Both real estate and real property has the same legal meaning, they are defined as land and anything permanently connected to another either by being affixed to, or growing from or otherwise attached thereto in a way that it cannot be detached without causing irreparable damage to such property item. In this respect, they are interchangeable, however, there is a difference in the usage of the two terms.
In a nutshell, use property when talking about a thing in the law, especially when descrbing or defining a specific thing in a transaction or in general. Lawyers use property to categories things, inclduing the bundle of rights related to them, such as real property, personal property or even intellectual property.
Real property is a legal term denoting a specific piece of land or building. In fact, it is a thing, which is connected in some way to the land. It is also used in the plural to denote more items of real property, especially in a transaction involving more real properties.
The language of law uses the term property for anything that can be subject to ownership, or with reference to being incapable of being owned. The term property is also used to differentiate between real and personal property, as property is divided into these two categories.
In contrast, estate is used by laypersons describing the holdikng of property under control. It is also used by lawyers taking about the concept of having assets under control, including the form of such control. Estate is used by lawyers to describe such control as interests in real estate for the purposes of differentiating between them, such as freehold and leasehold estate. The term estate is also used to describe the way of holding property, such as estate in free simple, life estate and estate for years. In this context, estate is used as a synonym for tenancy.
Estate is also used as a reference to all that a person or entity owns and leaves after death, including all of one’s assets and liabilities. This is also referred to as the decedent’s estate, and it is very often used in the law of inheritance.
Real estate is also used by laypeople, signifying immovable property in contrast to personal effects. It is a popular and fancy term highlighting the importance of the property.
