Fixtures vs Personal Property in Texas: Exam Guide

This is one of the most tested and most practical topics on the exam. Buyers and sellers fight over what stays with the house, and the exam turns those fights into questions. Learn the definitions, then learn the Texas test that decides the close calls.

Real property vs personal property

Real property is land and everything permanently attached to it, along with the bundle of rights that comes with ownership. Personal property, also called a chattel or personalty, is any movable item that is not attached to the land. Real property transfers by deed, and personal property transfers by a bill of sale.

Start with the two categories, because every fixture question sits between them.

• Real property (realty). The land, everything permanently attached to it such as buildings and growing trees, and the legal rights of ownership. Real property transfers by a deed.
• Personal property (chattel or personalty). Everything else, meaning movable items that are not attached to the land, like furniture, a car, or a lamp on a table. Personal property transfers by a bill of sale, not a deed.

The whole topic is about movement between these two boxes. When personal property is attached to realty, it can become a fixture, which is real property. When real property is detached, it can become personal property again. Those two moves have names.

• Annexation. Attaching personal property to real property so it becomes a fixture. A stack of lumber is personal property, but once it is built into a deck, it is real property.
• Severance. Detaching part of the real property so it becomes personal property again. Standing timber is real property, but once it is cut, the logs are personal property.

What is a fixture?

A fixture is an item of personal property that has been attached to real property in a way that makes it part of the real estate. Because a fixture is real property, it conveys with the land unless the sales contract specifically excludes it. Built-in appliances, ceiling fans, and in-ground pools are common fixtures.

A fixture is the crossover case. It began life as personal property, then it was attached to the land or building well enough that the law now treats it as part of the real estate. That single fact carries the exam consequence: a fixture conveys with the property, and personal property does not.

Think about a chandelier. In a store, it is personal property. Once it is wired into the ceiling of a home, it is a fixture and part of the real property, so it is expected to stay when the house sells. If the seller wants to keep grandmother's chandelier, they cannot just take it. They have to exclude it in the contract, or replace it before the listing.

There is also constructive annexation, where an item is treated as a fixture even without heavy physical attachment because it belongs with the realty. House keys, a garage door remote, and a custom storm window cut for one opening are classic examples. They go with the property because they are useless anywhere else.

The Texas fixture test: Logan v. Mullis

Texas uses a three-part test from the Supreme Court case Logan v. Mullis to decide if an item is a fixture. A court weighs the mode and sufficiency of annexation, the adaptation of the item to the use of the realty, and the intention of the party who attached it. Intention is the preeminent factor, and the first two are evidence of that intention.

When it is not obvious, Texas courts apply a specific test. The Texas Supreme Court set it out in Logan v. Mullis (1985), and it is worth knowing by name because Texas exam questions track it.

Why intention controls

The key move is that intention wins. The first two factors are not separate scores you add up. They are evidence of what the person intended. And the intention that matters is objective, meaning what a reasonable person would conclude from the facts, not the secret wishes of the owner. A window unit air conditioner sitting in a frame reads as temporary. A central heating and air system wired and ducted into the house reads as permanent.

MARIA and why Texas anchors to Logan

A national memory aid you may see is the acronym MARIA: Method of attachment, Adaptability, Relationship of the parties, Intention, and Agreement. It is a fine study crutch, but for Texas, anchor yourself to the three Logan factors and remember that intention is the one that decides.

Two more factors break ties in specific settings:

• Relationship of the parties. Doubt is resolved differently depending on who is arguing. Between a landlord and a tenant, the law leans toward letting the tenant keep and remove business equipment. Between a seller and a buyer, doubt leans toward the item being a fixture that stays.
• Agreement. Between the contracting parties, clear written language about whether an item stays or goes usually controls. It does not necessarily settle a third party's lien or ownership rights, and ambiguous language can still require legal interpretation.

Trade fixtures: the tenant's business equipment

A trade fixture is an item a tenant attaches to leased property to conduct business, such as shelving, a walk-in cooler, or a barber's chair. Trade fixtures generally remain the tenant's personal property. Subject to the lease and applicable law, the tenant may remove them while entitled to possession and must repair removal damage; an item left after the removal deadline may be treated as abandoned or become the landlord's property.

