The Outdoors

By Scott Rall, Outdoors Columnist

This is part 3 of the public lands acquisition process I started a few weeks back. We covered how a parcel is selected and how these sales originate. Appraisals are then completed and surveys finished and then reviewed by a second party.

After these are finalized, you can actually get close to having the seller and buyer sign a purchase agreement. But there are still a few more steps until that takes place. Once the survey is completed, both parties now know the exact number of acres that will be changing hands. If the survey indicated a change in those acres the appraisal will need to be updated. If the survey shows 1.2 acres more than originally thought the appraiser will determine what did that 1.2 additional acres consist of. Was it 1.2 acres more tillable ground or was it 1.2 acres of say road right of way? The value of those additional 1.2 acres will be determined and the appraisal will be updated to the new total acres and the corresponding value of that additional 1.2 acres will be added to the appraised value.

But what if the survey showed that there was actually 1.2 acres less than originally thought? Then the appraiser will reduce the appraised value by that 1.2 acres. So, we are getting pretty close. The next step is a title opinion. A title opinion is completed by an attorney who will research the title of the property to ensure the seller has a marketable title. Marketable title is a title clear of any defects that allows for the smooth transfer of the property. Most titles are considered marketable but others will have issues that need to be resolved before closing. A determination is made as to whether there are any major issues. If there are none, then a purchase agreement is completed and the deal then becomes solid. Neither party can back out or change their minds after the Purchase Agreement is drafted and signed by both parties.

What issues can make a title not marketable? Boy this list can be 100 pages long but some common ones include issues related to a divorce. Ownership might be still listed in the name of a deceased person and documents will  need to be corrected. An example might be a property owned by a brother and a sister and one of them has since died but their name was either never removed from the title or their beneficiaries name was never added to the title. Some title defects will hold up the signing of a purchase agreement, others will not. The seller is required in the purchase agreement to provide a marketable title and any title defects will become the responsibility of the seller to fix.

I have seen title issues arise on a property where the issue dates back to when the land was sold three prior owners ago. In many cases the estate of those folks has long been closed and in some cases, they need to be re-opened and have an estate executor named in order to sign documents for the deceased person dating back 30 years or more. Title issues can certainly be challenging, but I have never seen one that could not be fixed. Most are just little things, and every once in a while you run into a doozy.

There is one last step that follows the executed purchase agreement and that is a review of the appraisal by a third party. This is done to ensure prudent expenditures of state money. We do not complete the appraisal review until the purchase agreement is signed because of the costs involved, and there is no reason to spend those funds if the deal would fall apart for any other possible causes before the purchase agreement is signed. Depending on value of the parcel, an appraisal review can take anywhere from three weeks to five months. The wheels of progress can grind really slowly when government agencies are involved.

Next week we will finally get to the end zone of a public land acquisition process, but there is still a fair amount of work to do before you can hang your hat on a job well done.

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If you have any questions, reach out to me at scottarall@gmail.com.