Real estate course #1

Manufactured Housing

Dwellings built to HUD specifications that are at least 320 square feet and on a permanent chassis.

Chattels

personal property

Personal Property

possessions such as jewelry, furniture, and boats

Prior Appropriation

when water rights are given to those who have historically used the water in a certain area.

Avulsion

A forcible pulling away of a part or structure

accretion

growth in size or increase in amount

Littoral Rights

The right of a property owner whose land borders on a body of water, such as a lake, ocean or sea, to reasonable use and enjoyment of the shore and water the property borders on.

Riparian Rights

An owner's rights in land that borders on or includes a stream, river, or lake. These rights include access to and use of the water.

Land

The Earths surface

Equity

The difference between the market value of the property and the amount still owned.

Supply and Demand

relationship between the amount of product and the desire for the product

Market

a group of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service

Real Estate Licensee

A person who has satisfied the requirements of a licensing agency, as authorized by state legislation.

Broker

a person who is paid to buy and sell for someone else

Associate Licensee

A real estate salesperson or broker who works as the employee of a real estate broker

Nonhomogeneity

A lack of uniformity; dissimilarity. Because no two parcels of land are exactly alike, real estate is said to be nonhomogeneous.

Real Estate

property consisting of land or buildings

Improvement

any artificial thing attached on or below ground, such as a building, fence, water line or sewer pipe, as well as growing things that are made part of the landscaping.

Real Property

physical property such as land and buildings

Bundle of legal Rights

Possession, control, enjoyment, exclusion, disposition

appurtenance

A right, privilege, or improvement belonging to, and passing with, the land.

Surface Rights

Ownership rights in a parcel of real estate that are limited to the surface of the property and do not include the air above it (air rights) or the minerals below the surface (subsurface rights).

Subsurface Rights

the rights to the natural resources below the earth's surface

Air Rights

The right to use the open space above a property, usually allowing the surface to be used for another purpose.

Water Rights

The legal rights to use the water in a river, stream, or other body

Emblements

Refers to crops which require annual planting.

Severance

Changing an item of real estate to personal property by detaching it from the land; for example, cutting down a tree.

Fixture

An item of personal property that has been converted to real property by being permanently affixed to the realty.

Trade Fixture

An article installed by a tenant under the terms of a lease and removable by the tenant before the lease expires.

Accession

Acquiring title to additions or improvements to real property as a result of the annexation of fixtures or the accretion of alluvial deposits along the banks of streams.

Freehold Estate

An estate in real property which continues for an indefinite period of time.

Estate in Land

The degree, quantity, nature, and extent of interest a person has in real property.

Fee Simple Absolute

The maximum possible estate or right of ownership of real property, continuing forever.

Fee Simple Defeasible

An estate which may be lost on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a specified event.

Fee Simple Determinable

A fee simple estate qualified by a special limitation. Language used to describe limitation includes the words so long as, while, or during.

Fee simple subject to a condition subsequent

The owner gives real estate on condition of ownership.

pur autre vie

A life estate that is dependent up the life of another.

Life Estate

A freehold estate in land that is limited in duration to the life of the owner or to the life or lives of some other designated person or persons.

remainder interest

The creator of the life estate may name a remainderman as the person to whom the property will pass when the life estate ends.

Reversionary Interest

If grantor does not name a remainderman, then ownership returns to the grantor when the life estate terminates.

Homestead

a tract of public land available for settlement

Legal life estate

Life estate created by law; examples include homestead and dower's rights

Encumbrance

A type of interest in real estate that does not rise to the level of ownership or possession, yet still gives an individual, business, or other entity some degree of use or control of the property.

Lien

a right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged.

Deed Restrictions

Clauses in a deed limiting the future uses of the property. Deed restrictions may impose a vast variety of limitations and conditions—for example, they may limit the density of buildings, dictate the types of structures that can be erected, or prevent buildings from being used for specific purposes or even from being used at all.

CC&Rs

A declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions; usually recorded by a developer to create a general plan of private restrictions for a subdivision.

Easement Appurtenant

a right of use that continues from owner to owner that involves a relationship between two parcels of land: a dominant parcel that benefits from a servient parcel

Easement

The right to use the land of another for a particular purpose.

Easement in gross

the right to use land for a specific, limited purpose unrelated to any adjacent parcel

Easement by necessity

An easement allowed by law as necessary for the full enjoyment of a parcel of real estate; for example, a right of ingress and egress over a grantor's land.

