I OWN PROPERTY ALONG A CREEK… What does Erosion and Accretion mean?

I am glad you asked. In many cases the creek is actually the property line and as you know creek can move over time. There are two processes that affect creek movement. Let’s define both:

Erosion: Erosion is the general name for the processes that break down rocks (weathering) and the processes that carry away the breakdown products (transportation). The physical processes of erosion are called corrasion or mechanical erosion; the chemical processes are called corrosion or chemical erosion. But most examples of erosion include some of both corrasion and corrosion.The agents of erosion are gravity, ice, water (eluvian erosion) and wind (eolian erosion). In the case of your land… the creek can eat into the bank and decrease that amount of land that you own!

Accretion: Slow addition to land caused by the deposit of water-borne sediments. An increase of land along the shores of a body of water, as by alluvial deposit. In the case of your land, the deposit on the inside of a bend of the creek or river is building up over time and increasing the amount of land that you own.

WHY IS THIS OF INTEREST?  If your property as along a body of water such as a creek or river, you can either lose or gain property i.e. if the centerline of the creek is your property line and the creeks moves, your property line can move as well !!

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at      (706) 457-0090

I Am Buying LAND, What Do I Need To Know About Zoning!

I can not cover every county so I have decided to pick one county to illustrate the nuances related to zoning issues. These can be very important if you are buying rural, undeveloped land. For instance, you might buy a tract of land for recreational purposes with the intent to subdivide the property later on. As an example, let’s look at Meriwether County, Georgia. Regulation and Ordinances are monitored and enforced through the department of Planning and Zoning. There are several zoning classifications in the county:

R-1 (Residential) – minimum of 1 acre, requires public water

RD (Residential) – minimum of 2 acres, must have 200 feet of frontage

LDR(Low Density Residential)- minimum of 5 acres, must have 200 feet of frontage

RR(Rural Residential)- minimum of 10 acres, must have 275 feet of frontage

A-1 (Agricultural)- minimum 25 acres, must have 350 feet of frontage

As you can see, there are requirements related to minimum tract size and amount of road frontage needed for each classification. If you bought 30 acres that was zoned ‘agriculture’ for the purpose of splitting into 2 tracts, you could run into zoning issues because there is a 25 acre minimum.  Most counties allow you apply for a zoning variance. These take time and can cost a few dollars.

If the county is very populated and has large cities, the zoning issues become a lot more cumbersome and restrictive. For instances, Troup County which contains Lagrange has more restrictions than Meriwether County. Troup County zoning regulations have 11 different  zoning classifications for residents. They even have requirements related to minimum square footage.

The take away point, go into the transaction with your eyes wide open and be sure and use a Realtor who is knowledgeable about land use issues and zoning!

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at      (706) 457-0090

What is GIS (Geographic Information System)?

A geographic information system is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data. GIS systems are used by mining companies, timber companies, state and county officials, land use planners and the list goes on and on. The system has become a very integral part of study of geography and geography majors exit school with a detailed working knowledge of these systems.

   What are they used for?  In simplest terms it a data base containing information and data that is tied to a spatial dimension. For example, there might me a timber cruise associated with a specific stand of trees. Another example would be an estimate of the tons of coal related to a mineral ownership.

   How I use them?  I use MyTopo.com. I have the entire topographic layer for the state of Georgia and Alabama. I have a subscription to access aerial photography for these two states. If I draw a tract boundary in, when I toggle to another background layer, all my features are there. These features include waypoints, tracks, labels etc. I can use my Garmin GPS and walk around a stand of trees or a property boundary and import that GPS shapefile. As you can see there are many applications.

   A GIS system is made up of layers. The type and kind of layers depend on the end-user purpose. The type of layers I am most familiar with would be: streets, topographic maps, aerial photography, forest type maps etc. There are many systems out there, they range in price from free to thousands of dollars.

   Your Realtor should have access to these type tools. You might be evaluating a tract that has several different type of trees. It would be helpful if you knew how many acres in each stand. You might need to know the acres in a pecan orchard, row crops, size of a lake, size of the watershed. You can readily see there are many applications.

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at      (706) 457-0090

Trends in Land Prices....What are Land Prices Doing?

Well it’s the beginning of a new year and this year like other years gives me a chance to review the numbers and reflect back. By far the most frequent questions I get are….”What are LAND prices doing?....When will LAND prices come back?” The first question is easy; the second question requires a crystal ball and I don’t have one!

Let’s begin by looking at the numbers in the above chart.  Don’t get too caught up in the exact number, trends are more important. I work west central Georgia and I picked three counties I am most active in, Meriwether, Talbot and Harris Counties. I looked at sales on tracts of 20 acres and up. These counties are close to Columbus. There was limited data for 2012 and quite a bit for 2013. As you can see from the chart above, we had precipitous drops year over year until we reached 2012. There appears to be a flattening of prices. Statistically speaking, I am not sure we had a decrease in 2013. Actually there was a lot of activity early in 2013, but things seemed to slow later in the year. I feel like and the data suggests we are at the bottom i.e. we did not see a real decrease from 2012 to 2013.

What’s next? The real estate gurus and professional journals suggest things are getting better. Certainly, housing is improving and in certain metropolitan areas, prices overall are improving. Specific markets are seeing 2005-06 prices again. Well…what about land? Land generally tracks housing, i.e. there is a lag between housing and land. When the demand outpaces supply, developers begin buying land and building houses. I believe we are headed in the right direction. I believe we will see a moderately busy year in land sales. Certainly we are all anxious for an improving market and I believe we are at the doorstep!!!!

FOR SELLERS.... I hope and believe we will begin to see some price improvement before the end of the year. There is a lot of pinned up demand and this will help drive prices. 

FOR BUYERS.... the stars are aligned. We have had 6 years of price reductions and I am not expecting prices to go any lower. Now is the time to buy!

For Information on  buying or  selling  land,  contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF   at                  (706) 457-0090

Real Estate Ownership....What Are my Bundle of Rights?

Question: What is The Bundle of Legal Rights of a Real Estate Owner?

Answer: Owning real estate carries with it a traditional "bundle of legal rights" transferred with the property from seller to buyer. These are the recognized rights of the holder of title to the property and include:

•  the right of possession - the property is owned by whomever holds title;
•  the right of control - within the laws, the owner controls the use of the property;
•  the right of exclusion - others can be excluded from using or entering the property;
•  the right of enjoyment - the owner can enjoy the use of the property in any legal manner; and
• the right of disposition - the title holder can sell, rent or transfer ownership or use of the property at will

Actually your ownership of real estate extends from the center of the earth and includes all the airspace above. Over time some of these other interest have been excluded such as the mineral rights and the air space. For example, commercial and military air traffic are permitted to fly over your property.

Ownership of land is holding "title" to it. The evidence of that title is the deed. The seller executes a deed to transfer title to real property and the bundle of rights that go with it.  Examples of deeds include: Warranty Deeds, Limited or Statutory Warranty Deeds or Quit Claim Deeds. To know exactly what you own or are buying have a real estate attorney examine the chain of title or provide a title abstract!

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at      (706) 457-0090