Unit 1 Chapter 2

Question 1

Real Estate as Property

Answer 1

• Constitution guarantees private ownership of real estate

* Ownership rights not absolute; others may exert claims against one’s property

Question 2

The legal concept of land encompasses

Answer 2

the surface of the earth, all natural things attached to it, subsurface, and
air above the surface.
• Unique physical characteristics: immobile, indestructible, heterogeneous
• Economic factors that drive value: demand, utility, scarcity, transferability, situs

Question 3

The legal concept of Real Estate encompasses

Answer 3

all land plus all permanently attached man-made structures,

called improvements.

Question 4

Property is defined as

Answer 4

something that is owned by someone, and the associated rights of ownership.

Question 5

The bundle of rights:

Answer 5

possession, use, transfer, exclusion, and encumbrance

Question 6

Property types and uses:

Answer 6

residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural, special purpose

Question 7

Real property rights

Answer 7

• any of the bundle of rights, applied to airspace (air rights), surface (surface rights), and subsurface
(subsurface rights)
• surface rights, subsurface rights, and air rights can be laterally severed

Question 8

Doctrine of Prior Appropriation:

Answer 8

state controls water usage; grants usage permits

Question 9

Littoral rights:

Answer 9

abutting property owners own land to high water mark; may use, but state owns underlying
land.

Question 10

Riparian rights:

Answer 10

if navigable, abutting property owners own land to water’s edge; may use, but state owns
underlying land; if not navigable, owner owns land to midpoint of waterway.

Question 11

Groundwater rights:

Answer 11

right to extract water in aquifers may be regulated by a rule of capture.
• Property and rights affected by actions of water: accretion, erosion, avulsion, reliction, alluvion

Question 12

Fixtures

Answer 12

are real property converted from personal property by attachment to real estate. Typical examples
include chandeliers, toilets, water pumps, septic tanks, and window shutters.

Question 13

Differentiation criteria for fixtures

Answer 13

intention; adaptation; functionality; relationship of parties; and contract provisions.

Question 14

Trade fixtures

Answer 14

also known as chattel fixtures, are personal property items temporarily attached to real estate in order to conduct business; to be removed at some point.

Question 15

Emblements

Answer 15

are plants or crops considered as personal property since human intervention is necessary for
planting, harvesting.

Question 16

Conversion

Answer 16

is the transformation of real to personal property through severance, or personal to real property
through affixing or attachment.