Trade fixtures are the big exception, and they are heavily tested. A business tenant often bolts equipment to a leased space to run their trade. Even though the equipment is attached, the law treats it as the tenant's personal property, not the landlord's real property.

The rules that follow are useful exam defaults, but the lease and facts control a real dispute:

• The tenant may generally remove trade fixtures before the lease ends or before another enforceable removal deadline.
• The tenant must repair any damage that the removal causes.
• Items the tenant fails to remove in time can be treated as abandoned or become the landlord's property, depending on the lease and applicable law.

So a restaurant tenant's walk-in cooler, a retailer's display shelving, and a salon's styling stations are trade fixtures the tenant can take when they leave. This ties directly into Texas landlord and tenant law and the rights that come with a leasehold estate.

Emblements and growing things

Emblements are annual crops produced by a tenant's labor, such as corn or wheat, and the law treats them as the tenant's personal property. Under the doctrine of emblements, a farming tenant can re-enter to harvest crops they planted even after the tenancy ends. Perennial and natural growth like trees is real property.

Growing things split into two groups, and the exam likes the split.

• Fructus industriales (emblements). Annual crops that come from human cultivation, like corn, wheat, or vegetables. These are personal property of the person who grew them. Under the doctrine of emblements, a tenant farmer who loses the tenancy through no fault of their own may return to harvest the crop they planted.
• Fructus naturales. Naturally occurring growth that does not need yearly planting, like trees, shrubs, and perennial grasses. These are part of the land, so they are real property and convey with it.

The practical exam takeaway is simple. A planted shrub in the yard is real property and stays. But this year's tomato crop that a tenant farmer cultivated is personal property they may harvest.

What conveys in a Texas sale: the TREC contract

In a Texas resale, Paragraph 2 of the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract defines the Property as the land, the improvements, and the accessories. Permanently installed and built-in items convey as improvements, and listed accessories convey even if not permanently installed. Anything the seller wants to keep must be written in as an exclusion.

Paragraph 2's property buckets

This is where the theory meets a real Texas transaction. Most Texas resales use the promulgated TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), and Paragraph 2 does the fixture work for you. It defines the Property in three buckets.

• Improvements (¶2B). The house, garage, and all other fixtures and improvements attached to the land, including without limitation the permanently installed and built-in items the paragraph names: equipment and appliances, valances, screens, shutters, awnings, wall-to-wall carpeting, mirrors, ceiling fans, attic fans, mailboxes, mounts and brackets for televisions and speakers, heating and air-conditioning units, security and fire detection equipment, wiring, plumbing and lighting fixtures, chandeliers, water softener system, kitchen equipment, garage door openers, cleaning equipment, shrubbery, landscaping, outdoor cooking equipment, and generators.
• Accessories (¶2C). A separate, closed list of related items that convey without being permanently installed: window air conditioning units, stove, fireplace screens, curtains and rods, blinds, window shades, draperies and rods, door keys, mailbox keys, above ground pool, swimming pool equipment and maintenance accessories, artificial fireplace logs, security systems that are not fixtures, and the controls for garage doors, entry gates, and other improvements and accessories. Paragraph 2C defines "Controls" to include the seller's transferable rights to the software and apps used to operate those items.

Exclusions and reservations

• Exclusions (¶2D). The safety valve. Improvements and accessories the seller intends to keep must be written in, and the paragraph requires them to be removed before delivery of possession. If an item is not excluded in writing, it stays with the property and goes to the buyer.
• Reservations (¶2E). Any reservation of oil, gas, or other minerals, water, timber, or other interests is made by attached addendum, not by a line in Paragraph 2. This is the paragraph that connects fixtures to mineral and surface rights.

The garage door trap, since the form splits it in two

Candidates routinely put garage door openers and their remotes in the same bucket. Paragraph 2 does not. The opener is listed in ¶2B as an improvement, because it is permanently installed. The control, the remote or app you carry, is listed in ¶2C as an accessory. The same split runs through the paragraph: an above ground pool is an accessory under ¶2C, while an in-ground pool is part of the realty; a window air conditioning unit is an accessory, while the central heating and air-conditioning units are improvements under ¶2B.

