Section 5: Legal Descriptions in Texas

A seller received $800,000 for a 5.5 acre rectangular parcel alongside a road frontage. The property is 400' deep. What was the price per front foot of the property?

$1,335.67 First, find the square footage (5.5 x 43,560' = 239,580). You're given one dimension of the rectangle, so find the other: 239,580 ÷ 400' = 598.95 front feet. To find the price per front foot, $800,000 ÷ 598.95' = $1,335.67 per front foot

After doing some research on local comparable properties, you find that most properties in the area of your new listing sell when they're priced between $190 and $200 per square foot. If the property you're listing measures 1,500 square feet—and you want to put it at the top of this price-per-square-foot range—at what price could the home be listed?

$300,000

Square Perimeter

-4 x length

Occasionally, you may be provided with a measurement that's in a different unit than you need. Suppose a legal description describes one of the property's boundaries as being 13.5 yards long, but you want to know what this is in feet. Since you know how many feet are in a yard (it's on your cheat sheet if you don't remember), you can convert the measurement to the unit you need. So, how many feet is this?

-40.5 -13.5 x 3

As a real estate professional, you will find legal descriptions in:

-Deeds of conveyance -Mortgages -Claims of title -Leases -Title insurance policies -Easements -Offers to purchase -Tax assessments, tax rolls and other tax records

Street address

-House number, street name, city, state, and zip code used to describe the location of a property -Best used when telling someone where you live or where letters or packages can be delivered -123 Main Street, Anytown, USA 55555

Patrick warned Jerry about the consequences of an incorrect legal description. Which of these are potential consequences?

-Legal fees -Construction costs -Title clouds -Property owners building on a property that's not theirs

Three Methods of Land Description

-Metes and Bounds -Lot and block -Rectangular (gov) survey system -Monument system is sometimes used

Land

-Point of beginning -Base line -Principal meridian

Surveys are often part of real estate transactions. What does obtaining a survey do?

-Reveals potential concerns about property boundaries -Clearly defines the property

The resource discusses that in the absence of a legal description, there are other ways to identify a property. Which of the following are ways?

-Street address -Referencing a prior deed -Personal identification numbers on tax maps

What is the starting point for any land surveyor who has been asked to perform a survey?

A review of existing historical records

Benchmark

Serve as permanent reference points, often brass markers

Land survey plats

Shows land, utilities, and easements that may impact an owner's rights to the land

What is a sketch that shows the location, size, and shape of any improvements on a property being surveyed?

Spot survey

Absent a legal description, what are other ways to identify a property?

Street addresses and tax map personal identification numbers

A professional, on-site measurement of the lot lines and dimensions of a property is known as a(n) ______.

Survey

Survey title

Tells you the type of survey you're reviewing

Survey legend

Tells you what the various symbols mean

Townships

are further subdivided into 36 one-mile-square (640 acres) sections (each section is one square mile or 640 acres), and then into quarter sections, quarter-quarter sections, or irregular government lots.

A typical condominium legal description would include reference to

the unit number, condominium name, plat map, page and number.

Rectangular (government) survey system

which is regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and divides the land surveyed into six-mile-square townships, which are further subdivided. This system isn't used in the original 13 colonies or in Texas, West Virginia, or Kentucky.

A parcel of land is being sold for $3 per square foot. You have a client interested in purchasing 30,000 square feet. How much will this cost?

$90,000

Trainangle

(0.5 x base) x height

When Shauna looked at the legal description of the property she was interested in purchasing, she read the following: "Beginning at the corner of State Route 61 and Hallowell Road, north for 314 feet, then southwest for 193 feet." In this description, what does "north for 314 feet" represent?

A mete

What is a Monument?

A permanent physical, man-made, or natural land marker -used in the metes and bounds system

What's a datum?

A point, surface, or line used as a reference for measuring elevations

Air Lots and Condos

-Property owners own the air space above their property and can divide it into air lots. -Condominium ownership is ownership of the air space between the unit's boundaries. -Legal descriptions for condominiums use datum instead of point of beginning.

How many square feet are in an acre?

43,560

Acre

43,560 square feet

Your client, a builder, is considering buying three adjacent lots. They each have the same depth, 275 feet. Lot A is 35,750 s.f., Lot B 53,900 s.f., and Lot C is 33,000 s.f. If your client buys all three lots, what total street frontage will he have?

446 ft

How many feet are in a mile?

5,280

Mile

5,280 feet

How large is a section used in the rectangular government survey system?

640 acres

Title insurance policy

Provides the legal description of the property

How do you determine the cost of purchasing land?

Multiply the land area by the cost per unit

Which of the following best describes condominium ownership?

