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

Snippet answer: 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?

Snippet answer: 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

Snippet answer: 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.

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.

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. A written agreement controls. If the sales contract says an item stays or goes, that language settles it, no test required.

Trade fixtures: the tenant's business equipment

Snippet answer: A trade fixture is an item a commercial tenant attaches to a leased property to conduct business, such as shelving, a walk-in cooler, or a barber's chair. Trade fixtures remain the tenant's personal property. The tenant may remove them before the lease ends and must repair any damage, but items left behind can 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 the exam points:

• The tenant may remove trade fixtures before the lease term ends.
• The tenant must repair any damage that the removal causes.
• Items the tenant fails to remove in time can become the landlord's property by accession.

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

Snippet answer: 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

Snippet answer: 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.

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. The structure plus permanently installed and built-in items, and the contract lists many by name, including ceiling fans, chandeliers and lighting fixtures, built-in appliances and kitchen equipment, wall-to-wall carpet, shutters and awnings, the heating and air-conditioning units, and more.
• Accessories. Items that do not have to be permanently installed but still convey, such as garage door openers and remote controls, along with the controls needed to operate systems in the home.
• Exclusions. The safety valve. If the seller wants to keep an item that would otherwise convey, that item must be listed as an exclusion. If it is not excluded in writing, it stays with the property and goes to the buyer.

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

Snippet answer: In Texas, a manufactured home is personal property by default. The owner can elect to treat it as real property. That means attaching it to land they own or lease long term, clearing any liens, and filing the election through a Statement of Ownership with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. A certified copy is then recorded in the county real property records.

Manufactured housing is a Texas wrinkle worth knowing. A manufactured home starts as personal property, titled much like a vehicle. It does not automatically become real property just because it is set on a lot.

To convert it to real property, Texas law requires an election. The owner attaches the home to land they own, or hold under a qualifying long-term lease. They resolve or get consent for any liens. Then they file an election through a Statement of Ownership with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, and a certified copy is recorded in the county where the home sits. Until that happens, the home is personal property and does not pass with a deed to the land. This matters for how the home is financed, taxed, and conveyed.

Common exam traps to remember

Snippet answer: 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 stay with the tenant. A business tenant's attached equipment is personal property they can remove before the lease ends, if they repair the 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 a trade fixture. It stays the tenant's personal property, and the tenant may remove it before the lease ends, repairing any 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. It becomes real property only when the owner elects that status, clears liens, and records the election through a Statement of Ownership in the county records. (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 commercial tenant attaches to a leased property to run a business, such as shelving, a cooler, or a salon chair. It stays the tenant's personal property. The tenant may remove it before the lease ends and must repair any damage, but items left behind can 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. It becomes real property only if the owner elects that status. That election means attaching the home to land they own or lease long term, clearing liens, and filing a Statement of Ownership with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. A certified copy is then recorded in the county real property records.

Sources and Methodology

This article was reviewed against Texas primary sources on July 21, 2026. The Texas three-part fixture test, that a court weighs the mode and sufficiency of annexation, the adaptation of the article to the use of the realty, and the intention of the party who annexed it, with intention as the preeminent factor and the first two as evidence of intention, 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, and severance reflect settled Texas property law. The treatment of trade fixtures as the tenant's removable personal property, and the doctrine of emblements for annual crops, reflect long-standing common law applied in Texas. The rule that a fixture conveys unless it is excluded, and the definitions of the Property as land, improvements, and accessories, reflect Paragraph 2 of the promulgated TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale). The classification of a manufactured home as personal property unless the owner elects real property status, by attachment plus a Statement of Ownership filed with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and recorded in the county real property records, reflects Texas Property Code Section 2.001 and Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1201. Case law, statutes, 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)
• 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.