoral rights (along a lake or ocean). Real property's physical characteristics are immobility, indestructibility and uniqueness (nonhomogeneity); its economic characteristics include scarcity, improvements, permanence of investment and area preference.