Ownership of air space between a unit's boundaries and shared ownership in common areas

Square

Equal side x equal side

Survey Sketch

Visual depiction of location and dimensions of a property

Hectares

is 10,000 square meters, or approximately 2.47 acres in U.S. measurements. So, if you wanted to find out how many hectares were in a 45-acre tract of land, you would divide the total acres by 2.47. So, 45/2.47 = 18.21 hectares.

Datums and benchmarks are used for ______.

Measuring elevations

A parcel of land is being sold for $25,000 per acre. You have a client interested in purchasing four acres. How much will this cost?

$100,000

James purchased five acres of land for $75,000. What was the cost per acre?

$15,000

Clint is interested in making an offer on a house with hardwood floors that will need to be replaced. The hallway is 18' x 6'. The kitchen is 20' x 30'. The living room is 25' x 45'. Two bedrooms are 12' x 16', and the master bedroom is 14' x 20'. If the cost of the flooring is $5.48 per square foot, and the cost of installation is $1.49 per square foot, how much can Clint plan to spend to replace the floors?

$17, 404.09

The cost of a parcel of land is 50 cents per square foot. Candace wants to purchase one acre. How much will this cost?

$21,780

A parcel of land is being sold for $25,000 per acre. You have a client interested in purchasing 100,000 square feet. How much will this cost?

$57,392

A 4-bedroom, 4-bath 4,875 square feet house was listed at $445,000. Andreas, the seller, accepted an offer that was 95% of the listing price. What price per square foot did he get for the house?

$86.72

While running some errands, you bumped into a homeowner you worked with a few years back. He purchased a 500-foot by 500-foot piece of land along a dirt road. Turns out, the county is now planning to build a paved road through the area and is offering $25 per front foot. How much is this?

-$12,500 -500 x $25

Rectangle Perimeter

-(2 x length) + (2 x width)

Benchmarks

-Benchmark -Datum

Okay, we've told you to include the legal description in an offer to purchase. You're following our advice, but you need to find it for your offer. We provided some direction a couple of slides ago. In what three places can you find the legal description?

-County recorder or assessor's office -Title company -Online county offices

What to Review on a Survey

-Land survey plats -Title insurance policy -Survey legend -Scale ratio -Survey title -Surveyor's certification

Lot and Block Truths

-The lot and block system may also be called a reference or plat survey. -Either a metes and bounds or a rectangular survey description is always the starting point. -The lot and block system includes numbered or lettered blocks and lots. -The lot and block system includes streets and access points.

There are several property changes that generally prompt documentation to be filed. The video hits on these. Which of these may cause documentation to be filed?

-Transfer -Subdivided -Combined -Modified

legal description

-is a description of the land that specifies the boundaries and location of a piece of real property. -Legal descriptions appear on deeds and other legal documents because the description is sufficient to adequately describe and define a property so the courts can correctly determine ownership boundaries. -Area, dimensions, and description used to detail the location of a property and its boundaries -Often used in courts and on legal documents -COMMENCING at the intersection of the right-of-way of Main Street and the Eastern 40' on North Avenue; THENCE leaving said point ...

The rectangular government survey system (also known as the Public Land Survey System, or PLSS)

-is regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, because it was originally used to survey federally owned blocks of land. -The rectangular government survey system is only used in 30 western and southern states; it's not used by East Coast states except Florida; it's also not used by Texas. The PLSS is actually a series of surveys that divide land into townships of six square miles.

Square foot

144 square inches

You're working on a new listing. The property has a beautiful patio out back that's perfect for entertaining. You want to include the size of this selling feature in the listing information, so you get out your tape measure. The rectangular patio is 15 feet wide by 25 feet long. What's the area?

15 feet × 25 feet = 375 square feet

How many acres are in a quarter section in a rectangular survey?

160

A lot measuring three-fourths of an acre is for sale. How many square feet is this?

32,670

Margie needs to know the square footage for the first floor of the condo her client is interested in buying. The kitchen is 10 feet by 15 feet, the living/dining combo is 20 feet by 25 feet, and the office and sunroom are each 10 feet by 10 feet. What's the total square footage?

850 sq ft

Pamela inherited a piece of property that has been in her family for generations. She wants to find the property's exact boundaries. What should contain this information?

A legal description of the property

Cheri wants to find the legal description for her property. Where could she look?

At a deed

Which of the following is an example of a metes and bounds description?

Beginning at the south-westerly corner of Lot 14 as shown on said Map 1452:hen by said line South 30 degrees East 50 poles to a pine then E 320 poles to a pine then N 220 poles to a pine then by Crisp's line west 80 poles to a pine then down the creek to the first station...

