Property:Development:99.Terms

• HOA(US)¹⁾: HomeOwners Association. A private association formed by a real estate developer for the purpose of marketing, managing, and selling homes and lots in a residential subdivision.
• CID(US)²⁾: Common Interest Development (ie, Condominiums, with shared assets such as pools, stables, etc.)

* Conveyance³⁾: the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien.

• A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts (when equitable interests are created) and completion (also called settlement, when legal title passes and equitable rights merge with the legal title).

* Acre⁴⁾: 1 chain (66feet) by 1 furlong (600feet) = 10 square chains = 4,840 square yards = 43,560 square feet = 40% of a hectare. * Quarter Acre⁵⁾: traditional NZ suburban plot of land = 1000 sq.m.

• Note that this applies to the whole of NZ. Most Wellington plots are actually smaller: an 8th of an acre, with dimensions similar to 12.5x40m and other similar arrangements. A double section in Wellington would be a quarter section.

* Hectare⁶⁾: 100m x 100m = 10,000 m2 (about 2.47 acres per Hectare).

• So 1 hectare could contain nearly 10 quarter sections (ie: 20 1/8th acre sections!), two hectares could hold 20 quarter sections, and 3 hectares could contain 29 quarter sections… Of course, in WCC Rural, that would also take 150 years to develop (at a subdivision cadence of once per 5 years)…
• A hectare looks like this.

* Cadastre⁷⁾: the registrar of parcels, defined using metes and bounds, it's 'appelation', owner, rights, restrictions, responsibilities, etc. * Metes and bounds: the vertices and connecting edges used to define a parcel.

• Replaces older systems bound to natural places - that could shift over time…

* Appelation: the legal description of a parcel.

• Tract:
  • An irregular boundary of land defined by shifting rivers, etc.
  • Examples are: mines, reserves, etc.
• Plat⁸⁾⁹⁾: is a map which shows description, boundary, dimensions, location, closures, easements, servitudes, rights of way, access and record of a tract of land.

  • A plat shows property dimensions before improvements are made.
  • Generally, whereas Plats are for public records, Surveys are more for development purposes.

  * Survey¹⁰⁾:

  • Same as plat, but including property buildings (dwellings, auxiliary) and improvements (driveways, fences, pools).
  • Generally, whereas Plats are for public records, Surveys are more for development purposes.
• Parcel:
  • A parcel is a derivative, determined from a plat survey, and is of course the source of real estate information
    • To Verify: has no standing in the cadastral.
• Lot:
  • A lot (AE) is a colloquial term for a type of parcel, specifically for use as a building site.
  • “Bob bought a 60 *acre land parcel which he developed (by putting in streets and sewers) then divided into lots for people to buy and build homes on, along with easements for use of the roads, etc.” Plot:
• Ingress and Egress: the right to enter and leave a property (usually by one parcel boundary adjoining a public road).
• Landlocked: a property that does not provide access to the land without easement across other property.
• Easement: any form of agreement agreement between parcel owners to provide access across one parcel owner's to another's parcel. Can be restrictive (foot traffic only) or not.
  • Easements between parties must be recorded with the country clerk to give notice to future parties of their existence and terms.
• Trespass¹¹⁾: a common law tort/crime committed when an individual or the object of an individual intentionally/negligently enters the land of another without a lawful excuse. Trespass to land is actionable per se. Thus, the party whose land is entered upon may sue even if no actual harm is done.

  • Note: trespass for mesne (“mean”) [intermediate] profits is a suit against someone who has been ejected from property that did not belong to them (eg: squatters)to recover damages caused and/or any profit while in possession of the property.
  • Road Verge: the strip of land between sidewalks. Contains some grass and the road way.
  • Road way: the part of the road verge that is actually used by cars.

  * Purely US Terms:

  • Section(US): the term refers to a 1 square mile (65 hectares/160 acres) square within the US Standard Public Land Survey Model (PLSS)¹²⁾ system.

    • Quarter-Section(US): In the Homestead Act (1862), a “quarter-section” was allocated to each settler.
    • Quarter-Quarter-Section(US): quarter-sections were in turn often subdivided into 2 front and 2 back “quarter-quarter sections” of 40 acres / 16 hectares (hence “40 acres and a mule”).

• TBD

• Demolition: the removal of pre-existing structures.
• Grading: the flattening of the soil to become the pad on which the house is built.
• Retaining walls: …