Purchase Adjacent Farmland Question

in-too-deep · Mar 14, 2016

Hello All!

We own 12.89 acres in the NE corner of the section. Our lot is approximately 7xx feet square or so. Another farmer owns the rest of the quarter. The farmer is willing to sell us approximately 3 acres to the south of our line. Kinda has a treeline and would make our farmyard a whole lot nicer. Geographically, it would turn our lot from roughly square, to rectangular. Other 3 lines would not be affected.

What kind of legal/deed/real estate stuff is involved here to annex that +- 3 acres to my 12.89? Can I call my courthouse and will they help?

Also, I assume it would need to be surveyed to get the new legal description. What's a ballpark cost on that service? I would also have them find and mark my existing corners.

Thank you for any advice.

rrlund · Mar 14, 2016

If you're paying cash,or doing a land contract,you don't need a survey,at least not in Michigan. One neighbor and I have swapped some land around twice. We just went out and measured it ourselves,then hired a lawyer to write up the description and a deed. We just had to file the deed at the Register of Deeds office.

paul · Mar 14, 2016

That sounds easy. Check out my thread in 'using your tractor' area here.

Congrats on expanding.

On my county the surveyor will cost you some, helps if they have already worked in your area with GPS equipment then they use less hours finding stuff. My county when you parcel/divide existing properties you need to pay all property tax for the year at that time before you get the deed. The courthouse costs I didn't see but they seemed pretty small.

Paul

paul · Mar 14, 2016

Yea on farmland you make some sense, if its fairly established its pretty easy to measure out a normal 20 or the like. We just did one pacel as you say; another parcel was split and follows a township curved road that we got surveyed so when the road changes, its all written down.....

If you are dividing off 3 acres or so and maybe an irregular line or something, and you plan to build on it in the future in Minnesota with setbacks and so forth that we deal with in this state, I would want that type of thing surveyed out and marked to avoid a future hassle?

Unless it makes trouble for building and homesteading, I would leave it two seperate parcels, if you ever move you can sell it as two lots, or combined, with it already seperate it may be more valuable left as 2 pieces. Anyhow, I would explore the positives and negatives in your county.

Paul

Dave H (MI) · Mar 14, 2016

Before you combine them into one, think about whether or not you may want to sell them separately down the road. There may be fees involved with splitting them in the future.

in-too-deep · Mar 14, 2016

Hmm good thought. Might be able to just go out and measure it if I can find my corner pins.

in-too-deep · Mar 14, 2016

Thought about the 2 parcels, but we really want to expand the cow yard and build a hayshed, so it'll be pretty much connected to the rest of the farm.

farmerwithmutt · Mar 14, 2016

Don't trust measuring 40 is supposed to be 1320 feet that works fine until you allow for the adjustments made do to the curvature of the earth my farm was originally measured at 1320 feet when I had it surveyed it turned out to be 1326 feet on one end and 1319 feet 3/4 of a mile down naturally the fence is 6 feet off on one end and 1 foot on the other. Add to the problem was the neighbor had tore most of the fence out when he rented my farm and I took an offer that doubled what I was getting in rent he was mad for loosing the rent even though he could have paid a little more and hung onto it . To say it was a mess is an understatement spent a lot of money in legal bills to get that fence in .

David G · Mar 14, 2016

The level of cooperation all goes down to the county level, if they want it will go well, or not.

farmerwithmutt · Mar 14, 2016

In town it can get worse nearby village the main street is off center so basically one yard is to big and the other is to small. It all depends on the point of beginning and the farther over it gets the worse it gets. In mine there were 3 farm's between roads the guy in the middle made out good because the two outside farm's were measured from the road over he gained a couple acres that way. He had also sold a piece of property for a house and that was measured by the time I had it surveyed it turned out he had 2 feet of property in the middle .

Frank 41 · Mar 14, 2016

Your courthouse will help you when you file your deed, they will begin to tax you for it. As for getting it surveyed, on 3 acres in the country getting close should be enough without the expense. That is why at the end of a description of land there is a +/- (more or less).

JMS/.MN · Mar 14, 2016

Check at the courthouse to see what is minimally involved in the transfer...may vary by county. I"ve sold a 40 to an outsider without a survey, and parcels from 5-35 acres to three of our kids- I paid for surveys and legal work. Surveys were about $500-1000 each for the first two. Third one, 35 acres, balance of the 40 that the 5 came out of, just needed an update of about $200, since most original lines were established. Your local surveyor can give you current costs.

IlliniJohn · Mar 14, 2016

CONGRATS on being able to buy land that adjoins your property, that seems to only happen once per lifetime for most of us.
I bought a small portion of a neighbor's lot that joins mine last year - and your zoning and laws may be much different than ours in Central Illinois.

I used a lawyer (good friend of mine), a Surveyor, Title Company, and multiple governmental bodies were involved - I was amazed!!

Approximate costs (per my terrible memory):
Survey and plat preparation was about $800, lawyer fee was $600, Title Company was about $400, plus some tax stamps and recording fee for the local county recorder.

Guess I'll sound like John T: Please see a local lawyer well versed in your laws, as your mileage may vary!!

Congrats & Best Wishes!
John

in-too-deep · Mar 15, 2016

Thanks John. I'm very lucky to have the neighbor that I do. He's a large farmer of several thousand acres, but really genuine and nice to talk to. I approached him out of the blue about buying his land and he said "Well, yeah, sure. A nice young couple like you guys... why wouldn't I?" Even called me a few months later to see if we were still interested. A real stand-up guy in my eyes.

Purchase Adjacent Farmland Question

in-too-deep

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rrlund

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paul

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paul

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Dave H (MI)

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in-too-deep

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in-too-deep

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farmerwithmutt

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David G

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Frank 41

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JMS/.MN

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in-too-deep

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