CREL Unit 4

Land

The surface of the earth + mineral deposits under it + air space above.

Real estate

Land + man-made improvements attached to it.

Real property

Real estate + the bundle of legal rights (possession, exclusion, control, use, enjoyment, mortgage, disposition).

Bundle of Legal Rights

The concept that land ownership includes all legal rights to the land.

Possession

The right to occupy and control the land.

Exclusion

The right to prevent others from entering or using the land.

Control

The right to make decisions regarding the land.

Use

The right to utilize the land for various purposes.

Enjoyment

The right to enjoy the land without interference.

Mortgage

The right to use the land as security for a loan.

Disposition

The right to sell or transfer ownership of the land.

Riparian rights

Apply to rivers and streams (non-navigable waterways); owner owns the waterway to the center/midpoint.

Littoral rights

Apply to large bodies of water (lakes, oceans); owner has use of the water and owns land up to the high-water mark.

Surface rights

Limited to the property surface, NOT including air above or minerals below.

Subsurface rights

Water, minerals, gas, oil beneath the property.

Air rights

Right to use the space above the property.

Fixture

Personal property permanently attached to land becomes real estate.

Trade fixture

Personal property installed by a commercial tenant for business purposes.

Chattels

Personal property (movable objects).

Emblements

Annual crops (wheat, corn, vegetables, fruit) — generally personal property.

Improvements

Anything man-made permanently attached to the land (buildings, fences, driveways, sidewalks, sewers).

Freehold estate

Indeterminate length (no end date); ownership.

Leasehold estate

Definite length (landlord/tenant); generally personal property.

Fee simple

Maximum ownership, continues forever; most complete form.

Qualified (determinable) fee

Ownership conditional on something happening or not happening.

Life estates

Duration based on someone's life.

Estate for years

Fixed time period, definite start and end.

Periodic estate

Automatically renews (e.g., month-to-month).

Estate at will

No specific term, either party may end.

Estate at sufferance

Tenant stays after lease expires without landlord's permission.

Tenancy in Common

Multiple owners hold an undivided interest; shares may be unequal.

Joint Tenancy

Two or more owners with right of survivorship; share passes automatically to surviving joint tenant(s).

Tenancy by the Entirety

A special form of joint tenancy for married couples only.

Trustor

Original owner who creates the trust and conveys property.

Trustee

Holds and administers the property.

Beneficiary

Receives the benefit of the trust.

Common elements

Parts of a property normally used in common by all condominium residents.

Condominium

Absolute ownership of an apartment/unit in a multiunit building plus an undivided interest in the common elements owned jointly with other unit owners.

Condop

A combo co-op/condominium building (created to avoid violating IRS Code § 216) where commercial units are condos and residential units are co-ops.

Convey

Transfer.

Conveyance

Transfer of title from one to another; the means by which title is transferred.

Cooperative

Residential multiunit building whose title is held by a corporation owned by the residents (shareholders), each possessing a proprietary lease.

Co-ownership

Ownership by two or more persons.

Corporation

Entity created by law whose rights are essentially the same as those of an individual.

Curtesy/dower

A spouse's ownership interest in their deceased spouse's property. NY does not recognize dower or curtesy.

Devise

A gift of real property by will.

Estate in land

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

Freehold estates

Estates in land for an indeterminate length of time (in contrast to leaseholds).

General partnership

A form of joint venture in which each general partner shares in administration, profits, and losses.

Grant

A sale or gift of real property.

Homestead

Land owned and occupied as the family home; right to protect a portion of value from unsecured judgments.

Illiquidity

Difficulty in selling an asset for full value on short notice. Real property is an illiquid asset.

Improvement

Anything man-made permanently attached to the land (buildings, fences, driveways, curbs, sidewalks, sewers).

Industrial real estate

Warehouses, factories, land in industrial districts, research facilities.

Interest

A degree of ownership; multiple parties may have different degrees of ownership in the same property.

Joint venture

Joining of two or more people for a specific business project only (not continuing).

Life estate

Interest in real or personal property limited in duration to the lifetime of its owner or some other designated person(s).

Limited liability company

Hybrid business entity combining managerial freedom of partnerships with limited liability and tax avoidance of corporations.

Limited partnership

Partnership administered by general partner(s) and funded by limited/silent partners liable only to extent of their investment.

Parcel

A specific piece of real estate.

Partition

Division of real property between those who own it in undivided shares.

Partnership

Association of two or more individuals carrying on continuing business for profit as co-owners.

Passive income

IRS-defined income from trade/business in which you don't actively participate, or rental income (unless you're a real estate professional).

Personal property

Items, called chattels, that don't fit the definition of real property; movable objects.

Remainder interest

Remnant of an estate conveyed to take effect after termination of a prior estate.

Remainderman

Individual named to receive property after a life tenant's death.

Residential real estate

All property zoned for use as a dwelling, single-family or multifamily, urban/suburban/rural.

Reversionary interest

Remnant of an estate the grantor holds after granting a life estate, if the estate will return (revert) to the grantor.

Right of survivorship

Characteristic of joint tenancy: deceased joint tenant's interest passes to surviving joint tenant(s).

Severalty

Ownership of real property by one person only; sole ownership.

Sole proprietorship

Business owned by one individual.

Special-purpose real estate

Religious institutions, schools, cemeteries, hospitals, government-held land.

Syndicate

Combination of people/firms formed to accomplish a joint venture.

Tenant in common

Form of co-ownership where each owner holds an undivided interest as if sole owner. Right to partition. NO right of survivorship.

Title

Evidence that the owner of land is in lawful possession; evidence of ownership.

Trust

Fiduciary arrangement where property is conveyed to a trustee, held and administered for a beneficiary.

Undivided interest

Partial interest in real estate that can't be physically distinguished from other proportional interests in the same parcel.

Unities of interest, possession, time, and title

The four unities required to create a joint tenancy.