VA Real Estate Exam Questions and Answers 100% Pass

VA Real Estate Exam Questions and Answers 100% Pass 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 Special Assessment Lien -specific/statutory/involuntary -filed against properties that will benefit from a proposed public improvement (library) Tax Lien -general/statutory/involuntary -impose from for non-payment of federal estate, income, or payroll taxes -REAL ESTATE TAX AND SPECIAL ASSESSMENT TAX ARE SUPERIOR TO FEDERAL TAXES Mortgage -specific/voluntary lien on real property where a property owner enters into a contract to borrow money and voluntarily agrees to give up rights on property if fails to pay -are equitable Vendor's Lien -specific/equitable/ involuntary -filed by seller (vendor) against the property sold in the amount of any unpaid purchase price Mechanic's Lien -a statutory lien levied on property by a person who is wrongfully not compensated after providing labor (mechanic) or material (material-man) for the improvement to land. (Only on the specific property where the work was complete.) Not on personal property. Judgement Lien -an involuntary, general lien that attaches to all property owned by debtor in county where judgement was entered. Priority is set by date the court enters judgement in public records. Attachment Liens -judicial action causing a defendant's real and personal property to be seized by a court and held as collateral pending a lawsuit . Real property is 'attached' by recording a copy of the writ of attachment in the public record thereby creating a lien vs. the property . This puts the world at notice and assures the plantiff that the property will be avail. to satisfy the judgement if necessary . Does not apply to a second oblication like a mortgage. Mortgagee must first try and satisfy debt by seeking sale of the mortgaged property. May then seed to attach the rest to debtors property if needed. Easements -limited right to use the land of another, which may be involuntary or voluntary conveyed -an encumbrance to land Licenses -personal privilege granted by one person to use the property of another (does not transfer with land and can be revoked anytime) Easements Appurtenant -limited right of one landowner to use the adjoining land of another for a specific purpose -requires two adjoining parcels of land owned by different owners -BOTH benefit and burden conveys with land Dominant Estate -land owned by a person who has the right to use the land of another, or the person who BENEFITS from an easement Servient Estate -an estate in land that is subject to use (the burden) in some way by dominant land Easements in Gross -limited right of one person to use the land of another -property rights held by specific persons -ONLY HAVE SERVIENT ESTATE -so burden can't be transferred and benefit can't either Express Easements -must be conveyed in writing usually through a deed, with description of the easement and the subject property that is signed, acknowledged, and recorded Express Reservation -created by landowner selling his property but retaining easement in the property Necessity -arise only where a particular use is striclty neccessary -created by operation of law rather than written agreement -example: land-locked property Implication -does not require writing Prescription -easement is a right acquired by and adverse user or a user that is using the land of another without permission for a PRESCRIBED LENGTH OF TIME Agreement -created by written consent Condemnation -easement arises from operation of law through power of eminent domain Encroachments -unauthorized physical intrusion that encumbers the land of another Freehold Estates -estate in land in which one has both possession and ownership rights in real property -fee estates (fee simple) or life estates Fee Estates -highest and most unrestricted ownership interest in land -fee simple (transferred w/o restrictions -qualified fee (has restrictions) Life Estates - freehold estate conveyed to a person for the duration of someone's life (can be any person) Future Estates -estate arises in the future -(present ownership without present possession) -includes remaninder and reversion estate Remainder Estate -arises after an exist estate ends and the estates goes to the remainder man Reversion Estate -remaining estate that reverts to the grantor after a grantor has conveyed a lesser estate Non-Freehold Estate -conveys only the right of possession without ownership -leasehold Statutory Estate -any estate created by law