Just Me pointed out to me that Classic Country Land is bad about making mistakes on their coordinates for the land they have posted. With that in mind I decided to do a little exploring to find out if they were wrong on my land and it appears very much so! Classic Country Land gives the coordinates (between the sticky pins) for the Southwest corner of my property to be 29° 35' 14.54"N and 103° 32' 16.77"W which puts that corner somewhere around 100 feet further east than it is according to the TRPOA Tract map which according to Google Earth would make it something like 29° 35' 14.62"N and 103° 32' 14.62W. As a matter of fact I had planned on doing what ever I will do (hopefully not long from now) on land which according to the TRPOA tract map is NOT my land! And who says procrastinating doesn't pay off? The reason I figured on building there is because there was a clearing.
Now... It appears that while my brother in law was here with his tractor we should have been clearing an area further west because most of my land now (according to the tract map) is heavy vegetation and I don't look for him to bring his tractor back so... Looks like a lot of manual labor coming up. On top of that I'm not even sure I have 10 acres because according to the tract map (If it is accurate) then my plot is shorter from east to west than all of the plots east of mine. Looks like it could be as small as 8 or 9 acres instead. I guess the one good thing now is that I will know where I can build and where I can't. It also gets me out of the marsh area so there does my Greening the Earth plans, but puts me on higher ground and probably less chance of flooding out. It also puts my land west of the part of the road that has a washout problem so that could be another major problem.
Note in the above pictures the one of the actual tract map which shows my land in the black circle. The other one shows the red box which would be closer to where my land really is.The old barbed wire fence would be almost center of my land.
ADDITION
The third picture probably shows the true Southwest corner. There were two blue pylons just across the road on the southwest corner and around where the northwest corner would be, but I'd forgotten about them. One where you see it and one further north out of the picture also just across the road. Someone was marking something and used small tires and had painted them blue for some reason. That would sort of Jive with the tract map boundaries for my land.
What I would do is make a fence of some kind into the property that you thought was your based on the real estate companys assessment. By building on someone elses land such as a fence or road you can aquire the additional property through a term called "prescriptive Easements". If the actual owner of the land does nothing for a period of time the land becomes YOURS.Another trick would be to move into an abandoned property, fix it up, send in the tax money each year and usually in about 5 years the property becomes yours - this is called "Adverse Possession". Each state has its own time limit for this. But yea these land companies you need to keep an eye on. I hope to buy some land in about 18 months in west texas but before I do I am going to do some traveling to some of these areas and check them out.
ReplyDeleteI knew about the fence around the property deal. I think its 7 years here. I didn't know about the other one.
ReplyDeleteshoot.....what a hoot. You would think a Realtor would know what he's sell'n and have all his stuff in one bag. That's strike two for Country Classic Land. Hmmmmmm, wonder if OGT gonna have the same deal.
ReplyDeleteDon't rely on the POATRI tract maps either. They're as bad as or worse than the property descriptions I've seen in the Classic Country Land contracts and deeds. What worries me about what's shown on the POATRI tract map in your case is that there appears to be some uncertainty about where Section 3 ends and Section 4 begins. Because your legal description sets out your tract as quarters of larger pieces, it's really the same size as all the ones that are also approximately 10 acres nearby, regardless of what may be drawn on any maps.
ReplyDeleteYou need an actual on the ground survey to find the pins for three of the corners of Section 3. A line between the NW and SW corners of the block will overlap your western boundary and enable you to determine its length and location as a matter of fractions of the whole section line. The third corner of section 3 will allow you to do the same in the other dimension.
What a mess!! I have heard nothing but bad things about Classic Country Land. I subscribe to the newsletter of a local realtor and in it they mention several schemes that have taken place out there. I forwarded it to Billy Bob since he is considering buying land there. Don't have your email or I would forward it to you too.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that there is so much untended land there that I bet if you dug into the tax assessors books you might find a bunch of unclaimed property. Just think some old owner dies off or lives elsewhere or the heirs are either unaware or unintrested it the area. I talked about it with an uncle of mine in California and he was like, "what whould you there?"...
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've been able to find out (when I called for my 911 address) they told me it is exactly 1 mile from the road I names Thorne Rd. to the road on the west end of my property. There are supposed to be exactly 8 parcels between those two roads which would measure 660 ft each. They should also be 660 feet wide which would make them 1 square 10 acre plot each. I marked the size between the sticky pin points on Google Earth image showing what CCL said was my corners and only seven plots that size would fit between the two roads like that. I tend to think it would be safe enough to assume that the corner of the two roads would be the southwest corner of my land and wouldn't have too much worry about staying within 660 feet either way from there to build. Who knows though? Maybe one of these days I'll have it surveyed? Not likely to happen real soon though. Whoever drew that grid on that tract map sure screwed up and I'm not sure what the heck that big red line that runs through it is supposed to mean?
ReplyDeleteThis is kinda like playing pin the tail on the donkey.
ReplyDeleteIm gonna get mine surveyed before I build.
OGT, you got that right. BB, CCL isn't a Realtor they are just land flippers as Just Me says and aren't governed by realty rules as such.
