Real property or real estate is land and everything that is permanently attached or affixed to the land—buildings, fences, and those things attached to the buildings, such as light fixtures and plumbing and heating fixtures.
Real property includes the legal rights of ownership—such as the rights to possess, sell, use, lease, and enjoy the land. The terms real property and real estate are generally synonymous.
Land is generally defined as the earth’s surface, extending downward to the center of the earth and upward to infinity—including everything that is permanently attached by nature, such as trees and water. Land includes minerals below the earth’s surface and airspace above the land.
Real property is often classified and referenced according to its use as residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or special purpose property. Real property is generally contrasted with personal property, which includes all movable, tangible things that are not real property.
In Georgia, real property, also known as real estate, encompasses land and any structures or fixtures permanently attached to it, such as buildings, fences, and built-in appliances. The legal rights associated with real property include the ability to possess, sell, lease, use, and enjoy the property. Land itself is defined expansively, from the center of the earth to the airspace above, including natural attachments like trees and bodies of water, as well as subsurface minerals. Real property is categorized based on its use, with common classifications being residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and special purpose. This categorization can affect zoning, taxation, and regulatory matters. In contrast, personal property refers to movable items that are not considered part of real estate. Georgia law governs various aspects of real property, including transactions, ownership rights, and property disputes, and these are typically handled within the state's legal framework, which may include specific statutes, common law, and local ordinances.
