Shortcuts on something like this could really backfire. While the idea of spending $800-$2000 sounds expensive, how much is knowing you own the vacant lots next to your house worth? Probably worth it in the long run. If I could buy a vacant lots in my neighborhood for that much I would spend as much money as I could get my hands on!
You mentioned oil. Are they leasing residential lots in town for drilling? I looked at google maps but which corner are you referring to? NW or SW?
Thank you sir for your reply Mr.AB
i understand it is alot of work and time ,i was just thinking out loud
but here where i live we have seen prices go so high you thought you were living in Dallas ,Houston. with all this oil boom. we have never seen any thing like there before so i spoke like i felt
Thank you again Texas Lady,,,
yes they are leasing residential lots,, Kitchen
I looked at the google earth map. since this is a corner lot I think it less likley that this could be a remainder of a larger tract. I think it most likley that it was platted at the same time as the other lots adjacent to it. You ought to be able to find out when your lot was subdivided from what ever larger parcel it was originally in. Usually a land record will tell the book and page of the original tract. if its un-recorded it will be hard. You might also try looking at the deed records for other lots in your neighborhood, you could stumble on a plat map that shows a larger area
Thank you Mr. Grubbs
so i go to the county appraisal or the county clerk at the court house i went to the city hall and their maps are in bad shape there coming apart .
If an oil company is leasing residential lots, their landmen will do the title search. Let them spend the time and money. They probably are well aware of who is the owner of the mentioned properties. They are real good at tracking down owners and heirs.
The inquiry was how to secure title in her name, not whether she is the record title owner. If I were her I’d get something filed of record beforehand.
Hello my friends i went to talk to the city manager and they want for me to get a surveyor ,but what i don`t know should they measure the whole property since its just beside my property or only the the one they can`t tell who it belongs to , it`s so weird that i `ve gone to so many people and nobody seems to know who it belongs to i even went to the school since i live across the school and nothing . which i also paid for a title search and he didnt find anything either.
so i going to talk to a surveyor to do his measuring but i didn`t know if it would be better to go ahead and survey the whole property? need your help guys !...Texas Lady
T L,
I would have him survey your existing property and also the property in question adjoining yours.
Clint Liles
Texas Lady,
If a person you paid to do a "title search" didn't find that the city owns the tract of land, then what authority do you think the city has over the issue?
Austin
i dont know it`s because i live inside the city limits ,i guess
Texas Lady ..
what would you do if you couldn`t find the answer to who owns it?
Because your property lies on the "edge" of town, I would suspect if the city does not own the road, then it is possible that the tract for the road was originally deeded to the county (even if it now lies within the city limits). In Kansas we frequently saw these types of instruments filed as a deed, ROW, easement, or filed as a "Road Petition". Whoever is running the title should search the Abstract for all instruments that deed to city, county, and state and see if they can find where the road was conveyed. Often times in Kansas they would deed it to the "Board of County Commissioners for x County". Does the county have a surveyor employed (public employee)? That might be a good place to start if you believe it may have been originally deeded to the county.
Hi Kitchen ,
thank you for your reply , the title co. did a search you see back in 1981 they did a flood levee from the refinery around our property all around behind school , i ask the county appraisal about that but they check and nothing came up
i wish i just could fix this up i have been going to the court house going through books there are like 3-5 different maps of the city they all show different graphs it`s a amazing not one is the same ,
Kitchen ; i`m going to try to get a surveyor and go ahead and survey our property and that existing land .
do you think it`s a good idea to do that ? ,,Texas Lady
I’m not sure your problem would require a survey at this point, but you might get some great information by talking to a surveyor in the area who is familiar with situations like that.
should i go and talk to a lawyer and see what he/she thinks before i get a surveyor? i`ve spent money already and no one seems to know , i have proof that they have search and maps which they are all different . i guess i will put a fence and make it mine ,but i just don`t know how far out i have to put the fence.
..Texas Lady
Texas Lady,
There has been a wealth of information given from a broad cross-section of professionals across 5 entire pages. Several people have outlined set-by-step guidance for you as well.
Unfortunately, there are no short cuts. A sixth, seventh or eighth opinion will not be better news. This is pretty "plain & vanilla" legal concepts. You have to find the previous owner (no matter what people say, there is one and it shouldn't be hard for a professional to find), then you take steps to either cure title, or make an adverse possession strategy. Survey, legal help, landman help to find records. This is just what it takes.
The city has no say in who owns the property, unless THEY own the property. The school across the street has no say in who owns the property, unless THEY own the property.
Austin
Texas Lady said early on that the original owner (a woman) was dead but that the daughter of that original owner indicated that the property in question does belong to Texas Lady. She said she said, but nothing on paper.
Austin Brister said:
Texas Lady,
There has been a wealth of information given from a broad cross-section of professionals across 5 entire pages. Several people have outlined set-by-step guidance for you as well.
Unfortunately, there are no short cuts. A sixth, seventh or eighth opinion will not be better news. This is pretty "plain & vanilla" legal concepts. You have to find the previous owner (no matter what people say, there is one and it shouldn't be hard for a professional to find), then you take steps to either cure title, or make an adverse possession strategy. Survey, legal help, landman help to find records. This is just what it takes.
The city has no say in who owns the property, unless THEY own the property. The school across the street has no say in who owns the property, unless THEY own the property.
Austin
Thank you fayettenative and Austin
yes i have talk to the only living daughter of the previous owner of our property and existing land that we want to own ,she still says it belongs to us but she her self doesn`t have any proof either only by mouth . she said it all belong to her parents since 1940 when i paid for a title search they did see that owner Mr. & Mrs. XXX had own that part then it was sold to us . but then even check back into before 1940 and it was a huge part of land over 10,000 acres which it was given to the county by tracts then sold to city in lots ,but the county appraisal has no record of it . it shows our property but that existing part of land that we want ,,doesn`t exist! it`s there where you can see it but not on the maps , they are all amazed with this ,, so i probably will be going to a lawyer ,What would you do if it was happening to you ? Texas Lady.
The problem going to a lawyer first is, not only is he going to charge you for his services, he will also have to utilize many (if not all) of the methods we recommended earlier, also at your expense, possibly more expense than going to those people yourself.
My suggestion would be to find the oldest surveyor in the county, or the one most experienced with your area. They will have the best resources to put to use here. You will need a surveyor anyway. It would seem to me that when your tract and the adjoining parcels were split out of the original tracts that this area would have been noted in some way in the surveys. If all of the adjoining parcels do not add up to the existing acerage then somehow this snippet of land has truly fallen thru the net. This is a very interesting problem and one that will crop up again. As we move from the era of hand held surveys done with chains and leveled instruments to full digital county wide data bases linked to cm accurate survey data we will find more of these. So it will be good to know how to fix them.