Champion Real Estate Test Prep
education requirement for Texas real estate licensees
18 course hours for each licensed term
Express Contract
A contract in which the terms of the agreement are fully and explicitly stated in words, oral or written.
executory contract
A contract that has not yet been fully performed.
Unilateral Contract
A contract that results when an offer can be accepted only by the offeree's performance.
Fee Simple Determinable
A fee simple estate qualified by a special limitation. Has limitations as to what can or can't be done with a property. It uses phrases such as "so long as," "while," or "during" to describe the required condition
Joint Tenancy
A form of concurrent ownership, which occurs when two or more persons own a single estate in land, with right of survivorship. Must have equal shares, right to partition.
Judgment Lien
A legal claim on all of the property of a judgment debtor which enables the judgment creditor to have the property sold for payment of the amount of the judgment.
Buyer Agency Agreement
A legally binding, written contract between a potential property buyer and a buyer's agent
Designated Agent
A licensee authorized by a broker to act as the agent for a specific principal in a particular transaction.
When accepting compensation, which of the following statements is most accurate, according to the NAR Code of Ethics?
A licensee shall not accept compensation from more than one party to a transaction without the consent of all parties.
Voluntary Lien
A lien placed on property with the knowledge and consent of the property owner.
Broker
A person who, for a commission or other valuable consideration, performs specific real estate-related acts for another person
Visible easement
A property is subdivided into at least two separate properties, creating dominant and servient estates from what was once a single property. The easement must be situated in a way that it creates an obvious benefit to the dominant estate, and a burden to the servient estate. The easement must have been used long enough before subdivision to show that it was intended to be permanent. The easement must be reasonably beneficial to the dominant estate.
Lis Pendens
A recorded notice stating that a lawsuit is pending that may affect title to the defendant's real estate.
Special Assessment Tax
A tax issued by the government when providing a benefit for a limited number of property owners (ex. curbs and sidewalks). tax could be levied on property owners for a public project that benefited the property owners only in that district
Leasehold Estate
A tenant's right to occupy real estate during the term of a lease, generally considered to be a personal property interest.
Novation
A three-way agreement in which the obligor transfers all rights and duties to a third party.
Fee Simple Defeasible
A type of ownership of real property that grants the owner all the incidents of a fee simple absolute except that it may be taken away if a specified condition occurs or does not occur includes two categories, which can be distinguished in part by the way in which ownership may be regained by the original grantor of the estate.
General Agent
An agent with full authority over one property of the principal, such as a property manager.
market allocation
An agreement between brokers to split up competitive market areas among themselves and not compete in each other's areas.
Price Fixing
An agreement between competing firms to standardize commission rates
tie-in arrangement
An antitrust violation in which the provider of a service requires the customer or client to purchase another service
Easement by Prescription
An easement acquired by continuous, open, and hostile use of the property for the period of time prescribed by state law.
Freehold Estate
An estate in land in which ownership is for an indeterminate length of time, in contrast to a leasehold estate.
Undisclosed Dual Agency
An illegal agency relationship where buyers and/or sellers are unaware of an individual broker or firm's conflicting duties to their clients.
Periodic estate
An interest in leased property that continues from period to period—week to week, month to month, or year to year.
Life Estate
An interest in real or personal property that is limited in duration to the lifetime of its owner or some other designated person or persons.
Deed restriction
An owner place on the land when it's sold to limit the use of the property A provision in a deed that limits or places rules on how the deeded property may be used or improved.
Seller's Disclosure Regarding Potential Annexation
Any seller whose property is outside the city limits must provide which written statutory disclosure to prospective buyers before a sales contract's effective date
Steering
Channeling prospective buyers or tenants to particular neighborhoods based upon their race, religion, national origin, or ancestry.
Tenancy in Common
Co-ownership of property in which each party owns an undivided interest that passes to his or her heirs at death.
PMI
Covers the gap between the actual loan amount and 80% of the LTV
Improvements
Economic characteristic of land contains the concept that a land's value can be affected by the changes made to it, such as construction of buildings or fences Artificial attachments to land that include items such as fencing, buildings, and walkways
Blockbusting
Illegal practice of inducing homeowners to sell their properties by telling them that a certain people of a certain race, national origin or religion are moving into the area
Income Tax Lien
Involuntary lien placed against a property owner's property for due and unpaid taxes
real estate
Land, plus all things permanently attached to it naturally or artificially
Estate for years
Lease for a definite period of time
Group Boycotting
Occurs when two or more businesses conspire against other businesses or agree to withold their patronage to reduce competition.
eminent domain
Power of a government to take private property for public use.
Gerrymandering
Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.
Fair Housing Act of 1968
Prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race
Homestead Law
Protected a family's home and up to 50 acres of land from seizure for debts
Community Reinvestment Act
Required banks to make loans available in low income, minority communities
Sub-surface rights
Rights to use the space below ground level and to extract the natural resources lying below the earth's surface.
Property Manager
Someone who manages real estate for another person for compensation. Duties include collecting rents, maintaining the property, and keeping up all accounting. serves as a general agent to his landlord/client
transfer tax
Tax stamps required to be affixed to a deed by state and/or local law.
