Easement - Created by grant or agreement for a specific purpose, an easement is the right privilege or interest which one party has in the land of another. (Example: right of way.)

Economic Life - The period over which a property will yield a return on the investment, over and above the economic or ground rent due the land

Eminent Domain - The right of the government to acquire private property for public use by condemnation. The owner must be compensated fully.

Encroachment - Trespass; the building of a structure or construction of any improvements partly or wholly on the property of another.

Encumbrance - Anything which affects or limits the fee simple title to property, such as mortgages, trust deeds, easements or restrictions of any kind which do not prevent alienation of the fee title by the owner. Liens are special encumbrances which make the property security for the debt.

Enforceable - That which can be made to effective; to cause to take effect. An agreement or contract between persons in which one or other party can legally compel the performance of another or other parties.

Equity - The interest or value which an owner has in real estate over and above the liens against it.

Escheat - The reverting of property to the state in the absence of heirs or other claimants.

Escrow - The deposit of instruments and funds with instructions to a third party to carry out the provisions of an agreement or contract; when everything is deposited to enable carrying out the instructions, it is called a complete or perfect escrow.

Estate - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person owns in real property.

Estoppel - A legal theory under which a person is barred from asserting or denying a fact because of the person's previous acts or words.

Exception - A right or portion of property reserved in the grantor in a conveyance by deed.

Exchange - A means of trading equities in two or more real properties, treated as a single transaction through a single escrow or as a deferred exchange through two or more escrows.

Exclusive Agency Listing - A listing agreement between a seller and a broker where either has a right to sell the property; if sold by the broker, a commission will be due.

Exclusive Right to Sell - A listing agreement between a seller and a broker whereby the broker receives a commission, whoever sells the property.

Execute - To sign and deliver an instrument, such as a deed.

Executor - A person specified in a will to carry out the provisions of the will.

Express Contract - A contract whose elements are stated orally or in writing.