Where this fits on the exam
| Official syllabus topic | Real Property, Personal Property, Fixtures, and Conveyances |
|---|---|
| Official PSI area | Property Ownership |
| Published area weight | 10% of the national portion |
| Exam portion | National salesperson portion |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes the weight for the complete content area, not a fixed question count for this lesson. Learn the rule well enough to apply it when PSI changes names, numbers, or parties in a new scenario.
The lesson
Real property
Land includes the surface, subsurface, air rights within legal limits, natural attachments, improvements, and appurtenant rights. A deed conveys the described real-property interest unless the instrument reserves or excludes a right.
Personal property
Movable items and intangible rights are personal property. Tangible personal property is often called chattel. Personal property transfers by an appropriate personal-property instrument rather than by the real estate deed.
Fixture test
Use attachment, adaptation, relationship, intent, and agreement. Agreement is strongest because the parties can classify an item. Intent is objective: what the installation and circumstances show, not a hidden thought.
Trade fixtures
A business tenant may usually remove equipment installed for trade if removal occurs within the permitted time and repairs material damage. Leaving it too long can make it the landlord's property through accession.
Annexation and severance
Annexation converts personal property into a fixture. Severance converts real property into personal property, as when timber or crops are cut and removed.
Decision rule
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example
Scenario. A seller bolts a custom bookcase into a wall recess. The purchase agreement says nothing about it, and removing it would expose unfinished wall surfaces.
Reason it through. The bookcase is attached, specially adapted, and installed in a way showing objective intent to remain. No agreement reverses those signals.
Answer. Treat it as a fixture that transfers with the real property unless the parties amend the agreement.
Common exam traps
- Assuming every heavy object is a fixture
- Ignoring a written agreement
- Calling a residential owner's item a trade fixture
- Forgetting timely removal and repair
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These questions were written for instruction and mapped to the current outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1A chandelier is wired into the dining-room ceiling, but the signed purchase agreement says the seller will take it. Who gets the chandelier?
- A. The buyer, because it is attached to the house
- B. The seller, because the written agreement governs
- C. The buyer, because it was adapted to the room
- D. The buyer, because the deed conveys all fixtures
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. The seller, because the written agreement governs
Agreement is the strongest fixture factor, because the parties can classify an item by contract. Attachment would normally make a wired-in chandelier a fixture, but the signed agreement reserves it to the seller, so attachment is the wrong answer.
- A. Incorrect. Attachment suggests a fixture, but the signed exclusion settles the parties' agreement.
- B. Correct. The contract expressly reserves the chandelier to the seller.
- C. Incorrect. Adaptation is a fixture factor, but it does not override this express written exclusion.
- D. Incorrect. The parties can exclude a fixture by agreement rather than conveying every attached item.
Question 2A restaurant tenant bolted pizza ovens to the floor. The lease allowed removal of trade fixtures by the end of the term, but the tenant left the ovens behind when the lease ended. What is the most likely result?
- A. The ovens stay the tenant's property until it returns
- B. The ovens became real property once bolted down
- C. The landlord must store the ovens at the tenant's cost
- D. The ovens may become the landlord's property
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: D. The ovens may become the landlord's property
Trade fixtures usually remain the tenant's personal property only if they are removed within the permitted time and material damage is repaired. Leaving them past the deadline can make them the landlord's property through accession. Assuming they stay the tenant's property indefinitely ignores the timing rule.
- A. Incorrect. The tenant cannot assume an unlimited removal right after the agreed deadline.
- B. Incorrect. Bolting down a business item does not by itself eliminate its trade-fixture status.
- C. Incorrect. No stated lease term requires storage at the tenant's expense.
- D. Correct. Leaving the ovens beyond the permitted removal period can make them the landlord's property.
Question 3A landowner cuts standing timber and stacks the logs for sale. What has happened to the timber?
- A. Severance made it personal property
- B. Annexation made it real property
- C. Accession made it part of the land
- D. It stays real property until sold
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. Severance made it personal property
Severance converts real property into personal property by separating it from the land, as with cut timber or harvested crops. Annexation works in the other direction, turning personal property into a fixture, so it is the reversed answer.
- A. Correct. Cutting the standing timber separates it from the land and makes the logs personal property.
- B. Incorrect. Annexation attaches an item to real property; the owner did the reverse.
- C. Incorrect. Accession adds to ownership; it does not describe this physical separation.
- D. Incorrect. The timber becomes personal property on severance, without waiting for a sale.
Ready to move on?
You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.
- Explain Real Property, Personal Property, Fixtures, and Conveyances in one clear answer without notes.
- Separate Real property from Personal property using a fresh example.
- Apply the decision rule to a new fact pattern and name the fact that controls the result.
- State the Georgia-specific point or explain why the national rule applies unchanged.
- Answer every practice question and explain the rule each rejected option misapplies.
- Revisit this topic later in mixed practice without category labels.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Land Characteristics and Legal Descriptions. Next, legal descriptions explains how the real property you just defined is identified in a deed, through metes and bounds, lot and block, or the government survey, and why a street address alone may not be enough.
Return to the Property Ownership hub to see every official branch and the complete lesson sequence for this content area.