What is the difference between a “lot in a subdivision” and a “metes and bounds” description?
A lot in a subdivision is just that. Most property in a larger town or city are described this way. If your property falls in this category, your description will read something like: lot 4, block 2, “Smith’s Addition.” That’s all there is. The recorded plat of “Smith’s Addition” at the courthouse tell the surveyor all he needs to know to determine your boundaries. A metes and bounds description would read something like: “Beginning at the Northwest corner of section 17, Township 57 North, Range 35 West, Buchanan county, Missouri; thence East 150 feet to the True Point of Beginning; thence east 60 feet; thence south 130 feet; thence west 60 feet; thence north 130 feet to the point of beginning.” It would probably be more complicated and involved than that; but, that’s the gist of it. It’s up to the surveyor to determine where the Northwest corner of section 17 is and what, exactly, is meant by “East” etc.
