Legal Description Of Property
Definition of "Legal Description of Property"
The legal description of property is a legal instrument to determine as best as one can, the physical boundaries and characteristics of a plot of land and the housing built on top of it. Its goal is for someone to completely identify a property just by reading the description provided, and it generally comes attached to lease agreements to guide possible disputes in the future. A legal description of property is mostly found in sales contracts, deeds, and mortgages.
Real estate lawyers are usually the ones responsible for the legal description of property, and – when doing one – they typically focus on aspects that don’t change much over the course of time. So, for instance, a street address is not the most common identifier in a legal description of property because street names do change a lot. So, no “the property is in the intersection of Old Guy Street with Brand New Name Street”, as time changes, and even the most popular name can be traded for any number of reasons - not to mention the street can cease to exist due to urban development or even natural disasters.
Some legal descriptions of property cover the quantity of land in acres, but the most common way of going about this document is making a description of the land itself through fractional designations that divide (and describe) the land in sections. This concept of locating or describing land is actually very old and has been around since 1785 when it was established by law under the Articles of Confederation as a way to divide the land in relation to the public land survey system. Its initial purpose was to determine farms and big real estate into “townships”, but as time went on and our society developed and started fragmentizing space within space, it grew more specialized and complex.
It is very important to have a professional do your legal description of property when doing the title transfer of your house because if it’s improperly done, the sale of the home can be marked as invalid due to improper land description.
Real Estate Tip:
You know who can connect you with a trustworthy lawyer to help out not only on the legal description of property but several other documents? A real estate agent! And we have the best ones! Contact a local one now!
Popular Real Estate Terms
Valuing real property based on the expected cost to buy property of identical value. The replacement cost to build a structure should be based on current prices. The appraisal should ...
Payment of the minimum tax by using legal tax planning opportunities such as estate planning. The use of tax avoidance strategies is a sound approach to retaining cash flow. On the other ...
Refurbishing or rebuilding a property, such as a house, back to its original or earlier condition. ...
In real estate, asking price is referred to as the amount set by the seller, the amount he/she wants to receive for the purchase of their home by the buyer. The asking price isn’t ...
Make changes to existing property. Example are putting in a new bathroom, kitchen, or basement ...
Person or business that benefits from the work of another person or business. The recipient has not compensated the other party for this gain. In law, the one being enriched at the ...
If you’re an owner of a property that needs to be accounted for in your return on investment or used to calculate your capital gains and losses, then the cost basis will help you ...
Aerial photos are photographs taken by cameras mounted in aircraft or satellites. Aerial photos are more commonly used in the industrial Real Estate Market to get a better feel of a ...
Hallow masonry wall consisting of an inner and outer wall with dead air space between them. The air space provides increased thermal insulation. Cavity walls are not used in northern ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.