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Frank Zeno

There is a shift in Americans Moving Again.

05-10-10
Frank Zeno

The Percentage of people moving has sightly increase,after a historic slow down.

Most demographic groups saw a small increase, in U.S. migration

Why do we move? There are many factors in why we choose to travel and relocate. To other places which are better, bigger or can afford a better opportunity,whether it is across town, within the same state, or across the country.

After hitting a 60-year low, the share of Americans who moved edged upwards last year again, but they do not go far, people are taking fewer chances, the reason been the wreaking housing market, jobs,and lack of opportunity in the down turn in the economy.

"This is the absolute worst time to lose our residential mobility," said Richard Florida, a professor of U.S. urban theory at the University of Toronto, citing the fledgling economic recovery. "It's important for people to move to where the new opportunities are, because that is the cornerstone of our idea-driven economy."

Americans are on the go again, moving across state lines and across their own states.

Roughly 12.5 percent of the U.S. population, or 37.1 million people, moved to a new home, up from a low of 11.9 percent, or 35.2 million, in 2008, according to census figures released Monday.

According to an article from USA Today, there has been the first percentage gains, in U.S. mobility, since the height of the housing bubble in 2005. Virtually all the new moves in 2009 also occurred within county, indicating that most were renters and lower-income people going locally from job to job.

Demographers say the jump is fueled largely by two highly mobile segments of the population:

Immigrants who have left traditional gateway states and fanned out across the USA in search of jobs and lower living costs.

• A larger generation of 20-somethings,are an age group more likely than others to move, since they attend college, launch their careers or leave their childhood homes. The number of people in their 20s dropped from 40.5 million in 1990 to 38.3 million in 2000 but rebounded to almost 42 million in 2006.

Some levels of people moving have been gradually declining for decades, more recently due to an aging baby boomer population that is less mobile, since hitting a peak of 21.2 percent in 1951.

The rate had generally started to leveled off around 13 to 14 percent before dropping sharply in 2008, due to the recession.

Most demographic and market indicators suggest that growth and development across the country are moving away from the suburban and exurban fringe and toward center-cities and close-in suburbs.

What's behind this shift? Empty-Nester's don't need the big house and don't want to mow the big lawn. High gas prices are making long commutes less practical. The urban renaissance in big cities is towards inner cities moves.

The share of longer-distance moves across counties and states starting to change upwards. That is evidence that college graduates and younger professionals were temporarily staying put during the housing crunch, rather than seeking out new careers in other regions of the country.

About 1 in 4 adults ages 25-34 last year changed residences. That's up slightly from 2008 but down from 2 percent in 2000 as many held off on a job search, delayed marriage or opted to pursue an advance degree in the current recession.

Older Americans are also stayed put, their overall mobility in 2009 was largely flat, registering at 3.4 percent for seniors 65 and older and 4.9 percent for pre-seniors ages 60-64.

Long-distance migration for both groups of Senior Americans, fell to below 2 percent, the lowest in at least two decades. Since most older people delayed retirement, and kept working due to thier shriveled stock portfolio's, lost of home values, and disappearing saving accounts.

There are also implications , for the 2010 census, which will be used to distribute House seats and more than $400 billion in federal aid.

Based on the growth of movement of people, towards the sunbelt cities, earlier this decade, states such as Arizona, Florida and Texas,two of these states, were on track to gain two House seats apiece, in Florida and Arizona, before the mortgage foreclosures began to wrack their economies.

The States of Arizona and Florida,may now lose out to states like California and New York, which may avert a loss of seats as they retain more big-city residents.

"Overall, there is nothing here that suggests a light at the end of the tunnel in the continued slowdown of long distance migration in the U.S.," said William H. Frey, a demographer at Brookings Institution who analyzed the numbers.

Other findings:

The number of immigrants coming to the U.S. from other countries fell to 1.09 million, the lowest since 1995.

African-Americans, single people, high-school dropouts and the poor in general are among the most likely to move.

The most commonly cited reasons for moving were housing-related, such as a desire to live in a better neighborhood; they represented 45.9 percent of movers. Other factors included family (26.3 percent) and jobs (17.9 percent).

About 29 percent of renters moved in the previous year, more than five times the rate of homeowners.

