Surveyors are an important part of your real estate investing dream team, though you might not always need them for every deal.
What Do They Do?
Surveyors are responsible for measuring and mapping property boundaries.
They provide you with a detailed, certified report outlining the exact lines of your property.
This helps ensure that you understand the limits of the land you’re buying and that there are no encroachments or boundary issues.
Here’s what a surveyor typically handles:
- Confirming Property Boundaries – They measure and define the exact property lines, marking corners and boundaries.
- Identifying Encroachments – They ensure that structures like fences, driveways, or out-buildings don’t encroach on neighboring properties, or vice versa.
- Providing Legal Documentation – After completing the survey, they give you a certified drawing and legal description of the property boundaries.
- Resolving Disputes – If there are disagreements about property lines, a surveyor’s documentation can resolve these disputes with clear, legal proof.
When Do You Involve Them?
In platted subdivisions, where property lines are typically well-established, many investors choose to forgo a survey unless there’s concern about a fence, driveway, or structure near the property line.
There’s some added risk in this, but most investor’s find this risk small and acceptable.
However, if you’re buying a property outside a platted neighborhood—especially in rural areas or properties with large acreage—you should seriously consider getting a survey to avoid potential future disputes.
If the seller has a previous survey, review it for accuracy. Otherwise, you may want to pay for a new survey, especially if there are any concerns about the property boundaries.
Why Are They Important?
Knowing the exact boundaries of a property helps you avoid future legal and financial headaches.
Encroachments or boundary disputes can affect the resale value of your property or lead to costly legal battles.
Having a clear understanding of where your property begins and ends protects your investment.
Here’s why surveyors are crucial:
- Avoiding Legal Disputes – A clear survey ensures you won’t have boundary disputes with neighbors after the purchase. Don’t assume you know where property lines are even if it seems clear to you (or your real estate agent).
- Protecting Your Investment – It prevents you from unknowingly encroaching on a neighbor’s property, or from allowing them to encroach on yours.
- Ensuring Full Ownership – A survey guarantees that you’re purchasing all the land you think you are, without any hidden surprises.
Other Items of Note
- Don’t Rely on Your Real Estate Agent for Property Lines – Real estate agents are not qualified to determine property boundaries. They lack the specialized training and equipment of professional surveyors. Trusting an agent’s assessment of property lines can lead to serious legal and financial consequences. Always consult a licensed surveyor for accurate property boundary information. Your investment is too valuable to risk on guesswork or assumptions.
- Cost Considerations – Surveys are an extra expense, but they can save you from much larger legal or financial issues in the future. If there’s any uncertainty about property lines, it’s often worth the cost.
- Survey Before Major Renovations or Additions – If you plan to build an addition, install a fence, or make any significant changes, getting a survey will ensure you stay within your property lines.
- Survey for Vacant Land – When buying vacant land, it’s essential to have a survey to confirm the exact boundaries before developing or subdividing the land.
- Floodplain Information – Surveyors can also determine if the property is in a floodplain, which could impact your building plans and insurance costs. Your lender will often require you pay for a flood certification—which is different than a survey—to verify the property is not in a flood plain and requires extra flood insurance (which is very expensive) before they would loan on the property.
- Easements and Rights of Way – A survey can reveal easements or rights of way that could restrict how you use certain parts of the property.
- Zoning Compliance – Surveys help confirm whether existing structures or future plans comply with local zoning laws and setback requirements.
- Boundary Discrepancies – If there are any discrepancies between what’s on paper and what’s on the ground, a survey will uncover them, preventing future disputes.
- Survey for Rural or Large Acreage Properties – Boundaries can be less clear in rural areas or larger properties, making a survey especially important to avoid future problems.
- Surveyor’s Certification – Make sure the survey is certified, as this ensures its legal standing and accuracy.
- Land Subdivision Potential – If you’re considering subdividing the property in the future, a survey is essential to understand its potential and ensure it can be divided as planned.
- Owner’s Extended Coverage (OEC) – Consider purchasing owner’s extended coverage from your title insurance company, which offers additional protection in case boundary or title issues arise later. Some title companies will require you to have a survey to purchase OEC. While other’s may allow you to purchase it without a survey. This should give you an additional hint that you may need a survey if the title company is requiring it to sell you OEC.