Principles of Real Estate Practice in Virginia

Stephen Mettling, David Cusic, Jane Somers

• Publisher: Performance Programs Company LLC
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781087963075
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Derecho
• Subtopic: Derecho inmobiliario

Principles of Real Estate Practice in Virginia contains the essentials of the national and Virginia real estate law, principles, and practices necessary for basic competence as a real estate professional and as mandated by Virginia license law. It is based on our highly successful and popular national publication, Principles of Real Estate Practice, which is in use in real estate schools nationwide.
The text is tailored to the needs of the pre-license student. It is designed to

• make it easy for students to learn the material and pass their real estate exam
• prepare students for numerous career applications
• stress practical, rather than theoretical, skills and knowledge.
• 
  Principles of Real Estate Practice in Virginia is streamlined, direct and to-the-point. It includes multiple learning reinforcements. It has a student-oriented organization, both within each chapter and from chapter to chapter. Its examples and exercises are grounded in the authors' many years in real estate education.
  Table of Contents
• The Real Estate Business
• Rights in Real Estate
• Interests and Estates
• Ownership
• Encumbrances and Liens
• Transferring and Recording Title to Real Estate
• Leasing Essentials
• Land Use Planning and Control
• Legal Descriptions
• Fundamentals of Contract Law
• National Agency
• Listing Agreements: An Overview
• General Brokerage Practices
• Overview of Conveyance Contracts
• Real Estate Market Economics
• Appraising and Estimating Market Value
• Real Estate Finance
• Real Estate Investment
• Real Estate Taxation
• Professional Practices
• Closings
• Overview of Licensing and Regulation
• Risk Management
• Property Management
• Virginia Licensing Regulation
• Virginia Brokerage Regulation & Disclosures
• Virginia Agency and Agency Disclosure
• Virginia Sales Contracts
• Virginia Fair Housing and Other Virginia Laws
• Glossary of Residential Style and Construction Terms
• Glossary of General Real Estate Terms
• Index

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1

The Real Estate Business

Real Estate Professions

Real Estate Brokerage

Professional Organizations

Regulation and Licensing

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REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONS

Real estate activities

Professional specialties

Property type specialization

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In its broadest sense, the real estate industry is the largest single industry in the American economy. Within it one might include the construction industry, itself often considered our country's largest business. In addition, the real estate industry may be said to include the creation, management, and demolition of every residence and business facility in the nation: offices, warehouses, factories, stores, and special purpose buildings such as hospitals and government facilities. The real estate business would include as well the managing of all the undeveloped land in the country: national parks, forests, and the vast quantity of unused federal property.

Real estate professionals are individuals and business organizations whose sole enterprise is performing a real estate-related service or function. A wide range of professions is available to persons wishing to enter the real estate business.

Real estate activities

Real estate professionals perform the following property-related functions:

• creation and improvement
• management and maintenance
• demolition
• investment ownership
• regulation
• transfer

Creation and improvement. Creating real properties from raw land involves capital formation, financing, construction contracting, and regulatory approvals. The key parties involved in this aspect of the business are generally the developer, the landowner, and the mortgage lender. Also involved are market analysts, architects, engineers, space planners, interior designers, and construction subcontractors.

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Experts who manage the legal aspects of the development project include real estate attorneys, title companies, surveyors, property insurance companies, and government regulatory officials. The brokerage community, with the assistance of professional appraisers, usually handles the ownership and leasing transactions that occur over the many phases of development.

Management and maintenance. All real estate, whether raw land or improved property, must be managed and maintained. The two principal types of managers are property managers and asset managers. Property managers and their staff oversee specific properties on behalf of the owners, making sure the condition of the property and its financial performance meet specific standards.

Asset managers oversee groups of properties, or portfolios. Their role is to achieve the investment objectives of the owners as opposed to managing day-to-day operations.

Maintenance personnel include engineers, systems technicians, janitorial staff, and other employees needed to maintain the property's condition.

Demolition. Demolition experts in conjunction with excavation and debris removal experts serve to remove properties that are no longer economically viable from the market.

Investment ownership. A specialized niche in the real estate business is the real estate investor who risks capital in order to buy, hold, and sell real properties. In contrast to property owners whose primary interest is in some other business, the real estate investor focuses on identifying and exploiting real estate investment opportunities for profit. The real estate investor provides capital and liquidity to the real estate market.

Regulation. All real estate is to some degree regulated by government. The principal areas of regulation are usage, taxation, and housing administration. Professional regulatory functions include public planners, zoning administrators, building inspectors, assessors, and administrators of specific federal statutes such as Federal Fair Housing Laws.

Transfer. Rights and interests in real estate can be bought, sold, assigned, leased, exchanged, inherited, or otherwise transferred from one owner to another. Real estate brokers and the brokers' salespeople are generally centrally involved in such transfers. Other professional participants are mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, appraisers, insurers, and title companies.

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Professional specialties

In summary, the six primary functional areas are populated by professionals with the following specialties.

Exhibit 1.1 Professions in Real Estate

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Creating	developers	market analysts
	public and private planners	surveyors
	architects	engineers
	building contractors	public and private inspectors
	space planners	mortgage brokers
	mortgage lenders and bankers	securities companies
	title and escrow companies	attorneys
	insurers	appraisers
	real estate brokers and agents

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Managing & Maintaining	property managers	asset managers
	maintenance engineers	maintenance technicians
	corporate managers

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Destroying

demolition contractors

excavators

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Holding

investors

corporate managers

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Regulating	assessors	public planners
	zoning administrators	building inspectors

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Transferring	brokers and agents	appraisers
	lenders and bankers	mortgage brokers
	title and escrow companies	attorneys
	insurers	surveyors

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Property type specialization

In addition to specializing by function, many professionals also specialize in the type of property they work with. According to the purpose of ownership, properties are classified as residential, commercial, or investment properties.

Residential property refers to property that is owned and used for habitation. Such properties may be further classified in terms of how many families they are designed to house, whether they are attached to other units or detached, and so forth.

Commercial property generally refers to retail and office properties, but may also include industrial real estate. The term "commercial" relates to the fact that the property can potentially generate income from a business's usage.

Investment property refers to any property that is held by its owners for investment purposes. All classifications of property may be investment properties. Generally, however, the term does not refer to owner-occupied residences, even though such properties constitute an investment. Apartments, Page 10 condominiums, cooperatives, and single-family homes may be considered as investment property if non-occupants own the property for investment purposes. These properties are also referred to as residential income properties.

According to use, the following classifications of real properties are commonly accepted.

Exhibit 1.2 Classifications of Real Estate by Use

residential	industrial
residential income	farm and ranch
office	special...