Locating downtown is sometimes associated with the "buy local" movement - the idea that the community benefits if businesses and consumers spend their money with independent, locally owned businesses.

The percentage of Americans who say they moved from another state the previous year has risen every year this decade. At 2.2% in 2003, it reached 2.5% in 2005 and 2.7% in 2006, the first year that the Census Bureau's American Community Survey counted people in dormitories, prisons and other group settings.

The increase in movers from 2003 to 2006 amounts to an extra 1.5 million people moving to another state every year or a total of 8 million in 2006. Mobility is a good barometer of changing demographics and economic conditions nationwide.

Many states may be getting the outflow from California, which has one of the smallest shares of residents who came from other states in the previous year.

Other states drawing few movers include Michigan, Ohio and New York. Michigan and Ohio have been hit hard by layoffs in the auto industry. Much of New York state has suffered similar industrial losses.

"Now the question is, what will happen if housing continues to cool down?"

If we can safely assume, as many economists do, that the country is "over-retailed," some downtown development plans based on more shopping will stall, but the center will still prosper relative to the fringe - and more businesses might find the downtown storefront affordable.

The findings are the latest to highlight the impact of the housing crunch and subsequent financial meltdown on U.S. population growth. The effects include renewed gains for large cities that had been losing residents to far-flung exurbs as well as losses for retirement destinations concentrated in the South and West.

The census data was based on the Current Population Survey as of March 2009. The government first began tracking movers in 1948.

What are the implications in the real estate industry as a whole?

How hard hit,will the construction industry be, in the down-turn in new contruction, across some states?

What will these statistics mean in the long run, to our own individual housing markets?

12 Hidden Costs of Homeownership

04-12-10
Frank Zeno

12 Hidden Costs of Homeownership

As the spring season gets underway, many Americans will be looking to take advantage of the lower real estate prices, attractive mortgage rates, and federal tax credit by purchasing a home. But remember: Not all of the costs associated with homeownership are reflected in the listed price.

Indeed, many buyers -- particularly first-time buyers -- may be surprised by the amount of cash they'll need to set aside for housing-related expenses that they hadn't previously considered.

These often-overlooked expenses can include everything from title insurance to lawn mowing. To give would-be home buyers a better sense of the budget they'll need to buy and maintain a home, U.S. News spoke with a handful of real estate experts and compiled a list of 12 hidden costs of homeownership:


1. Home inspection. Since a home purchase is likely to be the largest financial investment of your life, it's a good idea to have it professionally inspected beforehand. A home inspector can point out areas of the property that may need repairs. Buyers can use this information as leverage during home-price negotiations or simply to determine whether or not the property is worth purchasing. "It's not required, but certainly I recommend it to buyers," says Judy Moore of Re/Max Landmark Realtors in Lexington, Mass. "It is actually very helpful in that [buyers] learn about the property and how to maintain it and it also alerts them to any potential issues that may be coming up in the near future or need to be taken care of." The cost of a home inspection, which can run several hundred dollars or more, is typically incurred by the buyers before they go to closing, Moore says.


2. Pest inspection. Buyers should consider obtaining a separate inspection for wood-destroying insects, such as termites. Although no laws mandate pre-transaction pest inspections and not all lenders require them, Greg Baumann, senior scientist for the National Pest Management Association, says buyers would be smart to have the procedure done prior to closing. "If you buy a house and you don't have an inspection and the house is riddled [with termites], you go to closing and now the house is yours," Baumann says. "It happens at a time in their lives when [homeowners] can least afford repairs." Termite inspections typically cost between $50 and $200, Baumann says.


3. Appraisal fees. Before you can purchase a home, your lender will require you to have the property valued by a professional real estate appraiser. Lenders use such appraisals when determining the amount of money to offer mortgage borrowers. In years past, appraisal costs were often rolled into the fees that borrowers paid at closing, says Tom Vanderwell, a mortgage officer for Fifth Third Bank in Michigan. Today, however, he makes sure to collect this fee up front. "We've got to pay the appraiser whether the deal goes through or not," he says. "And with the way that the market has been, there is certainly a substantial percentage of deals that are not going through." After buyers pay the fee-which typically ranges between $350 and $400-it appears as a credit on their closing statement, Vanderwell says.


