Menu Close

Is a Storage Shed Considered Personal Property?

The property will fall into any of two categories. These include real property and personal property. The categorizing will majorly depend on whether or not you can physically move the property. However, for some items such as a shed, it can be quite challenging to determine whether it is real or personal. This can however be resolved if you first understand the meaning of both these terminologies and their distinct differences.

Real Property

The land itself or the things attached to the land are what is considered real property. This meaning, therefore, is the derivation of the terms referring to lands such as real estate or realty.

Storage shed filled with gardening tools
There are also materials, for example, wood, building supplies, and metal that when alone will not be considered as real. This will however change once they are attached to the land through the building of structures. There are also vegetation and trees that can be placed in this category. However, plants such as crops that need constant care will not be real property.

Personal Property

This type of property can then be further divided into two groups, they are chattels and intangibles. The chattels will refer to the property that is tangible for example, clothes or your bag. The chattels that are then attached to the land transform and become a part of real property known as fixtures. There are cases where a fixture will remain personal property, for example, when you want to move out at the end of your lease and you had installed some fixtures, you have the right to remove and carry them with you. This is despite the fact that you have no rights towards the real property. The intangible property that cannot be seen or even touched address the legal rights to property and not to things. Some examples of this category include bank accounts, licenses, insurance policies, franchises, and investments just to name a few.

The Differences

The difference between real and personal property is straightforward because the personal property will be anything that can move and is subject to ownership while that real property cannot be moved and is simply anything attached to the land. However, despite these two terms having quite distinct definitions, there can arise some cases where it is difficult to determine whether your property is real or personal.

Knowing how to classify property is very important for a number of reasons. One of these is seen when a creditor wants to take ownership of items and equipment that could be attached to real property. There is also the case where you would like to move out with the fixtures installed on the land.

How to Classify a Property

This section is mostly for the gray areas where the determination of real and personal properties has proven difficult. The central focus is for fixtures where the property had once been personal. This how-to encompasses three tests the first one being, occupation or attachment. This simply means that the method of attachment is evaluated and if the removal of the property will lead to damage of the real property. The second is adaptation where the importance of the property relative to real estate is evaluated. Finally, there is intent.

Storage Shed

A storage shed can be simply defined as a storage building that is located on residential land but is not used for human occupancy. Sheds are rapidly increasing in popularity because of the convenience that they bring to the owner. They can be used for quite a number of things from the initial intent, which is to store, to crafting rooms, personal nooks, and offices. Many people are then taking the necessary steps to have a shed in their properties if they did not have t in place already.

This then brings in the question of if storage sheds are personal or real properties. This piece of knowledge is key during moving out to prevent any disputes with the landlord and even for financial purposes where taxation comes in. it assists in resolving issues if the terms of the shed during the initial purchasing of the land where the buyer and seller get to agree in their lease contracts. The shed will then be considered as real property if it has been permanently attached to the land and personal if it can be moved regardless of how much it weighs. It is also seen fit that when selling a piece of land with the intent of removing your shed, it should be removed before the buyer sees it to avoid conflicts in transactions.

Related Posts