Depreciated Value
The basis of a depreciable asset used to compute the taxable gain from its sale; the basis is acquisition cost plus capital improvements less accrued depreciation.
Net Listing
The broker agrees to sell the property in order to achieve a net price to the owner, and anything which is received above the net price is the broker's commission. A net listing is prohibited by the licensing law in many states.
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)
The federal law that prohibits discrimination in the extension of credit because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or marital status.
Tenancy by the Entirety
The joint ownership, recognized in some states, of property acquired by husband and wife during marriage. Upon the death of one spouse, the survivor becomes the owner of the property.
condemnation
The process in which the government actually takes someone's property through the power of eminent domain is called
severance
The process of real property becoming personal will be described by the term "severed", or _______. The fixture is uninstalled and once again becomes personal property.
Notice of additional tax liability
The seller of an interest in vacant land must include in the contract a notice that the buyer may be liable for additional taxes
Private Transfer Fee Obligation
The seller of property that may be subject to a private transfer fee must provide the prospective buyer with which written notice
Escheat
The state takes property upon an owners death if there is no will & no heirs exist.
Eminent domain
The ultimate police power which allows the government to take private land for public use
assessed value
The value of an asset determined by tax authorities for the purpose of calculating taxes
Applicants must register and take the Texas real estate licensing exam when
Within one year from the date their application was filed
Easement by necessity
Without this easement—usually involving access to a road—the owner requiring the right of passage would be landlocked
Emblements
_______ are crops cultivated annually. Even though they are attached to the ground, they are considered the personal property of the farmer who cultivated them. They are not automatically part of the sale of a farm or ranch. Ownership can be transferred with a bill of sale, or the cultivating farmer may make arrangements to return to the property and harvest them one time after the sale closes and the crops are ready for harvest.
Trade Fixtures
_______ are fixtures installed by a tenant in order to carry out a business, and they may be removed from leased property prior to the termination of the lease. If trade fixtures are not removed prior to the termination of the lease, they become real property and pass to the landlord.
Implied Contract
a contract that exists based on an understanding or assumption, rather than on specifically defined terms
Modular Home
a home made up of separate boxlike sections that are built in a factory and assembled at the site
manufactured home
a housing unit that is fully or partially assembled in a factory before being moved to the living site
Estate at will
a leasehold estate for an unknown period of time, with either party permitted to terminate the lease by giving notice to the other
Easement Appurtenant
a right of use that continues from owner to owner that involves a relationship between two parcels of land: a dominant parcel that benefits from a servient parcel
fee simple conditional
all rights, but revocable if specific condition is violated
Implied Agency
an agency that occurs when a principal and an agent do not expressly create an agency, but it is inferred from the conduct of the parties
Option agreement
an offer to purchase a specific piece of real estate, but without the obligation to buy it.
Mutual Mistake
both parties to a contract have an incorrect belief about an important fact
bilateral contract
contract that involves an exchange of consideration between two parties
Law of Agency
covers how an agency relationship is created and explains the duties of an agent to the principal
Redlining
discriminatory lending practice whereby lenders limit the scope of their loans to exclude neighborhoods with certain ethnic or economic characteristics
Indistructibility
durability - it will always be there.
Scarcity
in short supply where demand is great - (a lot in Manhattan is more valuable than a lot in upstate New York.) -is usually based on geographic considerations.
encroachment
intrusion on a person's territory, rights, etc.
Testamentary Trust
is a trust created by a will. It only comes into use when the person making the will dies.
Special Agent
is an agent that is given the authority to perform specific tasks.
modification
land use and value are greatly influenced by improvements made by man to land and to surrounding parcels of land.
Civil Rights Act of 1866
law that established federal guarantees of civil rights for all citizens
Nonhomogeneity
no two pieces are exactly alike. A more current term is uniqueness. Each piece of land is unique.
Undue Influence
occurs when one party to a contract is in a position of trust and wrongfully dominates the other party
innocent misrepresentation
party to a contract does not know that a statement he or she made is untrue
Immobility
physical characteristic of land addresses the concept that the geographic location of a piece of land is fixed and can never be changed
Tenancy in severalty
real estate ownership by only one
The Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division
responsible for enforcing Texas Fair Housing Law
Conversion
take money from an escrow account and use it for someone who is not entitled to it
Market Value
the amount for which something can be sold on a given market.
bifurcation
the division of something into two branches or parts
Homestead estate
the home and property occupied by an owner are protected by law up to a certain amount from attachment and sale for the claims of creditors
Benchmark
the permanent marker used primarily for marking datums when measuring elevation
Easement in Gross
the right to use land for a specific, limited purpose unrelated to any adjacent parcel
Basic property rights include
the rights of possession, control, exclusion, enjoyment, and disposition
Surface Rights
the rights to use the surface of the earth
The Equal Housing Act
was introduced to combat discriminatory lending practices against individuals and businesses in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods
subordination agreement
when lien holders allow another lien holder's claim to have priority over their own
Assignment
when one party to a contract transfers the contractual rights and obligations to another but remains liable for the contract terms