4. Closing costs. When you arrive to sign your closing documents, be prepared to pay thousands of dollars in assorted fees. Such expenses-known as closing costs-can include processing fees, underwriting fees, recording fees, survey fees, and title insurance fees. "This industry has done a bad job of explaining to people that there are legitimate fees which must be paid in order to grant you a mortgage loan," says Keith Gumbinger, of HSH.com. "There are various service providers who are involved in this process-they have their costs and [lenders] have some of [their] own administrative costs as well." But savvy consumers can limit these expenses. Gumbinger recommends that would-be buyers ask several different lenders for so-called good faith estimates, which outline closing costs in detail. (Lenders, however, are under no obligation to offer you such information before you apply, he says.) "If lender A charges a document preparation fee and lender B doesn't, that might be one of the considerations," Gumbinger says. Closing costs vary, but they usually range between 2 to 3 percent of the mortgage loan amount, he says.


5. Moving expenses. Buyers face an additional wave of costs once their home purchase is complete. Take moving expenses. Unless your new house is around the corner or you have a large group of helpful friends, you'll likely need some professional help to transport your belongings. Such expenses can reach several thousand dollars or more, depending on the distance of the move. "Moving is a significant expense-particularly across the country," says Gail Cunningham of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. For those moving on account of a job, Cunningham recommends asking your new employer to chip in for some of the costs associated with the transition. "I know that people are probably so excited to get the job that they don't want to rock the boat, but that's a pretty normal question," Cunningham says. "A lot of these companies have standing contracts so it is certainly a question worth posing because you don't want to have to cough up that out-of-pocket expense unnecessarily."


6. Furniture. Once you've lugged all of your furniture into your new property, you may find that your old sofa and dining room table aren't nearly enough to fill out the house. "Maybe [the buyers] came from a one-bedroom apartment and they are buying a three-bedroom house," Cunningham says. "They are really going to have some major expenses just to furnish the house with the basics." The beds, lamps, and tables often needed to furnish additional rooms can add up quickly. "The expense of that can really catch you by surprise," Gumbinger says.


7. Property taxes and homeowners insurance. If you have never had a mortgage, be aware that your monthly bill won't simply reflect the loan amount plus interest. It will also reflect property taxes and premiums for homeowners insurance, which all mortgage borrowers are required to obtain. For that reason, housing experts encourage buyers to think of their baseline monthly mortgage payment as encompassing "PITI," or principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Annual homeowners insurance premiums typically range between 0.5 to 1 percent of the mortgage loan amount, Gumbinger says. Property taxes will vary a great deal, but can run several thousand dollars a year or more.


8. Supplemental insurance. Consumers who buy homes in areas exposed to flooding may have to purchase a supplemental insurance policy, says Guy Cecala, the publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. "[For] just about any mortgage you get now that's in the 100-year flood plain, you have to get flood insurance," Cecala says. Buyers can use online tools to determine if the property they are considering is located in such an area. "There is no real cheap private alternative. You really have to get into the federal flood insurance program, and it's relatively affordable," he says. Premiums on such policies will cost most homeowners less than $20 a month, he says.


9. Homeowners association/condo fees. Consumers who buy into certain developments will have to pay an additional monthly fee on top of their payments for principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Condominium and single-family developments often charge residents for services that benefit the community, like lawn mowing or employing a front-desk attendant. "Condo fees are specifically for condominiums. Home association fees can also be for single-family home developments," Moore says. "They are essentially the same thing but different variations." Such fees will vary, but can total more than $100 a month.


10. Utilities. You may be surprised by how much you'll need to budget to keep your house warm and the water running. "You might have been renting an apartment and you [were] paying some portion of your utilities or maybe all of them, but the first cold winter you are in your house, you [might] say, 'Wow, look at these power bills,'" Gumbinger says. "That's one of the costs I think you really don't think about." Utility costs will vary by region and consumption. To get a sense of the costs, home buyers should ask sellers for monthly utilities estimates before they close the transaction.