A registered land surveyor is preparing a plat map that will show elevations and boundaries for a multi-level condominium complex. What is used as a reference point for measuring elevation?

Datum

When measuring elevations, what is used instead of a point of beginning?

Datum

Metes

Direction and distance of a line forming the boundary of a property -37 degrees north for 78 meters -90 feet due north, turn 12 degrees west for 15 feet, turn due north for 5 feet

Brandon is interested in purchasing a piece of property, but before doing so, he'd like to verify the accuracy of the legal description. Which of these options will accomplish this?

Having a survey conducted

Shannon is reading through paperwork related to her upcoming home purchase, and she comes across the following: "Southwest quarter of Southwest quarter (SW ¼ of SW ¼) and West Half of Southeast quarter of Southwest quarter (W½ SE¼ SW¼) of Section Eleven (11), Township Four (4) North of Range Eight (8) West." What did Shannon just find?

Legal description

Rectangle

Length x width

Monument System

Monuments are permanent land markers and are often used in the metes and bounds system, as well. The monument system uses a monument, which is typically a permanent physical, man-made, or natural feature, as its point of beginning.

An area of 640 acres is equal to ______.

One square mile

If a farm that's for sale measures one and three-quarter square miles, how many acres is it?

One square mile is 640 acres. Three-quarter square mile is 480 acres (640 x .75 = 480). So, 640 + 480 = 1,120 acres.

Bounds

Physical features that define the boundaries of the land -Beginning at the heart-shaped boulder in the middle of Fantame Creek -The direct center of the three trees forming a triangle

Datum

Point from which elevations are measured

Which legal description method is regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management?

Rectangular gov survey

Which of the following is the least specific method for describing a property?

Street address

What describes the different symbols that are used in a survey sketch?

Survey legend

Which entity decides the matter when two different legal descriptions conflict?

The courts

Base Line

The east-west line that runs through the initial point

Township lines

The east-west lines of a survey

Yard

Three feet

If you have an 800-square-foot rectangular building and it sells for $75,000, that equates to ______ per square foot.

To calculate price per square foot, divide price by square feet. $93.75

Scale ratio

Translates lengths on the survey to actual lengths on the property

Which of the following are possible effects of an incorrect legal description?

Unintentional encroachment, title and legal issues

Survey

Where the legal description appears

The block refers

to the name of the subdivision under which the map is recorded.

Lot and block

which provides plat references.

Metes and Bounds

which uses compass headings and directions.

What is the first step in the land survey process?

Research historical records

Section 16

Reserved for schools

Lot and Block Process

1. Either a rectangular or metes and bounds description is referenced. 2. The land is divided into lots with numerical designations of the parcel.

We mentioned earlier that one section is a square mile or 640 acres. Using the same parcel of land as the previous question, determine how many acres it is.

10 -(640/4)=160 -(160/4)=40 -(40/4)=10

A property is 330 feet long by 100 feet wide. How many square feet is the property?

33,000

Square mile

640 acres

Triangle Perimeter

Add lengths of each side

Which of these is usually a brass marker that is used to mark a datum?

Benchmark

Legal Description Priority

Highest Priority: Plat reference (lot and block) Second Highest Priority: Metes and bounds Lowest Priority: Government survey (if used in the area)

Jenna's closing agent has asked her to get a spot survey of the property she's purchasing. What will this accomplish for Jenna and the closing agent?

It notes the location, size, and shape of any improvements on a property.

Spot Survey

Location, size, and shape of improvements on a property

Air lots

One of the bundle of rights in property ownership is the right to use the air directly above the property. And just as you can subdivide land you own into land lots, you can also subdivide the air you own into air lots

Benjamin is interested in a piece of property but is curious about its exact legal description. What's one of the best ways to find this information?

Reference a previous property deed.

In a metes and bounds description, the point of beginning is extremely important. What's the importance of the point of beginning?

The entire description is based off of the point of beginning.

Principal Meridian

The north-south line that runs through the initial point is a true meridian -There are 37 principal meridians, and they are referred to when distinguishing among the various surveys.

Range Lines

The north-south lines

Kellan and Stacy are in the midst of a property dispute. Each party has a legal description and survey that show conflicting boundaries between their properties. What may be the best way to resolve this dispute?

They must take the dispute to court.

survey

is a professional on-site measurement of the lot lines and dimensions of a property, including the location of any improvements (such as a house) on the lot, any encroachments that may exist, and any easements of public record. -will be required to verify, clarify, correct, or create a legal description. -A survey does include any improvements (such as a house) on the property or any encroachments or easements.