Deed description exception

I'll comment on only one small part of your question. You mention "coordinates". I see no coordinates. I see phrases like South 05°58'35" West. That's a direction. It means starting from south, move the pointer 05°58'35"toward the west. In other words, it's an azimuth of 185°58'35" in a system where north is 0° and east is 90°. It's up to you to figure out whether that's true north or magnetic north.

What Ashton said is correct. Those are directions, not coordinates.

I must say that it always dismays us surveyors that a person would first plunk down big money on 65-ish acres of land and then try to figure out what he just bought. It happens all the time. I did it myself before I began surveying.

Describing your property as a half of a quarter of a section is perfectly valid, but it doesn't say anything about the precise dimensions of the section, and thus those of its fractions. We usually assume that the sections are close to square and of nominal dimensions as a starting point, but it is evident from the bearings quoted for the exceptions that yours is somewhat irregular. Section lines are ideally due north/south and east west - they are
typically within a half degree or so of being so in the places I have
practiced - yours are 5 degrees off that. I have heard that that is
common in the UP due to the high iron content of the earth there and the
fact that the magnetic compass was used to do the original surveys.

Otherwise, you have lucked out and have a fairly straightforward description of your land there. Which a surveyor could readily work from. But a deed sketch using data from the deed alone is not going to be possible. Also, there evidently is a road cutting across the described area which the description offers little detail about.

Wow. You guys definitely amaze me. I never said anything about how many acres I own, but in a matter of minutes you just looked at it an knew.

Like I said, I have been able to enter the first two exceptions but the 80 acres only drops down to 70 something acres. How did you take that last exception and come up with my 65 acres? I'm just entering this info into a deed plotter to get a reference to boundaries. Nothing exact.

Thank you all again. 🙂

How did you take that last exception and come up with my 65 acres?

That last exception is a bit over 9 acres by my figures.

Do not assume that the E1/2 of the NE 1/4 is exactly 80 acres. It isn't. That is the ideal, but the ideal never happens. It may be more or it may be less. The difference could be measured in acres.

I guess my question is, how do I enter that last exception into a deed plotter without knowing more information?

You can't. You either need to find another record that shows or describes the roadway in a manner that is plottable or you need to go out and measure the road yourself (or hire a surveyor) and try to combine that information with the rest of the deed description to get the full picture.

I looked at Chippewa County's online GIS (geographic information system). This parcel is shown, but the GIS lines don't entirely agree with the legal description. Two of the three Exceptions seem to be omitted. So it would not be helpful to post an image of the online map.

It may be that the County, or a contractor they have engaged, is not keeping the GIS up to date with land transactions.

In the fourth line from the bottom of the description, there is a course described as "..South 03-40-36 along said centerline of Paholka Road.." The GIS map shows Paholka Road as running along the east line of the section, and this line is nowhere near it. So the call for the road centerline on this course seems to be an error.

In the tax information about the parcel, there is mention of a survey by Rogers Land Surveying. However, the property lines are likely to have changed since that survey was performed.

Craig, I think you ought to call in a local surveyor and get an updated survey of your parcel. You might also have the surveyor look over the legal descriptions, both the present one and the preceding ones. Since Rogers has done some previous work in the area, they will have information that would make the job a little easier.

An updated survey will not be free, but it will cost a lot less than what you paid for the property. And it will also cost a lot less than the legal problems you might run into through not knowing where your property lines are.

A survey is in effect a permanent improvement to your property. It will be good indefinitely, as long as the corner markers don't get knocked out.

Your parcel has some very long boundary lines running through woods or brush. In the course of having an updated survey done, you might ask the surveyor to set some extra markers along those lines. It is not possible for a property owner to run a straight line a quarter mile or half mile through trees and/or brush between corner markers. Survey equipment is needed to do that.

I think land in the UP can be pretty cheap, depending...and accessibility and terrain doesn't always look easy. I think you could easily pay as much for a survey as you did for the land in some areas.

But, the comment as being cheaper than the legal woes is almost certain. Shooting game and cutting trees on other people's land can get expensive.