In Part I of this article we looked at the general information on a plat of survey.  Now lets look a the drawing itself.  We find that the lines representing property lines are drawn with bearings and distances indicated with each line drawn.  These are usually drawn and then each line is annotated with bearing and distance.  An example of bearing and distance might be N 66° 0′ 0″ E  1245.01′.  This can be read more descriptively as North 66 degrees 0 minutes and 0 seconds for a distance of 1245.01 feet.   The distance is easy to understand but the direction might use some more explanation.

You can probably remember your high school teacher expounding on angles in terms of degrees.   You may recall them articulating that a circle is composed of 360 degrees.  You may have had a boy scout compass on which direction was expressed in an azimuth of anywhere from 0 to 360 degrees.  While most of us are familiar with degrees, many are not familiar with bearings.  Look at the figure below.  You will see three directions displayed as degrees in the familiar 360 degree format.

The directions shown are for 66 degrees, 165 degrees, and 330 degrees, all using a 360 degree circle for direction.

Plats of survey rarely use degrees.  The usually use a system of bearings based on deviation from north or deviation from south.  A direction that is expressed as a standard bearing is also based on a 360 degree circle but uses different points of reference.  A bearing of  N 60 degrees east means the direction is 60 degrees to the east of north.   Likewise a bearing of S 15 degrees east means the direction is 15 degrees to the east of due south.  The same three directions as stated in the previous example of 66 degrees, 165 degrees and 330 degrees can be expressed in their bearing equivalents of North  66 degrees East, S 15 degrees east, and North 30 degrees west, as shown in the diagram below.

As you can see from the diagram, the same angles we expressed in degrees are now expressed in bearings.  You may be wondering why anyone would use a system of bearings instead of degrees.  This is somewhat anachronistic.  Surveyors of old used this system because it was easier to compute areas and closure ( more on this subject later ) using the bearings rather than degrees.  While almost all calculations done today are done with computer programs, we are left with the customs of old.

In looking at plats you rarely find the bearings expressed only in degrees.  Usually you will find the bearing expressed as degrees, minutes, and seconds.  Minutes and seconds are divisions of a degree with one degree equalling 60 minutes and one minute equalling 60 degrees.  This derives from early nautical derivations and again is somewhat anachronistic.  Bearings will always begin with either S or N, followed by the degrees minutes and seconds, followed by E or W.

Now lets put it together.  Below is a representation of a property with 5 points, each seperated by a distance and a direction given in bearings.

Think of each crosshair as a relative direction guide with North being towards the top of each crosshair.  Like most plats the “calls” are clockwise.  “Calls” are the stated direction and distances on the plat.  That is to say that the direction of travel and distance from one point to the other and back to the beginning is in a clockwise direction.  The text is also oriented in the direction of travel.  Plats do not have to follow this convention, but most do.  It is easy to see if this is correct by looking at the drawing.  The direction of travel from point 1 to point 2 is Northwest and this coincides with the call since the first and last letters of the direction are N and W respectively.

As a note of interest, if you encounter a call that is in the wrong direction, the direction of travel can be easily reversed by simply exchanging both directions on the call.  For example on the plat above the direction from point 1 to point 2 is N58°42’45″W.  If you wanted the direction from point 2 to point 1 you just reverse the directions, or in this case to S58°42’45″E.  Remember to change both directions.

This concludes Part II of our quick guide to plats of survey.  Stay tuned for the final part of this blog which will explain errors of closure, calculation of acreage, curves, and special considerations.

As I look around and try to keep up with all the happenings in land and acreage news, I realized that there is really no good source for compiling all of the relevant news sources and articles for the topics of interest to me.  I figure I can’t be the only one with this problem.  As such, I think I’ll try to aggregate a list of some of the more interesting articles to me here for ya’ll about once a week.  If you find it useful let me know in the comments.

Here we go.

Georgia Property Law: 

• Here’s a lovely case involving property in Ellijay and Savannah, Georgia.  Long story short, just because someone is an attorney, doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing.
• While being a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America apparently entitles this woman to all land in the U.S., the sheriff’s office doesn’t seem to agree.  According to the article this has also taken place in Georgia.  Wow.
• Illegal dumping is taking off in Covington, GA.
• A Georgia court reaffirms Georgia Law on the appeals process in dispossess actions.  Tenants, you’ve got seven days.