The exam lesson mirrors the doctrine. Because a fixture is presumed to convey, the burden is on the seller to carve it out. A seller who says "I always meant to take the fancy dining room chandelier" but never listed it as an exclusion has to leave it behind. Agents drafting the contract need to get exclusions right, which is part of an agent's duties to clients.

Manufactured homes: personal or real property in Texas

In Texas, a manufactured home is personal property unless the owner elects to treat it as real property under Texas Occupations Code Section 1201.2055. The election is made on the application for a Statement of Ownership, and it is available only if the home is attached to land the owner owns or holds under a long-term lease. The election is not perfected until a copy of the statement is filed in the county real property records and the department and the chief appraiser are both notified.

Manufactured housing is a Texas wrinkle worth knowing, and it is one of the few places the statute hands you clean numbers.

A manufactured home starts as personal property

A manufactured home starts as personal property, and under Section 1201.2055(c) the Statement of Ownership on file with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs is the evidence of ownership. While the home is personal property, a lien on it can be created only by filing with the department, not in the county deed records.

How the owner elects real-property treatment

To convert it to real property, Section 1201.2055(a) requires the owner to elect that treatment on the Statement of Ownership application, and the home must be attached to either land the owner owns or land leased to the owner under a long-term lease as defined by department rule. Then Subsection (d) sets the follow-through: within 60 days of the department issuing the statement, the owner must file a copy in the real property records of the county where the home sits and notify both the department and the chief appraiser of the appraisal district.

Two consequences the exam can test:

• Perfection is the trigger, not the election. Under Section 1201.2055(e), the election is not perfected until that filing and both notifications happen. Until then the home remains personal property and does not pass with a deed to the land.
• Once perfected, it is real property for all purposes under Section 1201.2055(g)(1), and no new Statement of Ownership is needed unless the home is moved, the election is changed, or the use of the property changes.

Common exam traps to remember

Fixture questions punish predictable confusions: forgetting that intention controls in Texas, thinking trade fixtures belong to the landlord, forgetting that fixtures convey unless excluded, and mixing up annual crops with trees.

• Intention controls in Texas. Attachment and adaptation are only evidence of intention, which is the preeminent factor under Logan v. Mullis.
• Trade fixtures generally stay with the tenant. Subject to the lease and applicable law, a business tenant can remove qualifying trade fixtures before the applicable deadline and must repair removal damage.
• Fixtures convey unless excluded. In a TREC contract, the seller must list an item as an exclusion to keep it. Silence means it goes to the buyer.
• Annual crops are personal property. Emblements belong to the tenant who grew them. Trees and shrubs are real property.
• Watch the classic pairs. An in-ground pool is a fixture, an above-ground pool is usually personal property. A central AC is a fixture, a window unit usually is not.

You can drill these against timed Texas questions in the free practice test, and look up any unfamiliar term in the Texas real estate glossary.

Original practice questions

Use these to check yourself. They are written for practice and are not copied from any real exam.

Question 1. Under the Texas fixture test from Logan v. Mullis, which factor is the most important?

• A) The mode and sufficiency of annexation
• B) The adaptation of the item to the realty
• C) The intention of the party who attached the item
• D) The cost of the item

Answer: C. Texas treats intention as the preeminent factor. The mode of annexation and the adaptation of the item are evidence of that intention, but intention controls. (Original question.)

Question 2. A restaurant tenant bolts a walk-in cooler and stainless prep tables to a leased space to run the business. At the end of the lease, who owns this equipment?

• A) The landlord, because it is attached to the building
• B) The tenant, because it is a trade fixture that stays personal property
• C) The city, because it is commercial equipment
• D) It must be split evenly

Answer: B. Equipment a commercial tenant attaches to run a business is generally a trade fixture and remains the tenant's personal property. Subject to the lease and applicable law, the tenant may remove it before the applicable deadline and must repair removal damage. (Original question.)

Question 3. A seller signs a TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract and later takes the dining room chandelier, which was wired into the ceiling and never listed as an exclusion. Is that allowed?

