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Top 20 Reasons to Update Your Real Estate’s Survey /Legal Description
Last modified
2007-11-21 12:02
Update if:
- The latest survey was at the time of the Revolutionary War Grant.
- The legal description refers to “the old oak tree on the corner of the property line” where no tree now exists
- The property has been transferred only at death through two or more generations of your family
- The legal description refers to “chains” and “links” and “rods”
- You’ve sold or otherwise transferred more than two lots or slivers off the same parcel
- You discovered you’ve been paying taxes on land Grandpa sold over 30 years ago
- The river has changed course through the bottom land during the past 20 years
- The legal description acreage, the FSA acreage, and the auditor’s acreage are all different for the same period
- You suspect your neighbor’s fence is over your property line or your fence is over his
- The legal description refers to “ground glass under a stone”, “a deer path”, “a stream”, or “the Old Mabry farm”
- You learn great grandma’s will was not properly probated and she has more relatives than you ever knew
- You want to separate your residence from the rest of the parcel
- The county engineer has stamped your deed “no transfer without new legal description” or similar words
- The city has renumbered the lots in your subdivision
- Your legal description’s courses do not match those on your survey
- You need to sell part of a parcel to pay your bills
- Your land was split by a major highway
- The county engineer refuses to approve the description because it will not “close”
- Your old description includes land that does not belong to you anymore
- The easement to the back 40 described in the recorder’s office is not wide enough for modern farm equipment.
Information provided by Carolyn Eselgroth and Barrett, Easterday, Cunningham & Eselgroth LLP
