Vocabulary Unit 2

Question 1

The words land, real estate, and real property

Answer 1

are often used interchangeably.

Question 2

Land

Answer 2

is defined as the earth’s surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward to infinity.

Question 3

Real estate

Answer 3

is defined as land plus all human-made improvements to the land that are permanently attached (annexed) to it.

Question 4

improvement

Answer 4

to land can be 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.

Question 5

Real property

Answer 5

is defined as the interests, benefits, and rights that are automatically included in the ownership of real estate

Question 6

appurtenance

Answer 6

something that is transferred with or “runs with” the land) is a right or privilege associated with the property, although not necessarily a physical part of it.

Question 7

surface rights

Answer 7

Ownership rights in a parcel of real estate that are limited to the surface of the earth are called

Question 8

subsurface rights

Answer 8

The rights to the natural resources below the earth’s surface are called

Question 9

Water rights

Answer 9

are common-law (historical) or statutory rights held by owners of land adjacent to rivers, lakes, or oceans and are restrictions on the rights of land ownership

Question 10

riparian rights

Answer 10

Common-law rights granted to owners of land along the course of a river, stream, or similar flowing body of water are called

Question 11

littoral right

Answer 11

of owners whose land borders commercially navigable lakes, seas, and oceans

Question 12

accretion

Answer 12

increases in the land resulting from the deposit of soil by the water’s action.

Question 13

Erosion

Answer 13

s the gradual and sometimes imperceptible wearing away of the land by natural forces, such as wind, rain, and flowing water.

Question 14

Avulsion

Answer 14

is the sudden removal of soil by an act of nature. It is an event that causes the loss of land in a much less subtle manner than erosion

Question 15

prior appropriation

Answer 15

In states where water is scarce, ownership and use of water are often determined by the doctrine of

Question 16

Personal property

Answer 16

sometimes called personalty, is all the property that can be owned and that does not fit the definition of real property.

Question 17

Chattel

Answer 17

An important distinction between the two is that personal property is movable. Items of personal property, also called

Question 18

Manufactured housing

Answer 18

is that which is built specifically to the standards of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), although the term mobile home is still commonly used.

Question 19

emblements

Answer 19

Trees and crops generally fall into one of two classes: (1) Trees, perennial shrubbery, and grasses that do not require annual cultivation are known as fructus naturales. These items are considered real estate. (2) Annually cultivated crops such as fruit, vegetables, and grain are known as

Question 20

severance

Answer 20

which is the act of separating it from the land. For example, a growing tree is part of the land until the owner cuts it down, literally severing it from the property. Similarly, an apple becomes personal property once it is picked from a tree.

Question 21

Annexation

Answer 21

It is also possible to change personal property into real property through the process known as

Question 22

fixture

Answer 22

is personal property that has been so attached to land or a building that, by law, it becomes part of the real property

Question 23

trade fixture

Answer 23

A special category of fixtures includes property used in the course of business. An article owned by a tenant, attached to a rented space or building, and used in conducting a business is

Question 24

accession

Answer 24

The tenant is responsible for any damage caused by the removal of a trade fixture. Trade fixtures that are not removed become the real property of the landlord.

Question 25

situs

Answer 25

Place

Question 26

area preference

Answer 26

is commonly referred to as “location, location, location.” This economic characteristic refers not only to geography but also to the preference for a specific area.

Question 27

nonhomogeneity

Answer 27

Uniqueness, which is also known as