Personal property refers to the items that people own such as furniture, appliances, or electronics. In short, these items differ from real property because they are movable. Personal property can be intangible, as in the case of stocks and bonds, or tangible, such as clothes or artwork.

The term “real estate” or “real property” means the land plus anything growing on it, attached to it or erected on it, including man-made objects, such as buildings, structures, roads, sewers, and fences, but excluding anything that may be removed from the land without injury to the land.

The term “real estate” is first recorded in the 1660s, so we find its etymological origins in Early Modern English. The word “real” is derived from Latin, meaning existing, actual, or genuine. The word “estate” is an English translation of the Old French word “estat,” meaning status.

The most apparent difference is the size and acreage. Houses are relatively compact and are typically located on smaller lots, while estates are expansive properties often spanning dozens or hundreds of acres.