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Deed to Map: Metes & Bounds reads the boundary description on a US property deed or survey and plots the parcel on satellite imagery, so you can see where the lines run and walk to each corner.

Everything happens on your device. Your deed is never uploaded.

Contact

developer.barseghyan@gmail.com

I usually reply within about two business days. If your deed did not read correctly, please read “The app read my deed incorrectly” below before writing, and include what it asks for. It makes the fix much faster.

Before anything else

This app is not a land survey and has no legal standing. It produces an approximate plot from the description you give it. Boundary disputes, construction, fences, and property transactions require a licensed surveyor. Please treat every number the app shows as a reading of your document, not as a measurement of your land.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a substitute for a survey?

No, and it is not intended to be. A surveyor measures the ground and sets monuments. This app draws what your document says, at the position you tell it. Those are different things, and where they disagree, the surveyor is right.

What the app is good for: understanding what a deed describes, checking that a description closes, seeing roughly where the lines run, and finding your way toward a corner on foot.

The app says my deed “does not close”. What does that mean?

Walk each call in turn and you should arrive back where you started. If you do not, the gap between where you ended and the point of beginning is the misclosure.

A misclosure has three usual causes:

1. A call was read incorrectly, from the document or by you. This is by far the most common.
2. The description omits a call, or the document itself is defective. Genuinely defective recorded descriptions do exist.
3. The original survey was imprecise. Old deeds chained by hand close far less tightly than modern ones.

When a description does not close, the app says so plainly and names the call most likely to be at fault. Check that call against the paper before using the parcel.

What do “misclosure” and “precision” mean?

Misclosure is the distance between your end point and your starting point, in feet or meters.

Precision is that distance expressed as a ratio of the perimeter. A misclosure of 0.14 ft over a 2,338 ft perimeter is about 1:17,000.

Rough guide:

The computed acreage matches my deed. Does that mean it read correctly?

Not by itself, and this matters more than it sounds.

A misread call can move part of the boundary without changing the area at all. This is not a rare edge case; it happens with any call that runs parallel to the closing direction. The app shows the acreage comparison because it is useful, but it treats the closure as the real check, and it shows the comparison only when the description closes better than about 1:5,000.

My parcel is in the wrong place on the map.

If the app placed it from an address printed on the document, the position is a starting point, not an answer. A map search finds a building or a street center, not a property corner. The app marks such a placement as unconfirmed and asks you to drag and rotate it into position.

For a reliable position you have three better options:

• the document prints coordinates, in which case the app uses them directly
• stand on a corner and place the point of beginning from your GPS position
• line the parcel up against what you can see on the satellite image: a road edge, a fence line, a tree line

The parcel is the right shape but points the wrong way.

Check Bearings measured from on the review screen.

A description can be written from grid north, true north, or magnetic north, and Hawaii descriptions are often written as azimuths measured clockwise from true south. If your document states its basis, the app reads it and says so. If it does not, the app says “assumed” and you may need to rotate the parcel by hand.

For magnetic bearings the app also needs the year. Magnetic north moves, so a bearing written in 1952 does not point where the same bearing points today. If your deed states a survey year, use it; the year the deed was signed is often later than the survey it describes.

My deed is written in chains, rods or varas.

Supported. So are links, poles, perches, US survey feet, international feet and meters. The app reads the units from the document and keeps them; changing what you display does not change what the deed says.

Which countries does this work for?

The app reads US-style metes and bounds: a description written as a sequence of bearings and distances. That is the form used in US deeds, surveys, plats and annexation ordinances, and the app handles feet, US survey feet, meters, chains, rods, poles, perches, links and varas, quadrant bearings and azimuths, and curve calls.

It is available worldwide, but a document written under a different cadastral tradition, as in most of Europe, Asia and Latin America, will usually not be readable. If you are unsure, the app is free to try: read your document and see whether the calls come out.

My deed describes a section, township and range.

Descriptions like the NE¼ of the SW¼ of Section 14 are PLSS aliquot parts, not metes and bounds. The app cannot plot them, and it says so rather than guessing. If your document mixes the two, the app plots the metes-and-bounds calls and tells you it has ignored the section reference.

My deed is handwritten.

Text recognition on handwriting is poor, and a confidently wrong reading is worse than no reading. Photograph the page anyway so it is stored with the parcel, then enter the calls by hand. The manual editor is always available.

The app read my deed incorrectly.

Please tell me, and please include what was read rather than only what was wrong. Every real document that fails is added to the app’s test suite, so your report fixes it for everyone.

Send to developer.barseghyan@gmail.com:

1. what the app produced, ideally a screenshot of the review screen
2. what the document actually says for the call that went wrong
3. if you are willing, the document itself, or the page with names and identifying details covered

If you would rather not send the document, the first two are still enough in most cases.

How do I restore my purchase?

Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. There is nothing to renew and nothing to cancel.

If you reinstall the app or move to a new device, choose Restore purchase. The button is in Settings inside the app, and it is also on the Pro screen itself, so you can restore from whichever you reach first. You must be signed in with the same Apple Account that made the purchase.

What does Pro include?

Reading your deed is free, and always will be: scanning, recognition, the review screen, the drawing, the acreage, the closure check and the comparison against the acreage your deed states. You can confirm the app read your document correctly without paying anything.

Pro adds using the result: placing the parcel on satellite imagery, walking to each corner with live GPS accuracy, measuring distances and areas, checking whether a spot falls inside your boundary, export to KML, GPX and CSV, and a PDF report of the plat, every call and its closure.

Does the app work without a signal?

Yes, apart from map tiles and address lookup, which need a connection. Reading a document, computing the parcel, walking to corners and measuring all work offline. Without a connection the map may be blank, but GPS and the guidance to each corner still work, so place the parcel and check it on the map before you set out.

Why does the app want my location?

To show where you are relative to the parcel, to walk you toward a corner, and to let you place the point of beginning by standing on it. Your location stays on the device. See the Privacy Policy.

Why does the app want the camera, or my photos?

To photograph the deed or survey, or to open a photo or PDF of it you already have, so the description can be read on the device. Photos of your documents are stored in the app and are never uploaded. See the Privacy Policy.

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