A commercial purchase often covers more than one piece of land. A buyer might take a main tract with a building, a strip along the road and a small lot in the back for truck parking or storage. On the ground it all looks like one property. On paper each piece can have its own deed, its own legal description and its own history. An ALTA title survey shows how those pieces actually fit together, and the time to learn that is before closing.
Midland adds a wrinkle. Many tracts outside platted subdivisions still carry descriptions based on sections and blocks of the old T&P Railroad Company Survey. Nearby land may sit in a platted addition with lot and block numbers instead. One deal can mix both kinds, and descriptions that different people wrote decades apart don’t always line up the way a fence line suggests.
When One Purchase Includes More Than One Legal Parcel
A legal parcel is land with its own written description in the deed records. A single sale can bundle several of them, even when one fence or one paved yard wraps around everything. The contract and the title commitment should name each parcel separately. A title commitment is the title company’s report on the land it plans to insure and the conditions it won’t cover.
Tax accounts can blur the picture. The appraisal district may carry two legal parcels under one account, or it may split one parcel across two accounts. A buyer who counts tax bills instead of legal descriptions can miss a tract entirely. The deed records give the count that matters.
County lines can matter too. The City of Midland reaches into both Midland and Martin Counties, so a large assembly near the county line may pull records from two courthouses. The surveyor and title company need the full set before fieldwork starts.
Checking Whether the Parcels Actually Meet at Their Boundaries
Parcels that touch on a map don’t always share the same line in the records. The surveyor compares where one description ends and the next one begins. Then the surveyor checks both against monuments and other evidence in the field. When the lines match, the parcels form one continuous site, and when they don’t, the survey will show it.
Two problems come up most often. A gap is a strip of land that none of the descriptions cover, so nobody in the deal holds title to it. An overlap is ground that two descriptions both claim. Either one can sit right under a driveway, a slab or a fence the buyer assumes belongs to the site.
Sometimes a third party owns the space between two tracts. It might be an old alley, a former rail spur or a narrow strip a prior owner kept when selling the rest. The surveyor can locate and label these conditions, and then the title company and the buyer’s attorney decide how to handle them. The fix may be a corrective deed, an added purchase or a change to the plan.
Matching the ALTA Title Survey to Every Parcel Being Acquired
The ALTA title survey should cover the same land as the contract and the title commitment, parcel by parcel. If the three documents list different tracts, someone will end up relying on a survey that leaves land out. Catching a mismatch early costs far less than finding it a week before closing.
Under the ALTA/NSPS standards that took effect in February 2026, the surveyor needs the complete, most recent title commitment and gathers the adjoining deeds as part of the research. Give the surveyor every document tied to every tract. Before the order goes out, compare these items side by side:
- Each legal description in the purchase contract
- Each parcel listed in the title commitment
- Any tract added to the deal after the first draft of the contract
- The lender’s property description, if the purchase involves financing
- The names of the parties who will rely on the survey certification
Late additions cause the most trouble. A buyer may agree to take a small back lot a month into the deal. If nobody updates the title commitment and the survey scope, that lot can reach closing with no survey coverage at all.
Separate Parcels Can Carry Different Access and Title Conditions
Each parcel brings its own record, and those records rarely match. One tract may front a public street. Another may reach the street only through an access easement across a neighbor’s land. A third may carry an old deed restriction on use that the others don’t share.
Access deserves a careful look. An easement written for one parcel may benefit that parcel alone. While one owner holds every tract, the back lot can reach the road through the front lot. That changes if the owner later sells a single tract or a lender wants each parcel to stand on its own. The survey shows where recorded access routes fall, and the title documents show which parcels they serve.
The same goes for the exceptions in the title commitment. A utility easement, a building line or a recorded agreement may affect only one tract. The ALTA survey plots the exceptions that can be located on the ground and ties each one to the parcel it touches. That parcel-by-parcel view helps a buyer see which part of the site carries which burden.
Review the Combined Site Before Finalizing Development Plans
Buying adjoining parcels doesn’t merge them into one. The interior lines stay on record after closing, along with any setbacks or easements that follow those lines. A new building that crosses an old parcel line may need a replat or other city approval first.
Midland runs its own platting process. The Planning and Zoning Commission reviews plats, and its agendas often include replats that join whole lots or parts of lots into new ones. The city’s plat applications also cover commercial property and land in its extraterritorial jurisdiction, the area just outside city limits where the city still controls platting. Ask city planning staff which process fits your site.
Use the survey as the base for that conversation with your engineer and the city. Lay the planned building, parking and truck routes over the combined site. Look for interior lines, easements and setback lines that cut through the layout. The survey supplies the facts, and the engineer and the city decide what the plan needs from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one ALTA title survey show several adjoining parcels?
Yes. One survey can cover a group of parcels when they all belong to the property in the deal. The surveyor, title company and buyer should agree on the exact list and the legal descriptions before fieldwork begins. That shared list keeps the drawing and the title policy tied to the same land.
Should a small additional tract be included if it is part of the purchase?
Yes, if the buyer is acquiring it. A small tract next to the main parcel won’t fall under the survey just because it sits nearby. Add it to the title commitment and the survey order so the drawing reflects everything that changes hands.
Can two adjoining parcels have different legal descriptions?
Yes, and it’s common. Land that works as one commercial site can still consist of separate tracts that different deeds created at different times. Each description comes from its own deed or plat, and each one needs its own review.