Real Estate, Land and Timber News:

• A Georgia man takes on the law, about backyard chickens.  Apparently this is a growing trend, and many wonder, does this effect property values? 
• A Chatham County, GA man encourages the county to raise his taxes.  My advice?  Enjoy your lower taxes while you can, sir.
• Dekalb County, GA raises property taxes by 26%.  Ouch.
• Fort Benning is planning to expand and local residents fear for loss of property value and an increased tax burden in Stewart County, GA.
• Midwest Farmers fear that there may be a land bubble approaching.  While they’re not talking about this area specifically, I’ve noticed the farmers here are paying fairly high prices for quality farm land.  FDIC appears to be getting a little edgy about it too.
• Trail Creek near Athens, GA is still contaminated after chemical spill.
• Georgia Peach Farmers gain access to a new market for their product.

Georgia Outdoors:

• One young Georgia boy goes all out.  He’s aiming for all 130 merit badges the boy scout’s offer.  Good luck.
• The Georgia Wildlife Federations Buckarama kicks off today in Atlanta.  It’s one of the largest hunting vendor trade shoes around.  It’ll also stop by Perry, GA starting August 19.  This means it’s just about hunting season.
• Georgia’s state reptile is becoming a species of concern.

That’s about all the news fit to print this week.  Have a good weekend!

I had hoped to bring you a new post on another area for kayaking and canoeing in the Augusta, GA area.  I took my kayak down into South Burke County in hopes of running down Brier Creek towards the Savannah.  Unfortunately, a great deal of it was simply unnavigable due to low water levels.  After three portages, I gave up.  It probably is navigable when the water levels are up, but they’ll have to be up a good deal before I try again.  Inbetween portages though I did manage to capture a few shots of a couple of wading birds that I can share.

The first was of a Little Blue Heron.  Little Blue Herons are common site in the Augusta, GA area and in the CSRA.  They are wading birds and are most often found around shallow ponds, lakes, marshes, swamps and coastal areas.  They are slow methodical feeders whose diet primarily consists of small fish and amphibians. 

Little Blue Heron Stalking

Little Blue Heron wading

Little Blue Herons are among the smaller of the heron type birds and can be found in our area mostly year round.  They usually around 24″ to 27″ in height with a 40″ wingspan and weigh in at around 12 ounces.  They are readily identifiable with their solid blue gray body with a slightly darker solid purple head.  They have two tone beaks with a blue gray tip.  If one loiters around you can usually see one snap up a small fish or frog.

I also managed to catch another wading bird from the boat.  A White Ibis.

 

White Ibis Close Up

White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)  White Ibis are a little less common in this area but can still be quite frequently seen during the summer months and occasionally in other parts of the year as well.  The White Ibis is a wading bird as well.  It is larger and heavier than other Ibis’s with a thicker bill and broader wings.  They tend to be found in alone or in groups in shallow fresh or salt water.  They feed by stirring the bottom with its bill and its primary diet consists of crayfish, mudcrabs, frogs and aquatic insects.

White Ibis on the banks of Brier Creek, GA

The White Ibis is typically 25″ tall and has a wingspan of about 38″ and weighs in at roughly 2 pounds.

Both are beautiful birds and are quite interesting to watch as they forage through the marshes and ponds for their meals.  If you get a chance you should definitely head out to Phinizy Swamp Nature Park or any of the many nature areas around Augusta and check them out.

Georgia is host to over 300 species of wildflowers.   In our forests you will find flowers everywhere you look.  While flowers can be found in the spring, summer, and fall, summer flowers are everywhere.  Here is a sampling of flowers I found in a meadow in Burke County, Georgia.

Maypop ( Passiflora incarnata )

From childhood I remember Maypops more from their oval shaped fruit than from their beautiful flower.  Their fruit pod is about the size of a lemon and ovoid in shape.  The seeds are edible and were eaten by indians, but I confess that I have not tried them.

Morning Glory ( Ipomoea pandurata )

Morning Glories grow in almost all of our soils.  There blooms open in the morning and close at night, hence the name.  Sometimes they are referred to as Sweet Potato plants, since their root has an edible tuber.  The tuber however must be boiled and reboiled to be eaten. 

