VA Real Estate Exam Questions And Answers 2023

Personal Property - -generally movable and unattached to land -may be tangible (cars, boats, jewelry) -may be intangible (stocks, bonds, mortgages) -includes: trade fixtures & fructus industriales (emblements) Trade Fixtures - -items of personal property brought to the premises by the tenant that are necessary to carry on the trade or business Fixtures - -items that were once movable that are now affixed to real estate and becomes real property (fences, trees, bricks in a wall) Real Property - -the land (surface of earth, space above it, below it) and the improvements and fixtures -synonymous with word "real estate" -includes a bundle of rights (possess, control, enjoy, exclude, encumber, dispose) 3 Physical Characteristics of Land - -immobility (can't move) -indestructibility (cant' destroy) -uniqueness (heterogeneity) Economic Land Characteristics (influences value) - 1. Scarcity - limited supply of land on earth 2. Area Preference (Situs) - location, location, location 3. Improvements - houses, commercial buildings, sewers, sidewalks, fences... 4. Investment Permanence - sewage, drainage, electrical - provide greater options for future investments 5. Assemblage - combining two or more continguouis pieces of real estate into a single parcel under the same ownership can increase value Types of Legal Property Descriptions (3) - -metes and bounds -government survey -lot, block, subdivision (recorded plat) Metes and Bounds - -Legal description that begins at a well marked point and follows the boundaries around the tract, back to the place of beginning -(metes) measured in inches, ft, yards, sometimes miles -(bounds) established using artificial or natural monuments -(compass angles) use for defining direction Government Survey - -a method of land description based on townships and sections. (geodetic or rectangular survey system) -uses imaginary lines running N/S and E/W -rectangles formed can be subdivided into checks (24sq miles), townships (6sq miles), and sections (640 acres) Principal Meridians - -north-south lines separating townships Base Lines - -east-west lines seperating townships Lot, Block, and Subdivision - -method of legal description divides tracts of land into blocks. Then each block is divided into individual parcels known as lots. -Plat Map shows the Boundaries and measurements, streets, alleys, utility easements, parks and everything the developer plans for the subdivision. -most common legal description method in urban or suburban areas. -(subdivision - block - lot) Usage of Legal Property Descriptions - -any document filed in land records concerning a property muct identify the proepery using the legal description rather than an informal description such as an address examples include: deed, deed of trust/mortgage, easement, power of attorney. Encumbrances - -any claim, lien, charge or liability attached to and binding on real property is an encumbrance Liens - -encumbrance on property that functions to guaranty payment of debts by using property as collateral -always arise from debt Priority of Liens - -determined by law (tax lien), the date recorded, or date it was attached to the property -generally follow first-in-line, first-in-time treatment -REAL ESTATE PROPERTY TAX LIENS AND ASSESSMENTS ---TAKE PRIORITY OVER OTHER TYPES REGARDLESS OF DATE RECORDED -the order (tax liens, mortgages, mechanic's liens, other liens in the order they were recorded, and unrecorded liens) Common Liens - -include the following: -mechanic's liens (specific, statutory, and involuntary, generally effective when work begins) - judgement liens (general, equitable, and involuntary) and -attachment liens (porperty seized and held pending a lawsuit) Property Tax Lien - -specific/statutory/involuntary -filed against real property at the beginning of each tax year -SUPERIOR LIENS