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