Taking

Process of land being taken from a property owner for public use through eminent domain with the requirement that the owner be compensated fairly.

eminent domain

the right of government to take private property for public use

police power

state power to enact laws promoting health, safety, and morals

Encroachment

intrusion on a person's territory, rights, etc.

license

a legal document giving official permission to do something

Easement by Prescription

Created through continual use over a certain period of time. It must be continual, visible, & w/o approval. Example - a private road becomes public.

Inverse Condemnation

An action brought by a property owner seeking just compensation for land taken for public use when the taker of the property does not intend to bring eminent domain proceedings. Property is condemned because its use and value have been diminished due to an adjacent property's public use.

Taxation

Money raised to provide services for the common good of the community/country

Escheat

The state takes property upon an owners death if there is no will & no heirs exist.

Situs

Refers to the economic location of real estate.

area preference

People's desire for one area over another, based on a number of factors such as history, reputation, convenience, scenic beauty, and location.

implied agreement

A contract under which the agreement of the parties is demonstrated by their acts and conduct.

Buyer Representation Agreement

An employment contract obligating a broker to act as a fiduciary to a buyer

Listing Agreement

A contract between an owner (as Principal) and a real estate broker (as agent) by which the broker is employed as agent to find a buyer for the owner's real estate on the owner's terms, for which service the owner agrees to pay a commission

express agreement

An oral or written contract in which the parties state the contract's terms and express their intentions in words.

Implied Agency

Agency that exists as a result of actions of the parties.

Express Agency

An agency relationship based on a formal agreement between the parties.

Nonagent

An intermediary between a buyer and a seller, or a landlord and a tenant, who assists one or both parties with a transaction without representing either. Also known as a facilitator, transaction broker, transaction coordinator, and contract broker.

customer

someone who pays for goods or services

client

A person using the services of a professional person or organization.

Agency

the potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms, values, mental maps of reality, symbols, institutions, and structures of power

Principal

The individual who hires the agent and delegates to that agent the responsibility of representing the principals interest.

Fiduciary

relating to the governing of property or estate on behalf of others

Agent

a real estate professional who can represent a client

electronic contracting

A process of integrating information in a real estate transaction between clients, lender, and title and closing agents electronically.

disclaimers

A provision in a contract that eliminates liability such as a warranty disclaimer or a disclaimer of tort liability.

Internet Data Exchange (IDX) policy

Policy that allows all multiple listing service (MLS) members to restrict internet access to MLS property listings.

code of ethics

a guideline to help marketing managers and other employees make better decisions

Boycott

A group's refusal to have commercial dealings with some organization in protest against its policies

price fixing

an agreement between two or more firms on the price they will charge for a product

antitrust laws

laws that encourage competition in the marketplace

minimum level of services

The services that real estate professionals must provide to clients, as prescribed differently by certain states; for example, assisting clients in negotiation and answering questions from clients about offers, counteroffers, and contingencies.

ready, willing, and able buyer

one qualified and prepared to purchase

Procuring Cause

The actions by a broker which result in the owner being able to make a sale.

Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

a comprehensive listing, updated daily, of properties for sale in a given community or metropolitan area; includes a brief description of each property with a photo and its asking price but can be accessed only by realtors who work for an MLS member

Commission

An amount paid to an employee based on a percentage of the employee's sales

Independent Contractor

one who contracts to perform certain tasks for a set fee, but who is independent of the control of the contracting party as a means by which the contract is executed, except for specifications established in the contract

Managing Broker

The real estate professional who is responsible for supervision of the real estate professionals who act on behalf of the brokerage; may also be called a supervising broker.

Brokerage

The bringing together of parties interested in making a real estate transaction.

Subrogation

The process by which an insurer can, after it has paid a loss under the policy, recover the amount paid from any party (other than the insured) who caused the loss or is otherwise legally liable for the loss.

Title Insurance

a type of insurance that protects the buyer if problems with the title are found later

Attorney's Opinion of Title

An abstract of title that an attorney has examined and has certified to be, in the attorney's opinion, an accurate statement of the facts concerning the property's ownership.

Certificate of title

A statement of opinion on the status of the title to a parcel of real property based on an examination of specified public records.

Marketable Title

Good or clear title, reasonably free from the risk of litigation over possible defects.

Abstract of title

The condensed history of a title to a particular parcel of real estate, consisting of a summary of the original grant and all subsequent conveyances and encumbrances affecting the property and a certification by the abstractor that the history is complete and accurate.

Title search

examining public records to construct "chain of title"

Action to quiet title

A court action that establishes ownership when ownership cannot be traced through an unbroken chain of title.

Chain of title

A history of the ownership affecting title to a parcel of land.

Priority

the order in which liens are paid

Recording

The act of placing documents in the public record.