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MCAO > Module 2: Legal Descriptions and Land Valuation > Flashcards

Module 2: Legal Descriptions and Land Valuation Flashcards

1
Q

What is the way and means by which real property, or real estate, is legally identified,
conveyed, assessed, and taxed?

A

Legal Descriptions.

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2
Q

What does an assessor use to determine that all land subject to taxation within their jurisdiction is identified and taxed on the tax roll?

A

Legal Descriptions.

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3
Q

A legal tax description must be constructed in such a way that it can be correctly and easily determined by who?

A

Tax Officials

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4
Q

What are the common types of legal descriptions?

A

Rectangular survey
Meets & Bounds
Platted
Condominium
(a 5th less common type - Private Claims)

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5
Q

The term “legal description” as used by an assessor refers to what?

A

The legally accepted description or definition of a parcel of land.

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6
Q

What type of legal descriptions are part of a system of rectangles established to locate and identify parcel boundaries?

A

Rectangular Survey

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7
Q

What is the cardinal rule to read a rectangular survey description (to find it on a map)?

A

Backwards

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8
Q

How many sections is each township divided into?

A

36

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9
Q

What type of legal descriptions are sometimes referred to as bearings and distance, where land is described using local geographical features in combination with directions and distances?

A

Metes and Bounds

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10
Q

A metes and bounds description must always “close”, meaning what?

A

It must end at the same point it began

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11
Q

What type of description refers to a specific lot number and subdivsion name or lot, block and caption of the plat?

A

Platted

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12
Q

A condominium is not a lot or a building but it is a form of what?

A

Ownership

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13
Q

What type of legal description are references to government honored land titles give to settlers prior to US sovereignty?

A

Private Claims

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14
Q

What are the instances where land is specifically exempt from ad valorem taxes and is excluded from a legal tax roll description?

A

Railroad Rights of Way
Public Highway Rights of Way
County Drain Rights of Way

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15
Q

What is a six mile square area of land containing 36 sections which is numbered according to its position either North or South of the base line?

A

Town

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16
Q

What is a vertical column of townships in the Public Land Survey System, of six mile square units east or west from the principle meridian?

A

Range

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17
Q

What is a one square mile block of land containing 640 acres and comprises of one thirty-sixth (1/36) of a township?

A

Section

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18
Q

Due to the curvature of the Earth and slight errors in measurements made during the original surveys, not all sections are a regulation 640 acres, to compensate for the discrepancies, what are the odd-sized subdivisions referred to as?

A

Fractional quarters

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19
Q

How many acres are in a non-fractional section?

A

640

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20
Q

How many square feet in an acre?

A

43,560

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20
Q

What are special subdivision of land which were created when rivers or lakes prevented the subdivsion of a section into regular 40 or 160 acre tracts called?

A

Government Lot

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21
Q

A traverse line that runs along the margin of a stream or lake and is not generally a boundary in the usual sense as the bank itself typically marks the limits of the survey is called what?

A

Meander line

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22
Q

How many feet in a Rod?

A

16.5

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23
Q

Calculate the number of acres in this description:
Commencing at the SW corner, then North 10 rods, East 16 rods, South 10 rods, West 16 rods to Point of Beginning.

A

1 acre
(10 x 16.5 = 165) x (16 x 16.5 = 264)
(165 x 264 = 43,560)

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24
Q

How many acres in the N1/2 of NW1/4 of NW1/4?

A

20 Acres

25
Q

This is one of the more common types of errors found in an assessment roll and occurs when a parcel is described on the assessment roll twice, either in its entirety or in part, such as when one parcel description overlaps another?

A

Twice Assessed

26
Q

Non-contiguous lots must have what?

A

Separate tax descriptions

27
Q

What are some of the physical characteristics you must consider when establishing land values?

A

Location, size, view, frontage on lake/river, topography, shape, existing vegetation, soil, available utilities, unusual site preparation costs

27
Q

What is a unique number that identifies a specific parcel and helps to easily and readily identify descriptions which are listed on the assessment roll and have been plotted on the tax map?

A

Parcel Identification Number (PIN)

28
Q

What line maps showing the current parcel and usually have roads, section boundaries, rivers, villages, or cities?

A

Tax Maps

29
Q

What are the general forces you must consider when establishing land values?

