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What is a fixture in real estate?
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The MARIA test
When a house swaps hands, certain things are obviously included in the transaction: the building itself and its structural elements – walls, roofs, doors, and the like – and secondary structures, such as a garage. Certain things are obviously not included: furniture, clothes, works of art and books.
Fixtures vs personal property
However, what may be less clear is the status of certain other things in the house, such as appliances, window treatments or water fountains. See the article : Welcome to Real Estate Friday!. Do they stay or go?
And that’s where the concept of real estate tools comes in. The key to knowing what will be included in a real estate transaction is to understand what a real estate transaction is.
Examples of real estate fixtures
So, if you are buying or selling a home, it is important to be able to identify what the tools are and how you can avoid disputes that involve them. Read also : What is a real estate broker?.
Common items that are considered fixtures
In real estate, a property refers to a function, item, or object that is permanently attached to or attached to the property in some way – either the house itself or the surrounding land. See the article : Have you been the victim of an online real estate theft?. It may not have been part of the original structure, but was installed to stay in place; it’s not easily portable, in other words.
Fixtures are a type of real property – as opposed to personal – (more on that below). This means that they are considered an integral part of the physical domain. They are included in the value of the property when calculating things like the property tax. And they are typically included in the sale of a property, following the transfer of title and change of ownership.
Common items that are not fixtures
To identify if something is a workshop, agents and other real estate professionals apply a kind of test – a set of measures or features to judge whether something counts as a workshop. Each letter in MARIA is an acronym for these criteria, any of which may influence the status of the equipment:
Items that are often disputed as fixtures
All items on a property fall into one of two categories: real or personal property. The tools are considered real estate: they “belong” to the domain. In contrast, personal property belongs to the individual owner (seller or family member) and is generally portable. The tools usually transfer their property with the house while you are free to take the personal property with you when selling.
You can use MARIA above to determine what in your home is a workshop and what is actually personal. Keep in mind that even large items such as furniture, which you cannot immediately consider personal property, will count as such in a real estate transaction.
Fixtures can cause a lot of problems in real estate transactions because it is not always clear what is a fixture and what is not.
Avoiding fights over fixtures
Some common tools in a home include:
As you can see, the tools can be large or small. The key is how affixed they are, how permanent a part of the house they appear to be. And even if it could be moved, it would make sense to move (why take a pool cover if the pool itself stops?).
Items that generally do not count as appliances include:
Some items are often in a gray area and can cause a dispute between a buyer and seller. Some examples are:
Window treatments are particularly confusing: you may have noticed that curtains are considered attractive, while curtains are not. Again, this reflects the element of permanence – the sticks are considered to be integrated into the window frame, while the drapes can be detached.
