Definition of "Marginal utility"

Additional utility an individual receives when purchasing an additional unit of a commodity or service. Represents a trade off between units of cost and unit of utility. For example, an individual builds a luxury home with a swimming pool. To build a tennis court would cost $50,000 and require yearly maintenance. To add two tennis courts is extremely low, the marginal utility of building the additional tennis court at $25,000 is not enough to offset the additional cost involved. However, if it cost only $5,000 to build the additional tennis court, then there may be sufficient marginal utility to justify its construction.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Ambiguous contractual language that may result in an unsuspecting buyer of a real property incurring obligations or risks not clearly evident. ...

Amount still unpaid at a particular date on a loan or other financing agreement. ...

The term foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to the purchase of an interest in a company from an investor or company that is located outside of the borders of the company in which the ...

Originally strips of wood approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inch wide, 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick by approximately 4 ft. long which were nailed across the wall studs for the purpose of supporting ...

Also called a rollover mortgage. Provides a borrower with a fixed-rate mortgage that expires at a preestablished time, such as in four years. This permits the lender and borrower to ...

protective wall along a roof or below a terrace. ...

Precisely the optimum location for a retail business establishment in an urban central business district (CBD). A one-hundred-percent-location normally is a square block or intersection in ...

Legal dictate that must exist for property to be owned as joint tenants. ...

Heterogeneous (as opposed to homogenous) means diverse in nature applied to a place or object composed of separate and distinct parts. In other words, heterogeneous describes something that ...

Popular Real Estate Questions