Freehold is the equivalent of the old ‘Fee Simple’. Freehold gives the legal owner full legal title and the right to ‘exclusive possession’ of the property.

With a Freehold title the legal owner has the right to occupy and deal with the property as they choose subject only to any covenants or other restrictions such as planning laws and buildings regulations imposed by the local authority and government.

The quality of a Freehold title may be subject to the ‘class’ of title awarded by HM Land Registry:

Absolute Title – This is the highest class of title available. It is equivalent of the original ‘Fee Simple Absolute in Possession’. The great majority of Freehold properties registered in England and Wales are registered with Absolute Title.

If a property is registered with Absolute Title, the legal estate is vested in the legal owner (‘Proprietor’) together with all interests subsisting for the benefit of the estate (for example, ‘Rights of Way’ or ‘Rights for the passage of water and drainage’ (legally known as ‘easements’) over adjoining land. The legal estate will also be subject to the burdens placed on the land, for example, covenants or easements in favour of adjoining land; but only those burdens that affected the legal estate at the time of first registration.

Possessory Title -Possessory Title is granted where the proprietor’s claim to the property is based on Adverse Possession or where the title deeds have been lost or applicant cannot prove their legal right to the property.

Possessory Title will be granted where the applicant is in actual occupation of the property or in receipt of rents and profits arising from the property and it is not possible to register the property under any to other class of title.

Possessory Title has the same effect as registration with Absolute Title except that it is open to challenge by another party who may claim a right to the property. If however, the proprietor of the Possessory Title holds the title without challenge for twelve years, they can apply to the HM Land Registry to have the title upgraded to Absolute Title.

As a general rule, Mortgage Companies and Banks will not provide mortgages for the purchase of property with Possessory Title. It may however, in some circumstances, be possible to obtain insurance to protect the lenders interest in the property and make the title acceptable to the lender.

Freehold Qualified Title – A Qualified Freehold is very rare. Qualified Freehold is granted where the applicant’s legal right to the property can only be established for a limited period of time or is subject to reservations the effect of which, combine to mean that the title is not a good holding title. An example of this, is where the transfer of the property to the owner is made in breach of trust, such as someone selling the property without the agreement of another party who has a legal interest in the property.

Real estate has several unique characteristics that affect its value. There are economic characteristics and physical characteristics. Real estate is a product to be purchased but it is different from anything else due to the characteristics that will be discussed here.

The economic characteristics that influence value are scarcity, improvements, permanence and area preference. Scarcity is simply demonstrated in the saying, “They aren’t making any more.” The supply of land has a ceiling and cannot be produced more than what exists today. This value of this supply however, is influenced by other characteristics.

Improvements, such as buildings on one parcel of land may have an effect on the value of neighboring parcels or the entire community. If a large company builds in a certain depressed neighborhood, the value of living their will probably increase because of the introduction of jobs. This value would impact on neighboring communities, thus increasing value in some ways to the real estate in these areas.

Permanence has to do with the infrastructure. As buildings, houses or other structures are demolished, the infrastructure, such as sewers, drainage, electricity, and water remain intact. Permanence effects real estate, or the type of infrastructure. If you buy a piece of land in an area with no utilities, drainage or paved streets, it will most likely be worth less than a parcel of land that has this infrastructure intact and developed.

Area preference refers to the choices of the people in any given area. This is usually referred to by most people when they talk about real estate as, “location, location, location.” The location of a preferred area, for whatever reasons, is what makes values of homes higher. Conversely, the location of a nonpreferred area, for whatever reason, is what makes the values of homes less. 8000 square foot brand new homes on the coast of Long Island’s, East Hampton will be worth much more due to their area preference, over an area with 1200 square foot starter homes in the middle of Long Island, located next to a garbage dump.

The physical characteristics of land represent its indestructible nature, immobility and nonhomogeneity. Working backwards, we’ll start with nonhomogeneity. This simply points out that no two parcels are the same. Two pieces of land may be very similar, but every single parcel is different geographically because each parcel is located in a different spot. This includes two lots right next to each other. It is important to remember that parcels are created by subdividing land, so as one large parcel of 20 acres is subdivided, each individual lot becomes its own separate piece of land.

Land cannot be moved, therefore it is immobile. Even when soil is torn from the ground, the part of the Earth’s surface will always remain. It is important here to note how this physical characteristic affects real estate law and markets. Immobility of land is the reason why real estate laws and markets are local in nature.

The indestructibility of land simply means that it is durable and cannot be destroyed. It can be damaged by storms and other disasters, but it remains and weathers the changing times and will always be there. This is a main reason why land is talked about as being a sound investment.

So the basic characteristics of real estate include scarcity, improvements to the land, permanence, area preference, nonhomogeneity, indestructibility and immobility. Please note there is a big difference between land and real estate. Land is the the part of the earths surface, subsurface and air above it. Real estate is anything that becomes attached to land. So when you’re looking for investments, it is important to note the infrastructure of the area, the surrounding neighborhood and the preferences of the area or…location, location, location!

You will find very little information about getting a land grant from the United States government. This has historically been reserved for schools or universities to better educate the masses. Finding information on the subject proves to be very difficult. They are extremely difficult to come by unless you have a worthy cause.

The best way to secure a United States government land grant would be by creating some sort of school or university. It must be within the objectives of the government before it would ever be considered. If your ambitions are industrial or commercial in nature, you will have a much more difficult time getting through the door.

One of the most approved proposals if you do decide to go the land grant route are schools that are unique or cater to a segment of the population that is under served. For example, many land grants were created for the black and Hispanic communities. Many of the schools still in operation today were developed with government land grant money. They have a much higher rate of approval than anything else.

Land grants were enacted to develop more avenues for the farming and technical sector of the US. It is necessary to define enough land to keep these two sectors thriving. There is about one land grant in each state. You can do some local research to see how many of them are actually approved. Land grants costs the government a lot of money so they scrutinize every aspect of the application. They evaluate everything from the cost of the pencils to final construction costs. If you are interested in building some sort of school a land grant is definitely worth your consideration.

As you could imagine, the government receives millions of grant proposals a year. If yours is poorly written it will be discarded and never even considered. It may be to your advantage to secure the services of a grant consultant that will help you in the application process, especially if it is your first time doing this sort of work.