11. Ongoing maintenance. Although that big backyard might be a great place to grill burgers, it's also an expense. As a homeowner, it's your responsibility to keep your property maintained. That means raking the leaves, mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, and clearing out the gutters, among other tasks. (Unless, of course, you live in a development that handles these chores for you.) To maintain the exterior property, you may have to buy a lawnmower, a hedge trimmer, or other equipment that you didn't need when you lived in an apartment. "If you are a first-time buyer, you may fail to appreciate just how much stuff you need to buy in order to manage your home," Gumbinger says.


12. Repairs. Remember, when you move out of that apartment, there's no longer a landlord to call when the sink backs up. Instead, it's up to you to contact-and pay-the plumber. And the sink is just one of the many home features or appliances that homeowners may one day need to repair. Homeowners are encouraged to set aside funds to take care of such repairs when they become necessary. And because broken appliances can be a major hassle and a significant expense, Ron Phipps, a broker with Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I., recommends that buyers put key appliances under warrantee. "What we really recommend is that the buyer negotiate into the transaction a home warrantee for one year," Phipps says. "That's about a $500 item, and if [the buyer] gets the seller to pay for it, that minimizes [the cost]."

Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

03-14-10
Frank Zeno

Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

by David Streitfeld
Monday, March 8, 2010

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.

This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of This latest program, which will allowthe administration's most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.

More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government's $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.

For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy's tentative recovery -- the last thing it wants in an election year.

Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.

"We want to streamline and standardize the short sale process to make it much easier on the borrower and much easier on the lender," said Seth Wheeler, a Treasury senior adviser.

The problem is highlighted by a routine case in Phoenix. Chris Paul, a real estate agent, has a house he is trying to sell on behalf of its owner, who owes $150,000. Mr. Paul has an offer for $48,000, but the bank holding the mortgage says it wants at least $90,000. The frustrated owner is now contemplating foreclosure.

To bring the various parties to the table -- the homeowner, the lender that services the loan, the investor that owns the loan, the bank that owns the second mortgage on the property -- the government intends to spread its cash around.

Under the new program, the servicing bank, as with all modifications, will get $1,000. Another $1,000 can go toward a second loan, if there is one. And for the first time the government would give money to the distressed homeowners themselves. They will get $1,500 in "relocation assistance."

Should the incentives prove successful, the short sales program could have multiple benefits. For the investment pools that own many home loans, there is the prospect of getting more money with a sale than with a foreclosure.

For the borrowers, there is the likelihood of suffering less damage to credit ratings. And as part of the transaction, they will get the lender's assurance that they will not later be sued for an unpaid mortgage balance.

For communities, the plan will mean fewer empty foreclosed houses waiting to be sold by banks. By some estimates, as many as half of all foreclosed properties are ransacked by either the former owners or vandals, which depresses the value of the property further and pulls down the value of neighboring homes.

If short sales are about to have their moment, it has been a long time coming. At the beginning of the foreclosure crisis, lenders shunned short sales. They were not equipped to deal with the labor-intensive process and were suspicious of it.

The lenders' thinking, said the economist Thomas Lawler, went like this: "I lend someone $200,000 to buy a house. Then he says, 'Look, I have someone willing to pay $150,000 for it; otherwise I think I'm going to default.' Do I really believe the borrower can't pay it back? And is $150,000 a reasonable offer for the property?"

Short sales are "tailor-made for fraud," said Mr. Lawler, a former executive at the mortgage finance company Fannie Mae.

Last year, short sales started to increase, although they remain relatively uncommon. Fannie Mae said preforeclosure deals on loans in its portfolio more than tripled in 2009, to 36,968. But real estate agents say many lenders still seem to disapprove of short sales.

Under the new federal program, a lender will use real estate agents to determine the value of a home and thus the minimum to accept. This figure will not be shared with the owner, but if an offer comes in that is equal to or higher than this amount, the lender must take it.

Mr. Paul, the Phoenix agent, was skeptical. "In a perfect world, this would work," he said. "But because estimates of value are inherently subjective, it won't. The banks don't want to sell at a discount."

There are myriad other potential conflicts over short sales that may not be solved by the program, which was announced on Nov. 30 but whose details are still being fine-tuned. Many would-be short sellers have second and even third mortgages on their houses. Banks that own these loans are in a position to block any sale unless they get a piece of the deal.

"You have one loan, it's no sweat to get a short sale," said Howard Chase, a Miami Beach agent who says he does around 20 short sales a month. "But the second mortgage often is the obstacle."

