Tired of spending hours plotting deeds? Plot deeds in seconds with Deed Reader Pro! Deed Reader Pro is the next generation of deed plotting software that automates the tedious and boring task of plotting deeds.
Plotting deeds is easily my least favorite part of the office work, especially when the handwriting on the old documents is rough. If this can cut down the manual entry time even by half, it's a win. I'll have to give the trial a spin on the next messy description that lands on my desk.
I can attest the software is a nice tool to have in the tool bag. I like to use it as a check against myself for legal description closure.
Saw the demo and was offered a free trial back then. Sounds amazing.is it certified through NSPS? IIRC translates cursive for the younger people and can interpret going over a monument on a deed line
Maybe I'm being nostalgic, but using COGO to enter deeds was always one of my favorite tasks. Of course, building a mosaic and doing analysis is even more fun. I'm not saying the task shouldn't be automated, just saying for me in particular, I did not mind it.
@ryn_lance to try the free 30 day trial just download from www.deedreaderpro.com/download
If you have any questions or feedback let me know.
@tnt yes it can transcribe the old handwritten cursive deeds now and brings in all monuments and adjoiners into the plots and CAD.
To be a professional land surveyor, one needs to follow the footsteps of each preceeding surveyor by follwing the written trail. When you are working on a tract that was once described to the nearest degree or quarter degree, you soon realize you aren't rebuilding a pocket watch.
100%, there is a lot more to a deed than numbers. You can find a lot of useful information not contained in the numbers. With that said, we map countless deeds that are simply bearing and distance. This would be a great benefit in those situations.Maybe I'm being nostalgic, but using COGO to enter deeds was always one of my favorite tasks. Of course, building a mosaic and doing analysis is even more fun. I'm not saying the task shouldn't be automated, just saying for me in particular, I did not mind it.
@wa-id-surveyor Deed Reader Pro brings in more than just the numbers. It also brings in and plots all monuments descriptions and adjoiners as I shown in this deed plot generated by Deed Reader Pro from the attached deed.
By following this site and its predecessors I learned of how things are done in Texas, which is much different than elsewhere. What we would normally refer to as the legal description is what they call a survey report. Basically, every monument found on corners, or on line, or near the line are called out in this report along with the assumed or definite description as to all measurements of the monument, monument type, possibly having been set on a specific date by a specific surveyor as shown in document VVVRT--56-789 on file in a specific location. They are reporting basically everything they know about the subject tract, including prior surveys of record, etc., etc., etc. There is a very slim chance that the results reported will be identical to what has been previously reported for the tract or of the parent tract from which the subject tract is being severed. The words in the report are far more important than the numbers in the report.
That is nearly 180 degrees opposed to a world where the numbers are gospel. Many of us work in that world. We carry all of what we learned or considered in our files and in our memories, not within the description we create. Some metes and bounds descriptions are a version of these two, very different worlds.
Recently, I had occasion to study over a current survey where metes were being used to identify boundaries previously described as aliquot parts of a PLSS section. The idealest surveyor would have gone stark raving nuts, arguing that the prior surveys of record, used by the current surveyor are absolute garbage and should be ignored completely. For example the east line of the southeast quarter of the section was within a foot of the GLO record of 80 chains for that half mile. The east line of the Northeast quarter of the section was 127 feet in excess of the GLO record of 80 chains for that half mile and about four degrees off from the bearing of the east line of the southeast quarter. As that area of aliquots and sub-aliquots had been surveyed by prior surveyors, numbers that might normally be on the order of 330 feet might be shown as being 273 feet one place and 400 feet somewhere else. Definitely not true divisions of what the magic words in the historical description said. Absolute chaos would have been set in motion involving dozens of existing tracts if the current surveyor had shown up to simply shoot the four principal corners of the section, ignored all prior suveyors and their monuments and starting setting "true" corners based on perfect subdividing based on the words in the description provided by the client.
I’ve been looking at the website for this deed plotting software, and it sounds like a great tool.
I’m new to surveying and have spent the last year or two learning how to do deed research, find deeds, and read legal descriptions. I’m still not very strong at plotting them yet. I’m currently taking a survey drafting course that teaches Civil 3D, but the business I’m working with uses Trimble Business Center and Trimble equipment removed link
That has been a little challenging for me because I’ll practice something in Civil 3D, then try to relate it back to TBC, or vice versa, and the workflow does not always feel seamless. I’m not sure if that is just part of the normal learning curve or if others run into the same issue when moving between platforms.
My main question is about deed plotting specifically. For someone still learning, would it be better to keep doing deed plotting the old-fashioned/manual way for a while so I really understand the process, or is there no real downside to using software like this as a learning/checking tool?
I can see the value, especially for checking closure, saving time, and working through difficult descriptions. I just do not want to skip over fundamentals that I should be learning by hand first.
I’d appreciate any opinions from the professionals here on whether a newer person should use this type of tool early on, or wait until they have more manual plotting experience.
Reading, understanding, computing and following a deed chain is essential. Use the programs to check yourself if you want to stay up with the technology. Also, continue asking questions here. The people in here are from all over the world and, usually, eager to help!
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Typing class 9th grade!
A significant issue in writing descriptions is defining the math without defining the corners well. For example, thence S 00 degrees 11 minutes, 27 seconds E, 385.31 feet; thence .................... The actual intent is to follow the east block line to the southeast corner of the block. Add those words into the description every time.