Studying Real Property: Fixtures

I got started with my online real estate course! There are a few technical glitches that hopefully will be worked out, but as a first time it went fine. I need the online video to stop freezing up or jumping ahead. I'm hoping things will settle down and stream smoothly.

So far, it reminds me of my classes when I was getting my Bachelors degree. There are inklings of economics, business law, finance, and, of course, real estate principles. It has actually been fun getting back to these areas.

From today's lesson, I think the most important issue was about fixtures. If an item is a fixture, it is included with the property when it is sold & goes with the buyer. If an item is not a fixture, it is personal property of the owner & goes with the seller. No one really cares if something is a fixture or not until the property is being transferred to a new owner. If items in a house, such as curtains or a dishwasher, are not clearly mentioned as fixtures or personal property when the house is listed for sale, there might be confusion about who gets the item.

A seller and a buyer could wind up fighting over an item, or the buyer might get an unpleasant surprise. Imagine expecting certain things to stay with the house, such as the dishwasher, and then finding it gone. People get upset.

There are some legal tests about whether something is a fixture or not. And there are items listed as standard inclusions with the property. But, the best thing a seller can do is to mention that an item, such as Great-grandmother's Tiffany ceiling lamp, DOES NOT go with the house and will be removed when selling the house. If you're a buyer, on the other hand, you might want to mention a specific item in the contract offer that you expect to be included in the sale. If a seller wants to be certain that a valuable item won’t be included in the sale of the house, the best thing to do is to REMOVE the item before listing the house on the market. If it needs to be replaced by a similar, less valuable item, it should be done before any buyer falls in love with it!