• A) Yes, because chandeliers are always personal property
• B) Yes, because the seller owned it first
• C) No, because a wired-in chandelier is a fixture and it was not excluded, so it conveys
• D) No, but only if the buyer complains

Answer: C. A chandelier wired into the ceiling is a fixture and part of the Property. Because the seller did not list it as an exclusion in the contract, it conveys to the buyer and must stay. (Original question.)

Question 4. In Texas, a manufactured home sits on a rented lot and has not gone through any real property election. How is it classified?

• A) Real property, because it is on land
• B) Personal property, until the owner elects real property status and records it
• C) Real property, because it has a foundation
• D) It is not property at all

Answer: B. A manufactured home in Texas is personal property by default. A real-property election requires the statutory Statement of Ownership process, attachment to qualifying land, county recording, and notice to the department and chief appraiser. (Original question.)

Frequently Asked Questions

For quick answers to every common Texas exam question, see the Texas real estate exam FAQ.

What is the difference between a fixture and personal property?

A fixture is personal property that has been attached to real estate so that it becomes part of the real property and conveys with it. Personal property, also called a chattel, is a movable item that is not attached and does not convey unless the contract includes it. Fixtures pass by deed, and personal property passes by bill of sale.

What test does Texas use to decide if something is a fixture?

Texas uses the three-part test from the Supreme Court case Logan v. Mullis: the mode and sufficiency of annexation, the adaptation of the item to the use of the property, and the intention of the party who attached it. Intention is the preeminent factor, and the first two are evidence of that intention.

Do fixtures stay with the house when it sells?

Yes. Because a fixture is part of the real property, it conveys with the house unless the seller specifically excludes it in the contract. In a Texas TREC contract, an item the seller wants to keep must be listed as an exclusion, or it goes to the buyer.

What is a trade fixture?

A trade fixture is an item a tenant attaches to leased property to run a business, such as shelving, a cooler, or a salon chair. It generally stays the tenant's personal property. Subject to the lease and applicable law, the tenant may remove it before the applicable deadline and must repair removal damage; an item left behind may be treated as abandoned or become the landlord's property.

Are crops real property or personal property in Texas?

Annual crops grown by human labor, called emblements or fructus industriales, are personal property of the person who grew them. Trees, shrubs, and other natural perennial growth, called fructus naturales, are real property that conveys with the land.

Is a manufactured home real or personal property in Texas?

By default it is personal property. The owner may elect real-property treatment only when the home is attached to land the owner owns or holds under a qualifying long-term lease. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs issues a Statement of Ownership reflecting the election; within 60 days, the owner must record a copy in the county real-property records and notify both the department and the chief appraiser. The election is not perfected until those steps occur.

Sources and Methodology

This article was reviewed against Texas primary sources on August 12, 2026. The Texas three-part fixture test consists of mode and sufficiency of annexation, adaptation to the use of the realty, and the annexing party's intention. Intention is the preeminent factor. That test comes from the Texas Supreme Court decision in Logan v. Mullis, 686 S.W.2d 605 (Tex. 1985). The definitions of real property, personal property, annexation, severance, trade fixtures, and emblements reflect Texas property law, but a real dispute remains fact- and agreement-specific. Paragraph 2 of mandatory TREC Form 20-19 supplies the current contract treatment of land, improvements, accessories, exclusions, and reservations. Manufactured-home treatment was checked against Texas Property Code Section 2.001 and Texas Occupations Code Section 1201.2055, including the 60-day recording and notification steps required to perfect a real-property election. Case law, statutes, leases, and TREC forms can change, so verify the current sources before relying on any point in practice.

Official Source Links

• Logan v. Mullis, 686 S.W.2d 605 (Tex. 1985)
• TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale)
• Texas Property Code Section 2.001 (Manufactured Housing)
• Texas Occupations Code Section 1201.2055 (Manufactured-home election)
• TDHCA: Statement of Ownership FAQ
• TREC: Become a Real Estate Sales Agent

This post is educational content for Texas real estate sales agent candidates. It is not legal advice. Whether an item is a fixture or conveys in a real transaction depends on the contract, the facts, and current law, so confirm the current Texas statutes, TREC forms, and case law and consult a licensed attorney before you rely on any point in a real situation.