1. Washington Real Estate Fundamentals
Lesson 1:
The Nature of Real Property
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2. Property Real vs. personal
Two types of property:
Real property: Land and anything attached to it. Also called realty.
Personal property: Anything that is not real property; usually movable. Also called personalty or chattels.
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3. Real Property Bundle of rights
Real property ownership includes a bundle of ownership rights, including the right to:
Possess
Use
Enjoy
Encumber
Will
Sell
Do nothing at all
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4. Real Property Inverted pyramid
Imagine a parcel of land as an inverted pyramid.
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5. Summary Basic Concepts
Real property
Personal property
Bundle of rights
Inverted pyramid
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6. Appurtenances
Appurtenance: A right or interest that goes along with ownership of real property, but isn’t necessarily a physical part of the property.
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7. Appurtenances Air rights Water rights Solid mineral rights
Oil and gas rights
Support rights
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8. Appurtenances Air rights
Air rights: Landowner has the right to use the airspace above the property.
Subject to restrictions, including:
Federal aviation laws
Local laws and private restrictions
Air rights can be sold separately from land (as with condominiums).
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9. Appurtenances Water rights
Two systems for allocating water rights:
riparian rights system
prior appropriation system
Either system can be applied both to surface water and to subsurface water.
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10. Water Rights Riparian rights system
Riparian rights: Right to use water that flows through or adjacent to landowner’s property.
Allowed to make reasonable use of water without diminishing the flow.
Allowed to use water for domestic purposes on the riparian land.
Not allowed to divert water for use on non-riparian land.
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11. Water Rights Riparian rights system
Two types of water in riparian rights system.
Riparian water: Flowing water (river or stream).
Littoral water: Standing water (pond, lake, or ocean).
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12. Water Rights Appropriative rights
Prior appropriation system: Developed to address needs not met by riparian rights system, particularly in arid areas.
Appropriative rights have largely replaced the riparian rights system in some states (including Washington).
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13. Water Rights Appropriative rights
Permit required for appropriative rights.
Permit holder can take or divert water from a particular source for a specified reasonable and beneficial use.
Example: irrigation
Permit holder does not have to own land beside the water source.
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14. Appurtenances Solid mineral rights
Mineral rights: Landowner has right to extract any solid minerals located within property’s inverted pyramid.
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15. Appurtenances Solid mineral rights
Minerals are:
real property when in the ground
personal property once extracted and brought to the surface
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16. Appurtenances Oil and gas rights
Rule of capture: Special rule for oil and gas. Landowner owns all oil and gas produced from (captured by) wells on her property.
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17. Appurtenances Support rights
Support rights: Natural support provided to a piece of land by the surrounding land.
Subjacent support: Provided by underlying earth.
Lateral support: Provided by adjacent land.
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18. Summary Appurtenances
Air rights
Water rights
Riparian rights
Littoral rights
Appropriative rights
Mineral rights
Rule of capture
Support rights
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19. Attachments Attachments: Things that are permanently attached to land.
May be natural or man-made.
Are ordinarily considered part of the real estate.
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20. Attachments Natural attachments
Natural attachments: Trees, bushes, and other plants; growing things that are attached to the land by roots.
Includes plants cultivated by people as well as plants growing naturally.
Transfer with the land unless otherwise agreed.
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21. Natural Attachments Doctrine of emblements
Doctrine of emblements: Special rule for crops planted by tenant farmer.
Applies when tenancy for indefinite period terminates through no fault of tenant.
Tenant is allowed to return and harvest crop after tenancy has ended.
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22. Natural Attachments Severance
Once severed from the land, natural attachments become personal property.
For example, timber becomes personal property when it’s cut down.
Standing timber subject to a contract of sale or crops sold before harvest are considered constructively severed.
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23. Attachments Fixtures Fixtures: Man-made attachments to real property.
Items that were once personal property.
Now attached to or connected with real property in such a way that they have become part of the real property.
Example: Lumber is personal property; fence is real property.
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24. Attachments Fixtures vs. personal property
Written agreement determines whether item is treated as fixture or personal property.
If no written agreement, four legal tests applied:
method of attachment
adaptation to the property
intention of the annexor
relationship of the parties
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25. Fixture Tests Method of attachment test
Is the item attached to the realty in some way, and if so, how?
Is the item movable?
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26. Fixture Tests Adaptation test
Has the item been specially adapted to the realty in some way, or specially designed for it?
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27. Fixture Tests Intention test
Did the person who installed (annexed) the item intend it to become part of the realty?
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28. Fixture Tests Relationship test
Did the person who installed the item own the property, or was he just a tenant?
An item installed by a tenant is usually considered personal property.
An item installed by an owner is usually considered real property.
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29. Fixture Tests Trade fixtures
Trade fixtures: Equipment and other items that commercial tenant installs to do business.
Generally remain tenant’s personal property, no matter how they’re attached.
