Legal Descriptions (Real Estate)

Three basic methods can be used to describe real estate:

-Metes and bounds -Rectangular (or government) survey -Lot and block (recorded plat)

legal description

A description of a specific parcel of real estate complete enough for an independent surveyor to locate and identify it.

Monuments

A fixed natural or artificial object used to establish real estate boundaries for a metes-and-bounds description.

plat map

A map of a town, section, or subdivision indicating the location and boundaries of individual properties.

lot-and-block (recorded plat) system

A method of describing real property that identifies a parcel of land by reference to lot and block numbers within a subdivision, as specified on a recorded subdivision plat.

rectangular survey system

established in 1785 by the federal government, providing for surveying and describing land by reference to principal meridians and base lines.

Survey

Details of a property are gathered, boundaries are measured and land areas are determined; position of a house on a lot

T or F: A metes-and-bounds description starts at a designated place on the parcel, called the place-of beginning.

False

metes-and-bounds description

The oldest type of legal description. Metes means to measure, and bounds means linear directions

T or F: Benchmarks are permanent reference points that have been established throughout the United States.

True

T or F: The legal description of a property is based on information collected through a process called a survey.

True

T or F: When a survey also shows the location, size, and shape of buildings on the lot, it is called a spot survey.

True