mapping legal land descriptions in expertgps

#Mapping legal land descriptions in expertgps how to

The ‘north half’ (N/2) is the north 320 acres. OR: He can describe a tract of land by dividing the section into fractions. The surveyor can start at a point in this section and run a metes-and-bounds description to identify your 20.02 acres. We’ve identified a particular 640-acre tract of land. Now we are studying Section 14, Township 2 South, Range 2 East (which can also be abbreviated as: S14, T2S-R2E). Let’s say our property is in Section 14 (as shown in the image above). So once the township is identified, we name our section within the township. This is a perfect section, which most aren’t. One section (a square mile) is 5,280’ X 5,280’ and contains 640 acres. The sections are numbered, usually starting with #1 at the NE corner and snaking through the township to end with #36 at the SE corner. This means that a township contains 36 square miles. Remember: Each township is six miles wide by six miles tall. Check out El Paso County Colorado for a particularly square, and thus straightforward illustration.) (As we explain this, you might want to check out some real-world examples. The township in this example would be called: ‘Township 2 South, Range 2 East (T2S-R2E).” So a certain township may be 2 miles south of that state’s parallel line and 2 miles east of the vertical line. To identify a specific township (a specific box six miles wide and six miles tall) – states have an east-west axis and a north-south axis drawn through their middle. An understanding of the Township system is essential for any land man (or woman), and will put you light years ahead of the competition when it comes to locating land. In the Lone Star State, a legal description starts at a designated point of the survey (the Point of Beginning or POB) and runs as a “metes-and-bounds” description from there.īut for most of us outside of Texas, the Township System (‘PLSS’ or Public Land Survey System), is where it’s at. Texas, once an independent country, is mostly divided into ‘surveys’ which are based on old Spanish land grants. There are some interesting exceptions, however. Almost all of the country is divided into these six-mile-square boxes. The results have lasted through the decades, and are still very useful for those engaged in real estate today. government to establish survey grids – townships – had already begun by then, years earlier in fact. Thankfully, the monumental effort by the U.S.

Soon after the shock wore off, no doubt, he dispatched a whole bunch of surveyors to try and figure it out. “Louisiana Purchase? What exactly did I just buy?!” When Thomas Jefferson woke up on May 3 rd, 1803, the day after finalizing his famous “Louisiana Purchase,” there must have been a moment where he looked at himself in the mirror and thought, This article won't make you an expert overnight, but I think you'll see how it's a helpful introduction that offers some clarity to a fairly confusing subject. Side Note: Some legal descriptions are VERY complicated and require an experienced eye to fully ‘decode' the information. Since this book nailed it with such precision, I invited the author to share this segment of his book right here on the REtipster Blog.

However, earlier this year I stumbled across this book and noticed a section that gave a great primer on the subject. They just copy and paste it from one document to another, with no appreciation for what it means, why it's important, and why accuracy is crucial.įor a long time now, I've intended to write a detailed blog post explaining the basics of how legal descriptions work and why they're important.

#Mapping legal land descriptions in expertgps how to

This is why legal descriptions are required on every deed, and why land surveyors need this information in order to do their job.Įven with the inherent importance of a property's legal description, I've found that most real estate investors have no idea how to comprehend or interpret this bizarre string of letters and numbers. The legal description (and in some cases, the municipal plat maps it references) allow us to determine the size, shape, boundaries, and location of a parcel. It's more authoritative than the address and the parcel number, and if this information is stated incorrectly on a deed, the wrong piece of real estate will be transferred. To put it simply, a property's legal description is the definition of the real estate being bought and sold. One of the most critical (and confusing) pieces of information that goes into a land transaction is the legal description.