Sometimes it's worth it to hire a land surveyor

[Jstpssng]

My brother is a retired surveyor and even he has had problems. He dug out around his pin (don't ask me how, without disturbing it) and poured concrete around it. Then his neighbor came in with an excavator and dug it up. Another good thing to do is to witness the monument to three trees, or drill holes in as many rocks; then take an exact measurement from each. It won't stand up in a court of law unless it was done by your surveyor; yet it will give you something to us if the monument is destroyed. (I believe that there are laws against tampering with survey monuments, but who's going to enforce it?)

 

[fried1765]

My brother is a retired surveyor and even he has had problems. He dug out around his pin (don't ask me how, without disturbing it) and poured concrete around it. Then his neighbor came in with an excavator and dug it up. Another good thing to do is to witness the monument to three trees, or drill holes in as many rocks; then take an exact measurement from each. It won't stand up in a court of law unless it was done by your surveyor; yet it will give you something to us if the monument is destroyed. (I believe that there are laws against tampering with survey monuments, but who's going to enforce it?)

Use string between stakes in a X pattern across the centerline of the pin, then removing the string to dig, then replacing the string, to re-establish exact point, prior to pouring concrete around pin.

 

[Jstpssng]

Use string between stakes in a X pattern across the centerline of the pin, then removing the string to dig, then replacing the string, to re-establish exact point, prior to pouring concrete around pin.

That may be what he did. He was in Arizona at the time. Whatever he did wasn't good enough.

 

[5030]

hasn't been an issue with our ground and don't see it being an issue. We have the corner markers in the ground set by the surveyor and his line stakes too.

 

[two_bit_score]

hasn't been an issue with our ground and don't see it being an issue. We have the corner markers in the ground set by the surveyor and his line stakes too.

I am in the process of buying a parcel right now. There is a discrepancy in deeds on one corner. Appears to be a typo per my surveyor. All deeds prior to the last one are in agreement with what is on the ground and under fence.

But, the current owner and the adjacent owner used the deed language from the previous deed with the mistake and neither resurveyed when they bought.

This typo put one corner 15 feet over. Not a huge amount but it’s also not a huge parcel.

The adjacent owner is agreeing to cooperate in rectifying the discrepancy by giving me a quit claim deed to the ‘disputed’ area. The title company says they will accept this and include it under my title coverage.

Had either of these owners had the property they were buying surveyed this would have showed up and been rectified.

Had I not surveyed and found it the error would have continued to to be perpetuated. As long as the fence remained in place it may have been a simple fix, until some buyer, seller or owner decided it should be a problem.

 

[fried1765]

I am in the process of buying a parcel right now. There is a discrepancy in deeds on one corner. Appears to be a typo per my surveyor. All deeds prior to the last one are in agreement with what is on the ground and under fence.

But, the current owner and the adjacent owner used the deed language from the previous deed with the mistake and neither resurveyed when they bought.

This typo put one corner 15 feet over. Not a huge amount but it’s also not a huge parcel.

The adjacent owner is agreeing to cooperate in rectifying the discrepancy by giving me a quit claim deed to the ‘disputed’ area. The title company says they will accept this and include it under my title coverage.

Had either of these owners had the property they were buying surveyed this would have showed up and been rectified.

Had I not surveyed and found it the error would have continued to to be perpetuated. As long as the fence remained in place it may have been a simple fix, until some buyer, seller or owner decided it should be a problem.

Thorough surveys cost money......lots of money!

 

[two_bit_score]

Thorough surveys cost money......lots of money!

I’ve used this same surveyor for over 30 years. He’s not getting cheaper but money spent up front is worth twice that when avoiding a problem.

Yes, I could have ignored this discrepancy but I would not be able to build close to that area and had I done so it would be a potential problem at some point.

.

 

[Jstpssng]

Thorough surveys cost money......lots of money!

So does building on somebody else's property.

(EDIT)Considering how many nightmares I've seen trying to translate deeds which have been copied over, with all of the exceptions, reserves, and out parcels tacked onto the end; as well as typo errors and omissions (such as the one which prompted me to start this thread) a survey and updated deed description can enhance the value going forward.

 

[fried1765]

So does building on somebody else's property.

Yes.....but It is not likely that a corner 15' out of wack would create that problem, unless in a city environment.

 

[fried1765]

I’ve used this same surveyor for over 30 years. He’s not getting cheaper but money spent up front is worth twice that when avoiding a problem.

Yes, I could have ignored this discrepancy but I would not be able to build close to that area and had I done so it would be a potential problem at some point.

.

My point being......why would the seller have paid for a survey?
I do understand why you would.