Real Estate Principles: Property and Land Use

Critical vocabulary terms and concepts from Chapter 1 of the Real Estate Class, covering property types, land characteristics, legal descriptions, and governmental powers.

Real Property

Land and everything permanently attached, including surface, subsurface, airspace, and the “bundle of rights”; transferred by deed.

Personal Property

Movable items not permanently attached to land, also known as chattel or personalty; ownership is evidenced by possession and transferred by bill of sale.

Fixtures

Personal property that has been permanently attached to real property, often tested by courts using criteria such as Intent, Method of Attachment, and Adaptation.

Trade Fixtures

Items installed by a commercial tenant for business purposes; they remain personal property and can be removed before the lease expires.

Emblements (fructus industriales)

Crops requiring annual planting and labor; they are classified as personal property.

Fructus naturales

Natural vegetation and crops occurring naturally without human effort; they are classified as real property.

Attachment

The process of converting personal property into real property, such as installing a ceiling fan.

Severance

The process of converting real property into personal property, such as cutting down a tree.

Scarcity

An economic characteristic of real property referring to the fact that land supply in any specific location is finite.

Fixity

An economic characteristic describing how capital and labor invested in land represent a large, fixed long-term commitment.

Modification

An economic characteristic where improvements to land (betterments) significantly affect the value of the property and its surrounding community.

Situs

Area preference or location; identified as the most powerful economic driver of land value.

Immobility

A physical characteristic of land stating its geographic location is permanently fixed, making it reliable collateral for loans.

Indestructibility

A physical characteristic stating land is durable and endures regardless of what happens on it, even if improvements deteriorate.

Uniqueness

A physical characteristic stating no two parcels occupy the same location; each is one of a kind.

Metes & Bounds

A legal description method using measurements (metes) and direction (bounds) from a Point of Beginning (POB) to trace a perimeter.

Lot & Block (Recorded Plat)

A legal description method referencing lot numbers, block numbers, and subdivision names from a recorded plat map.

U.S. Government Survey (Rectangular)

A grid system using principal meridians and base lines to divide land into quadrangles, townships, and sections.

Township

A land unit in the government survey measuring $6 \times 6$ miles (36 square miles) containing 36 sections.

Section

A 1-square-mile unit of land within a township containing approximately $640$ acres.

Rod

A unit of measurement equal to $16.5$ Feet.

Chain

A unit of measurement equal to $66$ Feet or $100$ links.

Acre

An area of land containing $43,560$ square feet.

Permanent Bench Marks (PRMs)

Reference points of known elevation used by surveyors when no fixed datum exists.

Police Power

The governmental authority to enact laws for public health, safety, and welfare, including zoning and building codes; requires no compensation.

Taxation

The governmental power to levy property taxes to fund public services, which creates a lien against the real estate.

Eminent Domain

The power to take private property for public use with just compensation; the legal process is called condemnation.

Escheat

The power of the state to take ownership of property when an owner dies intestate with no known heirs.

Variance

A permitted exception to a specific zoning requirement due to a unique hardship or condition related to the property.

Nonconforming Use

A property use that was legal before a zoning change and is allowed to continue ("grandfathered") even though it no longer conforms to current rules.

CC&Rs

Covenants, conditions, and restrictions; private rules placed by developers on subdivisions that "run with the land."

Easement Appurtenant

A property right that benefits a neighboring property and legally runs with the land.

Easement In Gross

A property right that benefits a specific person or entity (such as a utility company) rather than a specific parcel of land.

Easement By Necessity

An easement created when land is landlocked and has no road access.

License

A personal, revocable privilege to use land; unlike an easement, it is not a property right and does not transfer with the property.