Major lenders seem to be taking a cautious approach to the new initiative. In many cases, big banks do not actually own the mortgages; they simply administer them and collect payments. J. K. Huey, a Wells Fargo vice president, said a short sale, like a loan modification, would have to meet the requirements of the investor who owns the loan.

"This is not an opportunity for the customer to just walk away," Ms. Huey said. "If someone doesn't come to us saying, 'I've done everything I can, I used all my savings, I borrowed money and, by the way, I'm losing my job and moving to another city, and have all the documentation,' we're not going to do a short sale."

But even if lenders want to treat short sales as a last resort for desperate borrowers, in reality the standards seem to be looser.

Sree Reddy, a lawyer and commercial real estate investor who lives in Miami Beach, bought a one-bedroom condominium in 2005, spent about $30,000 on improvements and ended up owing $540,000. Three years later, the value had fallen by 40 percent.

Mr. Reddy wanted to get out from under his crushing monthly payments. He lost a lot of money in the crash but was not in default. Nevertheless, his bank let him sell the place for $360,000 last summer.

"A short sale provides peace of mind," said Mr. Reddy, 32. "If you're in foreclosure, you don't know when they're ultimately going to take the place away from you."

Mr. Reddy still lives in the apartment complex where he bought that condo, but is now a renter paying about half of his old mortgage payment. Another benefit, he said: "The place I'm in now is nicer and a little bigger."

Investor Report: Tax Extender Act: 50 tax program extensions beyond their December 31st scheduled expiration date.

12-19-09
Frank Zeno

photo

Investor Report: Tax Extender Act

by Kenneth R. Harney

Real estate investors are facing a squeeze play on Capitol Hill, with important tax incentives nearing an end-of-the-year deadline.

Last week the House approved what's known as the Tax Extender Act, a Christmas tree bill filled with nearly 50 tax program extensions beyond their December 31st scheduled expiration date.

Two of the extenders are especially significant for investment real estate: First is the so-called "leasehold improvements" provision, which allows owners of commercial, retail, hotel and office buildings -- large and small -- to use an accelerated 15-year depreciation schedule in writing off renovations and upgrades they make to their real estate.

The House bill extends favorable leasehold writeoffs for another year.

The second key one year extension in the bill involves depreciation writeoffs for developers who clean up so-called "brownfield" sites that have experienced environmental damage from toxic chemicals or pollution.

But the House bill also contains a massive penalty for real estate, a multi-billion dollar tax increase for investors in real estate partnership deals.

The House bill would remove favorable capital gains treatment that now exists for a type of compensation that general partners frequently receive, known as "carried interest," and instead tax it at ordinary income tax rates.

For many investors functioning as general partners, that would mean a crushing tax increase -- more than double their tax rates overnight.

Though strongly opposed by housing, real estate and other financial market groups, the extender bill with the "carried interest" tax change has now gone to the Senate for a vote.

And that's where the deadline squeeze comes in. The Senate already has a jampacked year-end schedule dominated by health care, and is not likely to take up the tax extender bill before December 31st.

As a result, the popular leasehold improvements and brownfields tax programs are likely to expire, effectively go into limbo, as of January 1st.

Real estate industry legislative analysts say the Senate could take up the tax extenders bill as early as January or February, but will probably not accept the House's controversial carried interest changes.

Should investors worried about the expired tax benefits get upset?

Not quite yet, lobbyists tell Realty Times. If the Senate can quickly cobble together some alternative tax increases to satisfy the House, the extender bill is likely to pass sometime early in the year with a January 1 retroactive date - minus the tax increase for real estate partnerships.

Then again, nothing is certain on Capitol Hill.

So talk to your tax advisor before committing to investment decisions that might be affected by the expiration.

Published: December 18, 2009

Economic Aspects Of Real Property: A Brief History And Origins of Real Estate.

07-05-09
Frank Zeno

Where The Term Real Estate Come From.

A Brief History And Origins of Real Estate.

Definition: Real Estate

Continue from previous post.

The Industrial Revolution.

