On May 15, 10:58 pm, "Ivan Vegvary" wrote:
wrote in message

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On May 15, 9:08 am, "Ivan Vegvary" wrote:
wrote in message

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Sorry if the subject line wasn't too detailed, but here's what I want
to do. My neighbor will be selling his house soon. I want to ask him
if I can purchase 10' from the current propery line onto his yard. All
total it's about 100 square feet. We are in a typical subdivision. If
he agrees to that, I will build a new fence on the new line. But I
have some questions.

First, how do I find out what the value of the land is worth some
thing like this?
Second, how do I get it recorded at the local government level
(county)?

This is done all of the time. Skip all of the advice about going to an
attorney. Way too expensive. Most LGA's (Local Government Agencies)
have a
lot line adjustment procedure in place. Go to your LGA's Planning or
Zoning
department. The typical requirements would be that you get a surveyor to
map the houses so setback requirements can be verified. You file your
application, with the survey, and after approval your surveyor will draw
the
necessary plats, write a new legal description etc. Your local title
company will record the documents.
HOWEVER, as stated above, a revocable or irrevocable easement from your
neighbor for specified uses would be a lot simpler and more economical.

Ivan Vegvary

You think an attorney is expensive? If someone who, by all
appearances, hasn't the first clue on how to proceed on this tries to
do this himself, the money he should have spent on an attorney will
look cheap. Without someone to make sure his interests are
represented, he could easily wind up screwed. For example, who's
gonna draw up the contract? Suppose he leaves it to the neighbor who
draws up some one sided piece of crap and takes his money, with no
escrow, etc? Then he'll be running to the lawyer when it's too late.

I'm always in favor of people doing whatever they feel comfortable
with and have the necessary knowledge to do. But this doesn't sound
like one of them for the poster.

Wrong! This is not a DIY project for either the seller or the buyer.
I have done over 300 Lot Line Adjustments for clients. (Licensed Land
Surveyor and Registered Civil Engineer)
The jurisdictions in which I have performed these adjustments all require
proper platting, measurements, descriptions, stake out on the ground, etc.
In other words there are enough protections. If something goes wrong the
client simply sues the Engineer/Surveyor just as he would sue his lawyer.
While I have not worked in every state of the union, I believe that the
majority of states use title companies to guarantee transfer and ownership
and not lawyers. I think Louisiana is an exception.
As an example, most agencies required a description and plat of each
property before the transfer, after the transfer and a separate description
of the transfer. That is 5 plats and legal descriptions total.
In California, if this client were to go to a lawyer, he would pay about $
150 for the advice of "go hire a Land Surveyor". Been there, done that.

Ivan Vegvary- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You completely avoided the central issue. If someone doesn't have a
clue about how this transaction should take place, they are asking for
trouble if they don't have someone looking out for THEIR interests.
You seem to think proper plating, surveying, provide all the
protection he needs. I gave you a scenario where at the start of
this, the neighbor crafts a purchase contract all favorable to him.
Is the surveyor or title agency going to solve that?

Suppose the neighbor drafts a contract that says $10,000 is due him
right now upon signing the contract, before anything is done, let
alone title is transfered. Let's assume the buyer hasn't even heard
of the word escrow. Who's gonna look out for him on day 1? How
about if the seller goes bankrupt before the transfer is completed and
there was no escrow because he signed a contract all favorable to the
seller.