Phlox ( Phlox carolina )

Phlox can be found in meadows or on hillsides.  It can be found in single plants or quite often it is found beds.  Although it is widely used as an ornamental it can be found throughout our area in the wild.

Partridge Pea ( Cassia fasciculata )

The Partridge Pea has leaves that look something like a Mimosa tree but never exceeds 4 feet tall.  The plant is sometimes called the “Sensitive Plant” since touching the leaves will cause the plant to fold its leaves to a closed position.

Eastern daisy Fleabane ( Erigeron annuus )

The Eastern daisy Fleabane can be readily found throughout the southeast.  Its flowers are about the size of a nickel with many flowers on one plant.

The next time you take a walk in the woods see how many different flowers you can find.  You will be amazed at the varieties of species.  If you photograph them, you can then use the photos to identify them.  A couple of good sites for wildflower identification are below.

http://uswildflowers.com/stateref.php?State=GA

http://www.southeasternflora.com/

Enjoy our wildflowers!

Ugh, not statistics...

Just the other day I got a phone call from a reader of our blog.  They were wondering about our use of median values as opposed to average values in our post on Land and Acreage for sale in the Augusta, GA market.  I considered giving a more detailed description in the post but as it was long enough I decided it was probably unnecessary.  In retrospect, it was an error to omit the explanantion of what it is and why I used it.  I’m going to use this post to correct that error. 

The short answer to what is the median value, is that it is the value that is the exact middle.  In statistics, it is the middle number in a given sequence of numbers.  It is also sometimes referred to as the 50th percentile.  In other words, in any given set of data values, it is the value at which exactly half of the data values are beneath the median value and exactly half of the data values are above the median value.

In a data set with an odd number, it is simply the middle data value.  For example, if your data set is 1, 2, 3, then the median value is 2.  If you have an even number in your data set such as 1, 2, 3, 4, then the median is calculated by getting the average of the two middlemost data values.  For the data set of 1, 2, 3, 4, you take the two middlemost values and add them and then divide by two.  Thus you get: (2+3)/2.  This gets you the median value here of 2.5.

Median Value Explained Graphically

So why did I use the median value in this post dealing with land sales prices and days on market (DOM) as opposed to averages?  Simply because it reduces the likelihood of the information becoming misleading due to outliers or data values that are grossly out of the norm.  Let me explain using an example.

Let us suppose that you are opening a new company selling widgets, and you are attempting to price your widgets competitively in your market.  You have a data set of the sales prices of some competitiors and what they are selling their widgets for.  It is as follows:

We’re assuming here all widgets are selling in dollars.  If one takes the average, or mean, of these data values, we come up with a widget value of $10.62.  Is this really an accurate representation of what widgets on the whole are selling for?  Would your price at $10.62 be competitive?  Not really.  If you priced your widgets at $10.62 you would be more expensive than almost everyone with the exception of the last two in this data set.  We are dealing with limited data here as one would in looking at land in an MLS.  Those final two may be selling gold widgets or diamond encrusted widgets for all we know, and that may explain their drastic difference in price from the others in the data set.  The reason the mean or average is skewed is because of the two outliers of 24 and 39.  It raises the mean value above the range of what the great majority of widgets are selling for in this market.

What about the median?  What is it’s value in this set?  In order to do this one must order the data values.

As this data set is an even number, to calculate the median one must average the two middlemost values.  The two middlemost values are $7 and $7.  Therefore the median is $7.  The mean value of $10.62 is nearly 33% higher than the median value.  I would argue that the median value of $7 is a much more accurate representation of the value of a widget in this example market than the $10.62 mean value.  At $7 you would have a very competitively priced widget.  At $10.62 you are clearly outpriced by almost all of your competition.  The median is a statistical value that is designed very specifically to counter the effects of outliers such as the $24 and $39 widgets in our example. 

This dampening effect of outliers is why I chose to use the median value.  It is also why you see in most statistical analysis’ they use it as well to define data sets rather than averages.  Averages can be very deceiving in the right circumstances.  I will always try to portray the data and information in this blog in such a fashion as to be clear and accurate as much as possible.

This of course reminds me why I am such a skeptic of studies and statistics.  By manipulating the sample size, the population size and which measures you use, one can make statistics say anything you want.   Count me as a disciple of the school of thought popularized by Mark Twain and often attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”