The industrial revolution was one of the great equalizers in human history, The use of machines for manual labor freed many peasants for different tasks, and allowed a privileged few time for education and specialization into new fields of labor opened up by the mechanization of industry. Cobblers, seamstresses and cabinetmakers found that their once invaluable skills were now obsolete, leaving them to return to the land and the coal mines beneath it to try to eke out a living.


People were able to jump classes and bring some of their lower class sensibilities with them, leading to track housing for laborers and a range of products aimed at the lower classes.

The people who made up the classification of peasants now became middle class, blue collar, white collar, and a handful of other things. They owned houses, cars, and eventually, radios and televisions, which suggested what other things they might want to own.

Economic aspects of real property:

Land use, land valuation, and the determination of the incomes of landowners, are among the oldest questions in economic theory. Land is an essential input (factor of production) for agriculture, and agriculture is by far the most important economic activity in preindustrial societies. With the advent of industrialization, important new uses for land emerge, as sites for factories, warehouses, offices, and urban agglomerations.

Also, the value of real property taking the form of man-made structures and machinery increases relative to the value of land alone. The concept of real property eventually comes to encompass effectively all forms of tangible fixed capital. with the rise of extractive industries, real property comes to encompass natural capital.

Mortgages in Real Estate.

The invention of mortgages belongs to no particular country. Mortgages existed for a long time as an exclusive loan given only to nobility. After the industrial revolution, however, the wealth of the world increased to the point where banks opened themselves to "higher-risk" mortgage loans to common people. This allowed individuals to own their own homes and, if they so desired, to become landlords themselves. It took 30,000 years, but home ownership is now open to many people.

Mortgages in developing countries.

In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings.

In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgage loans (or other instruments). These are loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because, if the borrower does not make payments, the lender can foreclose by filing a court action which allows them take back the property and sell it to get their money back. For investors, profitability can be enhanced by using an off plan or pre-construction strategy to purchase at a lower price which is often the case in the pre-construction phase of development.

But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry, as such, either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes.

Real Estate Business in Latin America.

The real estate business in Mexico and Central America is different from the way that it is conducted in the United States.

One important difference from the United States is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, in Mexico, foreigners cannot buy land or homes within 50 km of the coast or 100 km from a border unless they hold title in a Mexican Corporation or a Fideicomiso (a Mexican trust). In Honduras, however, they may buy beach front property directly in their name. There are also different special rules regarding certain types of property: ejidal land - communally held farm property- can only be sold after a lengthy entitlement process, but that does not prevent them from being offered for sale.

In Costa Rica, real estate agents do not need a license to operate, but the transfer of property requires a lawyer.

Influence of Real Estate on the economy and people.

Ownership, specifically ownership of land, was the basis of all the investment opportunities we see today. Without a stable population and a set location, trade and commerce between groups is limited. Ownership has moved from being established by strength to being something you can buy, sell, trade and rent. There has always been a trade off for tenancy, a fee paid to the "owner" for the land and its protection. This responsibility was first afforded to tribal leaders, then to kings and finally to landlords. Now we have the power to own our homes, a move that has changed the way people live.

Categories of estates

Estates in land can be divided into five basic categories:

  1. Freehold estates: rights of ownership
    • fee simple (fee simple absolute)-most rights, least limitations, indefeasible
    • fee tail-inalienable rights of inheritance
    • conditional, Defensible estate, or determinable fee-voidable ownership
    • life estate-ownership for duration of someones life
  2. Leasehold estates: rights of possession and use but not ownership. The lessor (owner/landlord) gives this right to the lessee (tenant). There are four categories of leasehold estates:
    1. estate for years (tenancy for years)-lease of any length with specific begin and end date
    2. periodic estate (periodic tenancy)-automatically renewing lease (month to month, week to week)
    3. estate at will (tenancy at will)-leasehold for no fixed time or period. It lasts as long as both parties desire. Termination is bilateral (either party may terminate at any time) or by operation of law.
    4. tenancy at sufferance-created when tenant remains after lease expires and becomes a holdover tenant, converts to holdover tenancy upon landlord acceptance; see Forcible Entry and Detain-er Statutes
  • Statutory estates: created by law
  • Equitable estates: neither ownership nor possession
    • lien
      • general
      • specific
  • easement
    • easement in gross
    • easement appurtenant
      • ingress
      • egress