Estate agents are mainly engaged in the marketing of property available for sale and a Solicitor or Licensed Conveyance is used to prepare the legal documents. The term originally referred to a person responsible for managing a landed estate, while those engaged in the buying and selling of homes were "house agents", and those selling land were "land agents".

A letting agent is a United Kingdom term for a facilitator through which an agreement is made between a landlord and tenant for the rental of a residential property.

The term commercial property includes business property (e.g. office buildings), industrial property, medical centers, hotels, malls, retail stores. In many states residential property containing more than a certain number of units qualifies as commercial property for borrowing and tax purposes. Commercial property is intended to be operated at a profit, either from capital gain or rental income.

Real estate or immovable property is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personality). However, in some situations the term "real estate" refers to the land and fixtures together, as distinguished from "real property," referring to ownership rights of the land itself.

The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property. With the development of private property ownership, real estate has become a major area of business. Purchasing real estate requires a significant investment, and each parcel of land has unique characteristics, so the real estate industry has evolved into several distinct fields. Specialists are often called on to valuate real estate and facilitate transactions.

Services and fees:

Estate agents who handle lettings of commercial property normally charge between 7-10% of the first year rent as fees, this is in addition to taking the first month's rent in its entirety.

The fees charged by residential Letting agents are extremely variable, depending on whether the agent manages the property or simply charges the new tenants. Charges to prospective tenants can vary from 0-300 in non refundable fees usually described as application, administration, or processing fees.

Estate agents selling residential property generally charge between 1/2% to 4% of the sales price plus VAT, depending on the contractual arrangement and whether an individual firm has sole rights to the sale