A

Economic
Social
Environmental
Governmental (zoning & deed restrictions)

30
Q

In establishing land values, you must consider what 2 things?

A

General forces and physical characteristics

31
Q

What methods are available for the land valuation process?

A

Sales comparison
Allocation
Extraction
Subdivision development
Income capitalization techniques

32
Q

Land values should generally be applied as what?

A

Calculated

33
Q

What is essential before recording sales information on maps or in a spreadsheet format for analysis as part of the mass appraisal process?

A

Verification of sales information

34
Q

What unit of comparison considers all land in a parcel and can be used to value all types of land?

A

Square foot

34
Q

Selecting the proper what, is important in gaining an understanding of how the market is behaving and is an important part of a land value analysis?

A

Unit of comparison

35
Q

Calculate the sales price per front foot given the information below:
Sale price: $46,500
Front feet: 85

A

$547

36
Q

What unit of comparison is the lineal distance that a lot (usually referring to an urban or suburban lot) borders on a street or water and is typically expressed in feet?

A

Front Foot

37
Q

Calculate the sales price per front foot given the information below:
Sale price: $45,000
Front feet: 75

A

$600

38
Q

What unit of comparison is used when the market does not indicate a difference in site or lot value even when there is a difference in lot size?

A

Site

39
Q

What unit of comparison is used as a unit of comparison when valuing large land areas?

A

Acre

40
Q

Selecting an inappropriate unit of comparison can lead to what?

A

Faulty results

41
Q

In the mass appraisal process, regardless of the unit of comparison selected, you must also give consideration what is setting the land value for a parcel?

A

Adjustments for positive and negative influences

42
Q

What are values that lie outside the range of values formed by the majority of other sales?

A

Outliers

43
Q

Generally, what kind of weight should unexplained outlier sales be given in determining land values?

A

Little

44
Q

When there is a lack of sales information, what should the assessor do?

A

Use sales outside of the normal time frame
Use sales from outside of the area (with adjustments)

45
Q

What is a technique to identify and measure adjustments to sales prices or rents of comparable properties?

A

Paired sales analysis

46
Q

Sale 1, for $27,000, is a vacant lot located in subdivision A. The assessor is trying to establish land values for subdivision A. Sale 2, for $25,000, is a vacant lot located in subdivision B which is similar to subdivision A. (Method 1)

A

(Method 1)
0.08 or 8.0%
(($27,000/$25,000) - 1) = 1.08
1.08 - 1 = 0.08 or 8%

47
Q

Sale 1, for $27,000, is a vacant lot located in subdivision A. The assessor is trying to establish land values for subdivision A. Sale 2, for $25,000, is a vacant lot located in subdivision B which is similar to subdivision A.

A

(Method 2)
$27,000 - $25,000 = $2,000
2,000/25,000 = 0.08 or 8%

48
Q

True or False
Actual front foot is always the same as the Effective Front Foot (EFF)?

A

False
- adjustment may be make for depth factors or different front and back footage

49
Q

What is used to allow for a uniform amount per front foot to be used to value parcels of different depths by adjusting for differences?

A

Depth Factor

50
Q

What is the depth factor formula?

A

DF = actual depth/standard depth

51
Q

Using the information below, calculate the depth factor
Actual lot depth: 150
Front Foot: 75
Standard Depth: 120

A

150/120 = 1.12

52
Q

A lot deeper than the standard depth lot will usually have (more or less) value than a lot with a standard depth?

A

More

53
Q

A lot that has less depth than the standard depth lot will usually have (more or less) value than a lot with a standard depth?

A

Less

54
Q

In what land value method does the assessor first determine a typical ratio of land value to total property value (or building value) for the specific type of property being appraised and then infers land value for the subject property or properties by applying that ratio?

A

Allocation Method

55
Q

In what land value method does the assessor estimate the depreciated cost of improvements and subtract it from the sale price of an improved property leaving an estimate of the value of the land?

A

Extraction or Abstraction Method

56
Q

General factors that influence agricultural land values include what?

A

Length of growing season
Precipitation
Proximity to and type of markets
Proximity to and type of transportation
Topography

57
Q

Specific factors that influence agricultural land values include what?

A

Productivity of soil
Slope
Drainage
Management practices
Parcel size and shape
Quality and availability of water

MCAO (4 decks)

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