Tenant may have to restore property to original condition after removal of trade fixtures.
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30. Attachments Manufactured homes
New manufactured home is considered personal property and has a title like a motor vehicle.
Manufactured home may become real property through a process called title elimination.
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31. Attachments Manufactured homes
After manufactured home’s title is eliminated:
home is part of the real property on which it is located
transferred and taxed as real property
After title eliminated, a real estate licensee may sell the home (otherwise, must have a manufactured home dealer’s license).
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32. Summary Attachments Attachment Natural attachment
Doctrine of emblements
Fixture
Fixture tests
Trade fixture
Manufactured home
Title elimination
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33. Methods of Legal Description
When real property is transferred, land being conveyed must be clearly identified.
Precise description of a piece of land is called the legal description.
Three main methods of legal description:
metes and bounds
government survey
lot and block
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34. Methods of Legal Description Metes and bounds
Metes and bounds description: Describes a piece of land by specifying its boundaries.
Monuments: Natural or man-made objects that mark a fixed point.
Courses: Compass directions.
Distances: Length of each boundary.
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35. Metes and Bounds Descriptions How they work
Starts with a point of beginning, then gives the course (direction) and distance for each leg of the boundary, until it has described the full circuit and arrived back at the point of beginning.
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36. Metes and Bounds Descriptions Example
“Beginning at the old oak tree, go South 15° East 200 feet. Then go North 90° West 310 feet, more or less, to the centerline of Smith Creek. Then go northwesterly along the centerline of Smith Creek to a point due west of the old oak tree. Then go North 90° East 430 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning.”
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37. Methods of Legal Description Government survey
Government survey description: Property identified by location in a section, township, and range on a U.S. government survey map.
Also called rectangular survey description.
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38. Government Survey Descriptions Grid system
Government survey system is made up of a series of very large survey grids covering much of the U.S., including Washington.
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39. Government Survey Descriptions Principal meridian & base line
Each grid has its own:
principal meridian (main north-south line)
base line (main east-west line)
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40. Government Survey Descriptions Principal meridian & base line
Each grid identified by name of principal meridian.
In Washington:
Willamette Meridian
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41. Government Survey Descriptions Range & township lines
Each grid has grid lines running parallel to principal meridian and parallel to base line at intervals of six miles.
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42. Government Survey Descriptions Range & township lines
North-south lines, called range lines, divide the land into columns called ranges.
Each range is six miles wide.
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43. Government Survey Descriptions Range & township lines
East-west lines, called township lines, divide the land into rows called township tiers.
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44. Government Survey Descriptions Townships
Each individual square is called a township.
Particular township identified by its position in relation to base line and principal meridian.
6 miles × miles
36 square miles
Township =
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45. Government Survey Descriptions Townships
This township: “Township 4 North, Range 5 East.”
It’s the township created by the intersection of the fourth township tier north of the base line and the fifth range east of the principal meridian.
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46. Government Survey Descriptions Complete description
Complete government survey description must include section, township, and range.
Name of principal meridian must also be included, to identify grid.
Example:
N ½ of NE ¼ of SE ¼, T4N R3D, Willamette Meridian, Clark County, State of Washington
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47. Government Survey Descriptions Sections
Each township is divided into 36 sections.
Each section is one mile on each side, or one square mile.
Each section is 640 acres.
1 acre = 43,560 square feet.
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48. Government Survey Descriptions Partial sections
Most individual parcels are only part of a section, so they are described in terms of fractions of sections.
For example, the N ½ of the NE ¼ of the SE ¼.
NW1/4
160 ACRES
NE1/4
160 ACRES
SW1/4
160 ACRES
N 1/2 OF NE1/4
OF SE1/4
40 ACRES
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49. Methods of Legal Description Lot and block
Lot and block description: Standard method for describing property in towns and cities.
Property identified by its lot number on a subdivision plat.
Plat: Survey map developer must record when land is subdivided. Also called a plat map.
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50. Lot and Block Descriptions Plat map
Plat map shows precise location and dimensions of each lot.
Each lot is assigned a lot number.
Groups of lots separated by streets within the subdivision may also be assigned block numbers.
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51. Lot and Block Descriptions Example
Once plat map recorded, a parcel can be described by giving:
lot and block numbers
name of subdivision
city and/or county
“Lot 7, Block 2, in the Lowland Heights subdivision, according to the plat thereof recorded at Vol. 22, Page 16, in the records of Spokane County, State of Washington.”
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52. Methods of Legal Description Other methods
Other methods of describing land:
Reference to description in earlier recorded document.
Reference to recorded survey map or tax assessor’s map.
Generalized description, such as “all my land in King County.”
Street address generally not considered adequate description for legal documents.
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53. Summary Methods of Legal Description
Metes and bounds method
Monuments, courses, distances
Government survey method
Section, township, and range
Principal meridian and base line
Lot and block method
Plat map
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