How old were you when you know that you actually need money to buy land or a house.? How long did it take you to know that the place you live is owned by your family or you are renting it.? Real Estate transactions are not recent and as we speak Real Estate transactions like buying and selling a piece of land date back to 5500 years ago. But it’s not used to be by exchanging currency like it is now. I have referred to buying a Land/House same as a piece of Real Estate for better understanding. There were many different ways how real estate transactions happened and in which some may sound funny, to know more we need to start with how Land has been shared or occupied by humans in different stages of evolution.
Pre-Historic Living
Early men did not need a stable place to live. They used to hunt and always move from place to place for living. So, there was no trouble in buying and registering land. Maybe they lived with the tagline Keep Moving.
Hunters to Farmers
The need for owning land became necessary when humans started cultivating the land. Humans started sharing land and obviously, the powerful ones owned more.
Rise of Kingdoms
With powerful people becoming more powerful kingship has established. Kings use to own the whole land in their kingdom, and they donate or assign lands to people in the kingdom for agriculture and other activities. In return, they take crops or the things they produce.
Taxation: People can buy or sell lands at the kings’ will, but they need to pay taxes to the kingdom. People became more confident as time passed and didn’t want the king to know how much land they own.
In the Medieval period in some areas if you find empty land and built a house on it you typically own the property. Before currency people used to trade goods and services to buy land, for example, a farmer would share bags of wheat in exchange for more land from others, this process is called Bartering.
Private Ownership
Private ownership of land was started in the 17th century, and from then many countries’ courts declared owning property as a natural Human right. Under this law, they can use the land for any purpose legally, has the right to any benefits derived from the land, has the right to exchange or sell the land to others.
Typical Real Estate Transactions
The typical Real Estate Transactions were started in the early 20th century when commission-based transactions and Real Estate Agents were involved. Here are a few surprising Real Estate transactions that you might not be aware of
- The USA also purchased Louisiana from France for just $15 million in 1803 which value is worth over $2.2 trillion now.
- Also, the USA purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million which land value is worth more than $37 Billion now and it produces hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per year.
Buying/Selling Online
From occupying land to registering a house with local government boards Real Estate industry has transitioned a lot over the centuries. Now in this digitized world, you can actually sell your house online in the USA and some other parts of the world, these companies (iBuyers) give you a rough instant offer on your house and decrease the transaction time. And also, you can look up almost any house listed in the market virtually with the technology.
No matter the way we buy a piece of Real Estate the process may change but it will be the biggest purchase for many in their Lifetime. So, always make an intelligent decision while doing it, and taking expert guidance is the best move.!