ReplyDeleteI have a good friend who's a surveyor. He's the one who informed me of the Terlingua Ranch land auction in the first place, a couple of years ago. I will hire him to survey my parcel of land when I buy out there. He comes down every year for the chili cook-off, so we'll probably just do it then. The things Scavenger sais are true. You might consider a trip to Alpine, to the county tax assessor's office. What you might learn there could be very helpful.
ReplyDeleteScavenger was right about the no snow to. Either that or if we got any it melted as it hit. We got more rain though.
ReplyDeleteI'm not looking to screw anyone else on land by putting up fences and the like. I just want what I'm paying for and all of it. I don't plan to use anywhere near all of it so won't have to worry about building on someone else's land if I keep toward the center. Surveying can come later for me.
S U N! :)
ReplyDeleteI would build a fence only to maybe annex some GOVERNMENT land!
ReplyDeleteAs for the surveyor, I would guess it would only cost maybe $200-300 to have it done right.
400-800 for terlingua last time I checked
ReplyDelete400-800? Did I say I probably won't have a survey made! I wonder if they used metal stakes when they did the original survey? You could probably get a used metal detector a lot cheaper than that?
ReplyDeleteI would think that with the nations real estate slowdown that there are a bunch of surveyors sitting around playing cards someplace. Maybe the cheapest isn't they way either as they might not get it right. Perhaps go to a BIG bank like Wells Fargo since they loan money on such assets and maybe get a referral from them for whom they deem as someone compentant. Big banks are very frugal with their money but they usually know value.
ReplyDeleteI had an issue with a neighbor and a fence that he was going to build, so I asked my BIL who is a surveyor to check the property line for me, he used a metal detector to find it. mine was a large metal rod down about 10" in the ground.
ReplyDeleteI would like to comment on CCL as I work for them, in fact I do most of the maps for the Terlingua tracts. We always state that the coordinates are approximate and to have exact corners you would need to have surveyed. I always match up from the POATRI maps and approximate measurements the best I can; however as already stated, even the POATRI maps are not always accurate. We are though a preferred seller through POATRI and have been for many years. If you have any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to contact us.
ReplyDeleteAdded a third picture which probably shows the true southwest corner?
ReplyDeleteITs always a good Idea no matter who you buy from to get your land surveyed before you build, Im with classic land sales on this one. I NEVER thought my property had exact corners on the map that I got. I knew I was gonna have to get it surveyed. by the way they know a person that can survey your property and they are one of the most resonable as far as price goes. I dont work for them just to let you know. but I have NOT seen anything dishonest in them in fact they have been the best purchase experience Ive had.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with Scott or anyone else I've communicated with at CCL. They have worked with me and when I ran in to trouble with the road Scott offered to exchange that land for some in a different area. Unfortunately I had already gotten my 911 and physical addresses so that is out. Beside that I haven't found any land on their site I'd rather have. It would be nice if there was a local that could check things out and keep them updated. Maybe also try to get the coordinates a little better.
ReplyDeleteAside from that I find that there is still some of the drainage on the east portion of the land and I could probably tap in to it for my Greening the Earth deal if I can ever get that going. It might even help stop so much wash out of the road in that one part. I'll probably have to invest in some concrete to remedy that problem though because even though that part isn't my ;and I won't be able to get across a washed out ditch in the road when it gets that way.
I dont want to get a 911 adress. dont think I need one.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to get one, but if you don't then you don't get a postal address. You can get a PO box at the post office, but then when you want to do some business they won't accept PO boxes as addresses and won't do business. Also I think you can write off having deliveries made by UPS, FedEx and so on to your land. Could be the same for building supplies and stuff like that John gets delivered to his land.
ReplyDeleteI know Ups and fed ex doesnt deliver to Po boxes, but as far as delivery of materials I can get lowes to deliver as long as I am there to dirrect them in. In alaska I had the same problem. my property didnt have an adress but I had a mail box about 2 miles from my place. The DMV didnt like it that all I could give them was a rural rt number for my mailbox.
ReplyDeleteI guess you are right on the deliveries other than UPS and so on. Perhaps you could have stuff like that delivered to a neighbor that does have an address provided they would go for it. I probably would.
ReplyDeleteJust added a new topic and will probably add another one tomorrow.
Ive got 2 20 acre tracts in Terlingua ,,1 tract in the solitario and the other in cedar springs,,the ranch maps arent very accurate but local surveyors are expensive for a legal survey that will be added to the county deed,if anybody knows anybody that will do a legal survey on a 2 20 acres tracts ,for less then $4-500 a tract ,Im all ears,,Danny 713-444-7924 Biloxi MS
ReplyDeleteIm coming out to close on a tract in the next few weeks. How am I supposed to know how to get to my tract or even know where to go when I get to the lodge?
ReplyDeleteDid you figure out a way to find your tract?
DeleteDid you figure out a way to find your tract?
DeleteI just want to warn everyone to not to do business with a company called classic country land or liberty land or online land sales or scott wigginton. if you need details PM. There is currently a class action lawsuit beginning against this company. There is already a $200000 lien against all his properties in the State of Missouri.. Again PM me for details and if you want to join the lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a problem with DEER VALLEY in Missouri...land does not survey out properly, etc. Typical of this company. What lawfirm is handling the Class Action Suit? How can I contact them, etc.?
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