QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Fixture - ANS An object that has been attached to land so as to become real estate.
An article of personal property which has been installed in or attached to land or a building
thereon, in such a manner that it is now considered to be a part of the real estate.
Improvements - ANS Beneficial attachments to raw land that increase its value or improve its
usefulness.
Meridians - ANS Imaginary north-south lines which intersect base lines to form a starting
point for the measurement of land.
Metes and bounds - ANS A detailed method of land description that identifies a parcel by
specifying its shape and boundaries.
Monument - ANS An iron pipe, stone, tree, or other fixed point in making a survey.
Personal Property - ANS A right or interest in things of a temporary or movable nature
Real Estate - ANS Land, tenements, and appurtenances, whatever is made part of or is
attached to it by nature or man; the land and all the improvements thereon. (Also real
property)
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,Recorded Plat - ANS A subdivision map filed in the county recorder's office that shows the
location and boundaries of individual parcels of land.
Riparian Right - ANS Owner's rights in land that borders on or includes a stream, river. Rights
include access to and use of the water
Appurtenance - ANS Any right or privilege which belongs to and passes with land.
Emblements - ANS Crops nurtured in the year of the transfer or sale of the property. They
are considered personal property.
Littoral Rights - ANS Owner's rights in land that borders a lake or sea.
Doctrine of prior appropriation - ANS The notion of giving a river's water to the 1st person
who claimed it
Bench Marks - ANS a permanently affixed mark that establishes the exact elevation of a
place; used by surveyors in measuring site elevations, or as a starting point for surveys .
Government Survey - ANS Rectangular system of land survey made up of 6 mile square
townships and 1 mile square sections.
Township - ANS A 6-by-6 mile area containing 36 sections each 1 mile square. A division of
land in the rectangular survey method of land description.
Acre - ANS A measure of land equal to 43,560 square feet.
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, Nonhomogeneity - ANS No two parcels of land are exactly alike, and no two parcels can
occupy the same position on the globe. Uniqueness
Scarcity - ANS Shortage of land where there is great demand.
Investment Permanence (fixity) - ANS Economic characteristic of real property that describes
the permanence of investment in infrastructure improvements.
Situs - ANS Refers to the location from an economic rather than a geographic standpoint.
Allodial System - ANS The system of land ownership under which anyone can own land.
Feudal System - ANS A type of land ownership whereby only the king can hold absolute title
to real property.
Inverse Condemnation - ANS An action brought by a property owner seeking just
compensation for land taken for public use when the taker of the property does not intend to
bring eminent domain proceedings. Property is condemned because its use and value have
been diminished due to an adjacent property's public use. -Homes located at the end of an
airport.
Fee Simple - ANS Absolute ownership. The greatest interest that one can have in real
property. An estate that is without restriction, of indefinite duration, freely transferable and
inheritable.
Bundle of Rights - ANS The rights of an owner to possess, control, enjoy, sell, lease,
mortgage, and dispose of the property.
Encumbrance - ANS An impediment to a clear title, a cloud on the title, such as a lien, lease,
or easement.
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