Real Estate and Property Classes Flashcards

Real Estate Concepts

• Real estate encompasses land, improvements, and appurtenances (rights, privileges, and fixtures).
• Appurtenances refer to rights, privileges, and fixtures that benefit the property.
• Fixtures are items permanently attached to a property with the intention of becoming real estate.

Identifying Fixtures

• Evidence of fixtures includes attachment or annexation, adaptation, and agreement.
• Fixtures are considered part of real estate; they transfer with property ownership via the deed unless expressly excluded in the contract.
• Common fixture examples include plumbing and electrical fixtures.

Personal Property Definitions

• Personal property, or chattel, encompasses all items not classified as real estate and is typically freestanding.
• Freestanding items, like a refrigerator, are identified as personal property rather than fixtures.
• For personal property to transfer ownership, it must be included in the purchase agreement.

Legal Aspects of Property Transfer

• If personal property is not included in writing, the seller can retain it, even if it was originally listed in MLS.
• Land and appurtenances transfer via a deed unless specified otherwise in the contract.
• Personal property is transferred through a bill of sale if included in the contract.

Water Rights

• Types of water rights include:
  • Riparian rights: pertain to flowing bodies of water (e.g., rivers).
  • Littoral rights: pertain to standing bodies of water (e.g., lakes).
  • Accretion: the gradual increase of land due to soil deposits by water.
  • Avulsion: sudden loss of land due to natural or violent occurrences.
  • Doctrine of prior appropriation: allocates water rights to the first user who diverts water for beneficial use.

Legal Descriptions of Land

• Three methods for legal description of land:
  • Metes and bounds: describes land based on distances and compass directions.
  • Rectangular survey: uses meridians, townships, ranges, and sections to define land parcels.
  • Recorded plat: outlines urban/residential subdivisions (lot, block).

Metes and Bounds

• Metes and bounds descriptions begin at a designated point of beginning and proceed in a clockwise direction, using monuments as references.
• Example: Commencing at a street sign, moving a specified distance south and then west.

Rectangular Survey System

• A township consists of 36 sections, where each section is 640 acres (1 mile x 1 mile).
• An acre measures 43,560 square feet.

Recorded Plats

• The first step in creating a recorded plat involves making a plat map and defining lot and boundary layouts.
• The second step requires recording the map, which usually occurs before the issuance of building permits.

Surveying Considerations

• Surveys can uncover encroachments and zoning violations.
• Monuments serve as boundary markers during surveys and property delineation.

Water Rights Doctrine

• Under the doctrine of prior appropriation, the first user to divert water for useful purposes possesses legal claims over that water.