Principles of Real Estate 1 Study Guide

Principles of Real Estate 1 Study Guide

• Brokerage: Oversees the needs of parties in real estate transactions, ensuring completion.
• Appraisal: Providing a professional opinion on the value of real property.
• Appraiser: Licensed/certified individual determining real property value.
• Mortgage Lending: Providing funds for real estate purchases, secured by the property.
• Property Management: Managing residential/commercial property for investors.
• Property Manager Responsibilities: Day-to-day operations, maintenance, tenant relations, and account keeping.
• Apartment Locator: Locating units for tenants in multi-family complexes.
• Home Inspection: Providing a limited visual inspection of a property.
• Real Estate Development: Acquiring land for residential/commercial projects.
• Petroleum Landman: Oil/gas company employee handling title work for mineral ownership.
• Benefits of Homeownership: Security, investment, occupancy, and tax benefits.
• Physical Characteristics of Land: Indestructible, immobile, and nonhomogeneous.
• Economic Characteristics of Land: Scarcity, modification, fixity, and situs.
• Supply and Demand: An economic relationship of quantity of a commodity.
• Demand: Affected by credit availability, personal preferences, and employment growth.
• Common Law: Body of law based on English common sense and local customs.
• Statutory Law: Enacted by federal/state legislative bodies.
• Texas Real Estate License Act: Passed in 1939 to protect the public against unscrupulous brokers/sales agents in real estate transactions.
• Texas Real Estate Commission: Nine-member commission created in 1949 to carry out licensing act provisions.
• Land: Surface of Earth, downward to center, and upward to infinity, including natural elements.
• Bundle of Rights: Rights pertaining to land ownership, including improvements.
• Real Property: Physical real estate plus associated rights.
• Improvements: Any permanent man-made addition to the land.
• Emblements: Annual crops produced with labor, considered personal property.
• Subsurface Rights: Rights to resources like oil, gas, and minerals.
• Fixtures: Personal property becoming part of real property due to attachment.
• Air Rights: Rights above the surface, which can be leased, sold, or mortgaged.
• Severance: Process of real property becoming personal property.
• Wind Rights: Right to utilize wind above a property, used to generate energy.
• Personal Property: Movable items, not considered part of the land.
• Allodial System: Land owned privately by individuals.
• Police Power: Government's right to regulate land use (most commonly through zoning).
• Eminent Domain: Government's right to take private land for public use.
• Taxation: Government's right to tax real property.
• Escheat: Process where government takes ownership of property if owner dies with no will and no heirs.
• Freehold Estates: Fee simple, ownership with most rights in land.
• Leasehold Estates: Land interests less than freehold estates, such as estates for years, periodic estates, and estates at will.
• Single Family Home: Independent, non-attached dwelling.
• Condominium: Multi-unit complex with individual ownership of units and shared common areas.
• Cooperative: Buildings owned by a corporation, with occupants owning shares in the corporation.
• Townhome: Distinct living units with shared walls.
• Mixed-Use Development: Buildings combining various uses (residential, commercial, retail).
• Timeshare: Right to occupy a property for a specified period.
• Capital Gain: Profit on the sale of an asset.
• Equity: Market value of property less outstanding debt.
• Homeowners Insurance: Contract covering structure, contents, and liability.
• Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE): Claims history database for insurance.
• Windstorm Insurance: Insurance for wind and hail damage on properties.
• Flood Insurance: Insurance for flood damage (often not included in standard homeowners insurance).