Legal descriptions and measuring land and buildings

Bottom line first. A legal description is the exact written location of a parcel, good enough that a surveyor can find it with no street address. A street address is not a legal description. Deeds, contracts and title work all rely on the legal description.

Three ways to describe land

1. Metes and bounds (distances and directions)
2. Lot and block (a recorded plat)
3. Rectangular survey (also called the government survey or section, township and range)

1. Metes and bounds

Metes are distances. Bounds are directions and boundaries. A metes-and-bounds description starts at a known marker called the point of beginning (POB), walks around the parcel in a series of calls (such as "North 45 degrees East, 200 feet"), and must return to the POB so the shape is closed. A monument is a fixed marker used as a reference, such as an iron pin, a stone or a road intersection. Surveyors use a compass bearing in degrees plus feet. One chain is 66 feet, 80 chains is one mile, and one rod is 16.5 feet. This system is used for odd-shaped parcels and for pieces carved out of larger land.

2. Lot and block (recorded plat)

A plat is a map of a subdivision drawn by a surveyor and filed ("recorded") in the county records. Once recorded, each parcel is just a lot number in a block within a named subdivision, such as "Lot 12, Block 3, Meadow Creek Subdivision, County of Boulder, State of Colorado." Anyone can pull up the plat and see the exact dimensions. This is the most common description for houses in a development. It is short because the recorded plat holds all the detail.

3. Rectangular (government) survey

The government survey covers most of the western United States, including Colorado. It starts from a north-south line called a principal meridian and an east-west line called a base line. From those, the land is cut into a grid:

• Rows running east-west are townships (numbered north or south of the base line); columns running north-south are ranges (numbered east or west of the principal meridian). The word township here also names the square itself.
• A township is a square 6 miles by 6 miles = 36 square miles.
• A township is divided into 36 sections, each 1 mile by 1 mile, so a section = 1 square mile = 640 acres.
• Sections are numbered 1 to 36 in a snake pattern: section 1 is in the northeast corner, numbers run west to 6, then section 7 sits below 6 and numbers run east to 12, and so on, ending with 36 in the southeast corner.

An acre = 43,560 square feet. Check: a mile is 5,280 feet, so a section is 5,280 x 5,280 = 27,878,400 sq ft. Divide by 43,560 and you get 640 acres.

A typical address in this system reads "the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 14, Township 1 North, Range 70 West, of the Sixth Principal Meridian." The curved world does not fit a perfect grid, so the survey includes small correction lines. Do not worry about those for the exam beyond knowing they exist.

How to read "the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4"

Read from the back to the front. Start at the last part (the largest) and zoom in as you go forward.

1. Start with the whole section: 640 acres.
2. "SW 1/4" = the southwest quarter of the section: 640 / 4 = 160 acres.
3. "NE 1/4 of it" = a quarter of that 160: 160 / 4 = 40 acres.

So "the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4" is 40 acres. A quarter-quarter section is always 40 acres. Other common cuts:

• Half section = 320 acres. Quarter section = 160 acres. Quarter-quarter = 40 acres.
• "The S 1/2 of the NW 1/4" = 160 / 2 = 80 acres.
• "The E 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4" = 640 / 4 / 4 / 2 = 20 acres.

Also handy: a square 40-acre piece is a quarter-mile on each side (1,320 feet), because a section is 5,280 feet on a side and 5,280 / 4 = 1,320, so 1,320 x 1,320 = 1,742,400 sq ft = 40 acres (1,742,400 / 43,560 = 40).

Whichever method is used, the description sits in the deed and the recorded documents (C.R.S. 38-35-109 deals with recording an instrument).

Measuring a building

Area of a rectangle = length x width. For a house, break the outline into rectangles, measure each, and add. A common method: measure the outside, subtract any parts that do not count, and report gross living area (finished, heated, above-grade space). Garages, unfinished basements and open porches are usually not counted in living area. Always say which standard was used, because different standards give different numbers. In an advertisement or listing, a broker should not guess the number; verify it or label it as approximate.

Useful conversions: 1 square yard = 9 square feet; 1 acre = 43,560 sq ft; 1 mile = 5,280 ft; area of a triangle = (base x height) / 2.

Example with real numbers

A buyer is looking at a $500,000 Boulder County house on a lot described as "the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 14." The house measures 40 ft by 30 ft on the main floor, plus a second floor of 40 ft by 30 ft, plus a 20 ft by 20 ft attached garage.

1. Land: 640 / 4 / 4 = 40 acres. At $10,000 an acre that land alone is 40 x $10,000 = $400,000.
2. Main floor: 40 x 30 = 1,200 sq ft. Second floor: 1,200 sq ft. Living area = 2,400 sq ft.
3. Garage: 20 x 20 = 400 sq ft, not counted in living area.
4. Price per square foot of living area: $500,000 / 2,400 = about $208.33.

Comparing price per square foot is quick but rough. Always check that both homes measured the same way.