Many local records had indexes that were created by the office that originally created and maintained those records. Sometimes these indexes get overlooked by later finding aids. That can be a mistake when searching any record, but particularly when searching land deeds. Your genealogy goal with land records should be to have documentation of how your ancestor acquired his property and how it left his ownership.
The acreage acquired should equal the acreage “unacquired” (with a slight discrepancy perhaps for survey and measuring variations). Grantor and grantee indexes to land deeds (created by the office that originally had the records) can help with locating all of these materials, keeping in mind that these indexes usually only referenced the first grantor and the first grantee. There may be other documents (particularly court records, probate records, or wills) that transfer title to real property as well.
But if you’ve used local land deeds and have never used grantor/grantee indexes, you may be missing something.
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