I have two pieces of property in Grimes County. One 10 acres and one 9 acres. Each has a small rental house on it. The layout is such that each could easily be split in to two tracts with the houses staying on 4-5 acres each leaving two empty tracts of 4-5 acres. I would then keep the rentals and try to sell the empty tracts. I've never done anything like this before. Who do I contact to get this done? Will the county try to prevent it? Not sure where to start. Any help is appreciated.

First step would be to check with the county to see if their subdivision ordinance requires approval for this type of transaction. After that, call a surveyor.

75 counties do not have that power. You can split it up if you want.

Call a title company and tell them what you want to do and if you proceed, have them select the surveyor.

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75 counties do not have that power. You can split it up if you want.

Call a title company and tell them what you want to do and if you proceed, have them select the surveyor.

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Really? A know of at least one that has such an ordinance. Under some circumstances, if you divide a piece of rural property into two tracts, it has to be platted as a subdivision.

I've been wondering this same thing. I'd like to have about 1/3 of the vacant 4.5 acre lot next door to me. (Can't afford to keep the whole thing). I don't think the current owner would break it up for me. I'd have to buy it, have it split up, then sell the excess. I'm wondering if I could buy it all from the seller, but at closing have it broken into 2 parts, then finance them as 2 separate tracts of land. Then keep the one and sell the other. Seems like a lot of wasted money on real estate fees though.

We're in a "subdivision" that was split up in the early 80's. It's only 8 lots. No HOA or anything, but there are deed restrictions that were put in place when it was developed (no pig farms, etc). We're in Brazos County (outside of the city limits).

If anyone has any better ideas, I'm all ears...

75 never heard of that. But it could be specific to certain land in a county. I guess I should say "typically" counties have no way of preventing this. Regardless, call a title company in the county and they can walk the OP through it.Also consider carving more out of the vacant land and give less to the homes.

Be sure to check on Ag tax valuation status (if it qualifies now). I'm not exactly sure of the requirements, but sometimes when you split into smaller sizes, you may lose it (or maybe one of the parcels will).

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75 never heard of that. But it could be specific to certain land in a county. I guess I should say "typically" counties have no way of preventing this. Regardless, call a title company in the county and they can walk the OP through it.Also consider carving more out of the vacant land and give less to the homes.

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Grimes County is not one of those counties. You should avoid telling someone to create an illegal subdivision.
http://tools.cira.state.tx.us/users/0057/docs/Road/SDSubd%20Rules%20(2014).pdf
IN GENERAL, if the lots are going to be greater than 5 acres in size, and all the lots can get access from an existing roadway, you don't need to follow the subdivision rules. There are also some limited cases where if the lots are smaller than 5 acres where a plat isn't needed. But read the rules to be sure, or have someone that is familiar with the rules give you competent advice. I am not, so please listen to very little of what I mentioned.

5 acres if in city limits and over 10 acres in the county can be sold legally by metes and bounds. Otherwise you are not complying with state local govt code. It gets done, but it's not a legal tract.

Be careful what you read on message boards. Subdividing land is definitely regulated at the county and city levels. There are criminal and civil penalties for violating the subdivision regulations.

Also, I am not sure if a title company is going to provide you with legal advice nor do I see how you will be getting title insurance when subdividing (possibly when you go to sell though) so if title company is not insuring it, I doubt they are going to be very helpful. They may be able to refer you to an attorney and surveyor though.

You should contact a surveyor, a real estate lawyer, and the county. Not sure who enforces subdivision regulations in Grimes County, but call the county clerks office and they will know who to put you in touch with. You may have to have your plat approved by commissioners depending on how you set it out. I think the Fultzs there in Navasota do real estate law and own a title company, they probably also know local surveyors or you can use a guy out of college station/Montgomery as I'm sure they are familiar with Grimes County.

75 is correct. Any division under 10-acres may require county approval. Otherwise it could be an illegal subdivision.

Man you guys are making this much more complicated then need be. My advise is simple...

CALL THE LOCAL TITLE COMPANY.

Really that simple. You need the title company to execute the transaction and will have to pay them anyway. So use them to council you to what you can do and how much it costs. They can also refer the survey company.

Here is a couple of companies.

http://grimestitle.com/

http://www.bonniearmstrongtitle.com/