John A. Yoegel, PhD, is a certified real estate instructor and former board member of the Real Estate Educators Association. Specific directional references are needed in the actual description to locate a particular piece of property, but for finding out how large a particular piece of property is, only the fractions matter. It is considered as one of the most significant subdividing of the United States mainland. The legal description of the property's location usually begins with the state and the principal meridian number followed by the township information. As the United States grew from its original 13 colonies, a system was needed to identify who owned what land. The second row down continues being numbered west to east or left to right. The range lines run north and south parallel to the principal meridians. 27 chapters | Just because they are referred to as government lots does not mean the government owns the land they contain. 276 lessons )\r\nThe description probably would include the state and county in which the property is located and use abbreviations. Same as term government rectangular survey: Way in which the U.S. government uses to subdivide public land. Youre likely to see at least a few questions on the real estate license exams on calculating the area of part of a section, and youll also see questions about terminology and some of the measurements that the rectangular survey system uses. D. Rectangular government survey C Jacob is a developer who purchased 78 acres and had it subdivided into halfacre lots. Novation in Real Estate | Novation of Contract. The numbering continues directly beneath the sixth section, except that it progresses from left to right on the second tier. It is also known as the rectangular survey system and geodetic survey system. \"https://sb\" : \"http://b\") + \".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\";el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el);})();\r\n","enabled":true},{"pages":["all"],"location":"footer","script":"\r\n
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Its worth noting; quadrangles are not used when identifying land with the rectangular survey method, only the principal meridians, baselines, and townships and sections. The numbering then moves from right to left across that first upper tier. Dummies helps everyone be more knowledgeable and confident in applying what they know. The system was created by Thomas Jefferson in 1785. This system is also needed to divide all of the lands in the public domain which is possessed by the US federal government to benefit the American citizens. The legal description includes the state name, the meridian name, the township and range directions, and usually the section number. It will serve as the basis for surveys of government in a specified area under its jurisdiction. The federal government developed the rectangular survey system, or government survey method, to simplify and standardize property descriptions as a replacement for the cumbersome and often inaccurate metes and bounds method. A section of ground is one mile on all sides, which means it is a one-mile square. The three legal real estate land descriptions are important information that all real estate agents and brokers must understand to pass their real estate exam and receive their license. Attachments & Severance in Real Estate: Definitions, Examples & Laws. Rectangular Government Survey. The range lines run north and south parallel to the principal meridians. (This description refers to a 10-acre parcel of land. Each one square mile section is 640 acres. Beginning with the Seven Ranges in present-day Ohio, the PLSS has been used as the primary survey method in the United States. )\r\nFiguring out the size of a piece of property, which sometimes is called a parcel, is simple, if you keep in mind that youre always dealing with a section of 640 acres. Also, the meets and bounds system is used to describe land by listing the compass directions and distances of the boundaries. Principal meridians, baselines, and where they intersect (cross each other) are used as the basis for formulating property descriptions in this system. The strips of land they form are known as township tiers. Since nothing is perfect, some sections of land ended up being larger or smaller than they should. Learn the basic methodology, and real-world adjustments. For the real estate exam, youll need to know the two primary survey methods. So, you can refer to the south (S) 1/2 of the northwest (NW) 1/4 of a section in a township, for example. The earliest land surveys in Minnesota were conducted under the jurisdiction of the Surveyor General of Iowa and Wisconsin, headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa.