A LIVING FROM THE LAND 



local tax assessor the definite payments that 

 must be made. 



As a means of saving trouble later, an investi- 

 gation should be made of the property under 

 consideration to make sure that taxes have been 

 paid to the date of purchase. This is distinctly 

 the obligation of the owner. Unpaid taxes con- 

 stitute a lien on the property, and an investi- 

 gation of the status of the tax payments is 

 essential in protecting the proposed investment. 



The Title and Survey. A great deal of possible 

 trouble can be eliminated by making sure that 

 the title is clear. An investigation should be 

 made along this line by an attorney or agency 

 equipped to secure information from appropriate 

 county offices. Very often the owner has had a 

 recent search made and is willing to pass this 

 on to the purchaser, thus saving expense and 

 delay in tracing back the records over a long 

 period of years. Such study will show whether 

 there are encumbrances or liens of any kind 

 on the property, and these, of course, must be 

 cleared up before any transaction is entered 

 into. 



The potential buyer should also have a 

 survey made by a competent engineer to defi- 

 nitely fix the boundaries of the property. 

 Stakes can then be placed, indicating the 

 corners and any irregularities in the outline 



30 



