Breaking up a plot of land (commission, fees, price, properties)

[coolbampu]

So I was always curious about the process of breaking up a piece of land. Lets say, I own a 100 acre property. But I now would like to break it down into two 50 acre properties and sell one of these portions, what is the process behind it.

Are there laws restricting land owners from breaking a piece of land? (My intuition tells me there must be many...) More importantly, what is the process? Is it a real painstaking, time and money consuming process? What are the guidelines to follow when doing something like this? Does it have a specific term that I can research more into?

I would be really interested to find out more about this and if any of you has actually done it in the past. Thanks!

[North Beach Person]

Call your local Planning and Zoning Department. Most places have a process but they are the only ones who can tell you what it would be.

[DMenscha]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This!

[Pfhtex]

P & Z, Permit if needed, get it surveyed into 2 (or more) parcels, register said parcels. If you have a loan on the property, you would ensure valuation, and refinance said loan onto a parcel with sufficient value to solely carry the loan.

[willow wind]

As noted above, check with planning and zoning and with state law. In some states, you can only do a single subdivide and then no more. Let's say you subdivide into two 50 acres parcels .Ten years down the road, you want to further divide your remaining 50 acres. You may not be able to. Depends on the state.

Check also if your 100 acres has already been subdivided off in recent years from some other much larger parcel.

The one big expense is the survey. This is expensive, very expensive ( thousands) . You'll need a two man crew at least and will take quite a while. If it's open fields bad enough, if it's hills, woods, swampy, etc. much longer and more expensive. Call a couple of land surveyors and get estimates before you proceed any further.

When the surveys are done, you record the surveys. Then you'll need an attorney to prepare what is know as a Schedule A or the legal description of the parcel you are going to sell.

So yes, it can get a bit involved, will be pricey .

[ETex2]

Depends on where it is located. If you have 100 acres, chances are it may be in an unincorporated area (not within the city limits of a municipality). In that case, planning and zoning probably has no control since there is no planning and zoning in most unincorporated areas. There are no doubt some kind of rules, such as county development guidelines. And there may be deed restrictions. At any rate, you will need to contact a surveyor, and the surveys must be recorded at the courthouse. The surveyor can probably guide you, if not contact county officials.

[Nell Plotts]

First go to the county, not a surveyor, to learn what laws you need to comply with. Then you need to consider why you want to subdivide and what resources should be in one parcel or the other. Don't just draw a perpendicular line from a road and call it good.

Then talk to a surveyor about their fees.

[Lacerta]

Not only are the rules different from one area to another, but they change over time too. On top of that, oftentimes the rules are different depending on what exactly you want to do with it (for example splitting off one lot into two vs doing a full subdivision). I agree with others that the only way to find out the answer is to ask at your local P&Z office or failing that, your county office.

[War Beagle]

Ditto what everyone said about checking with your local Planning department. The requirements will vary wildly by jurisdiction. There is a good chance you will need to get the property replatted if you subdivide. One of the main reasons for this is to ensure that no parcel is cut off from access to infrastructure such as roads.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I don't know what you do in your area, but here, I hire an engineering company to do the whole shebang. Everything has to be surveyed and there are environmental surveys required. I might have to put in roads and utilities. The engineering company is who does the plans for all that.

They do a lot of splits so know how to do the required paperwork and know the people at the zoning commission who will give the approval.

If I had 100 acres to split and wanted 50 for myself, I would split the other side into five 10 acre parcels. A 10 acre parcel will bring nearly as much as a 50 acre piece if it is being sold as residential. It's all large and it is all just one building site. People looking for Ranchettes like 10 acre parcels. Big enough for a horse and not too big to take care of.