LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS IN APPRAISAL Chapter 2
Dec 15, 2015
CHAPTER TERMS AND CONCEPTS
Acceptance
Appurtenance
Base line
Bundle of rights
Competent parties
Consideration
Contract
Dominant tenement
Easement
Equity
Fixture
Government restrictions
Government survey
Intangible property
Leased fee estate
Leasehold estate
Legal description
Life estate
Market restrictions
Metes and bounds description
Mutual obligation
Offer
Partial interests
Personal property
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CHAPTER TERMS AND CONCEPTS
Police power
Power of eminent domain
Power of escheat
Power of taxation
Principal meridian line
Private restrictions
Property
Range lines
Real estate
Real property
Recorded lot, block, and tract
description
Recorded map
Remainder estate
Sections
Servient tenement
Statute of Frauds
Subdivision map
Tangible property
Township
Township lines
Tract maps
Trade fixtures
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define real estate, real property, and personal property; give examples; and describe their differences.
2. Define and give examples of the bundle of rights.
3. Explain and provide examples of the three broad categories of restrictions on the use of real property.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
4. Define the four governmental restrictions on the private ownership of all property.
5. List and provide examples of the major types of legal descriptions.
6. List and explain the five requirements for a valid contract.
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PROPERTY CLASSIFICATIONS
Tangible PropertyRights to Physical Objects
Intangible PropertyRights to Non-Physical Things
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PROPERTY CLASSIFICATIONS
Real PropertyLand and Everything Attached To It
Personal PropertyAnything That Is MovableEverything Not Real Property
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REAL PROPERTY DEFINED
1. The Land
2. Permanently Affixed Objects
3. Appurtenant Rights
4. That Which Is Immovable By Law
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REAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Fee ownership includes the following “Bundle of Rights” The Right to:
o Occupyo Sello Borrow Againsto Exclude Otherso Convey Ownership by Inheritance
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REAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Partial Interestso Leased fee estateso Leasehold estateso Life Estateso Undivided interests in commonly held propertyo Others
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Government Restrictions
Police Power Building and Safety General Welfare Community Planning, etc.
Eminent Domain Sovereign body taking back private
property for public use and paying “just compensation”
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Government Restrictions
Taxation Sovereign body may imposes taxes as
needed as long as they are fair
Escheat The sovereign body will take back the title
to the property if the owner dies or disappears and leaves no relatives or heirs
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RECORDED LOT, BLOCK & TRACT
After a Subdivision Map is filed, all Legal Descriptions Refer to the Recorded Map.
The Legal Description of Lot 3 is: Lot 3, Block 4 of Nottingham Forest, Section 7, a subdivision in
the William Hardin Survey, Abstract No. 24, Houston, Harris County, Texas, Map recorded in Volume 138, Page 1 of the Map Records of Harris County, Texas
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Metes and Bounds
Early Example:• Beginning at Joe’s barn, ten hop skips toward
the old hickory stump on the ridge, then toward widow Jones’ cabin for a bit, then past the old flour mill, then back to Joe’s Barn
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CONTRACTS
A Contract is Defined as:An agreement between two or more
persons which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular act. o Source: Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th ed., West Publishing Co., St.
Paul, 1990
Essential Elements of a Contract The Offer The Acceptance The Consideration
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IMPORTANCE OF CONTRACTS
Listing Contracts
Sale Contracts
Escrow Contracts
Private Restrictions
Statute of Frauds
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SUMMARY
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The distinction between real estate and real property was explained.
Real estate is defined as the physical object, whereas real property refers to the rights gained by owning the object. Personal property includes all objects on the property that are not real property. When personal property has been permanently affixed to the land, it changes into a category of permanently affixed real property called a fixture.
Real property refers to the many rights associated with real estate.
SUMMARY
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When making an appraisal, it is not enough just to look at a property and appraise what you see. Rather, you must first establish what legal rights exist for the property and then identify which rights are to be included in the appraisal.
The value of land depends on its potential and logical use.
A contract is an agreement between two or more persons, which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular act. Nearly every appraisal assignment will involve reading one or more contracts.