garbageman
Silver Member
I paid $550 for a certified "raised seal" survey in Oct. 03
Need a Survey
- Thread starter BRIGUY
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CtRick
Bronze Member
I was recently quoted $200 for "research" and then $100 a pin to do my property. Because of the shape of my lot the total was to be around $1000. I have 3.7 acres.
Laminarman
Gold Member
I have 70 acres that was surveyed but not marked or staked out clearly (at the previous owners request in an attempt to save money). Apparently she knew the boundaries well, but I didn't and wanted it marked so I could post it. "Research and marking" came in at $2000, the cheapest price I could find. The property spans a hill top with a lot of corners and is very odd shaped.
CTyler
Veteran Member
We, My Neighbor and I, had 120 acres surveyed. Mostly line of sight except for the creek along the back side of the entire property. It was aprox $2000 to mark the 120 acre perimeter and split our 28.1 acre parcel. The split was a straight line shot from the road to the creek.
B7510
Bronze Member
In a lot of areas it depend on what you want for a survey and also how much work has been done in the area recently. My firm will charge more for a certificate of survey then they will to locate and flag existing pins or property lines. The reason is simple, it takes more time. A certificate is a legal document that carries a lot of liability. Same could be said for marking lot lines. If you build the fence (or house) on the neighbors property because of a bad survey, guess who ends up with the bill?
You can thank our fine legal system for the high cost of surveys and most other professional services.
TBN Definition of "ambivalence": Watching a lawyer go over a cliff on a new Kubota. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
You can thank our fine legal system for the high cost of surveys and most other professional services.
TBN Definition of "ambivalence": Watching a lawyer go over a cliff on a new Kubota. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
TC18guy
Silver Member
Briguy,
As I always learn so much from this board, I'm glad to contribute a little professional advice to others here. As a Michigan Licensed Professional Land Surveyor, I know mostly about Michigan laws and practices but your situation should be simillar.
Survey costs are not necessarily based on the size of the property. Like any service business, surveys are based mostly on the man hours and materials. The legal description of your property as contained on your deed is the "set of instructions" a surveyor needs to see before he can bid a price for doing the survey. The description (usually) tells us the size and shape of the property and how it fits with the rest of the world.
Bidding on a re-survey is difficult, from a Surveyor's point of view it is difficult to tell wether we can drive up to a site and find all the previously staked corners with a metal detector, or if we have to run several miles worth of traverse first. Even if we do find the corners, we would still need to measure between all of them, before we could confidently state that they are in the same position as they were originally staked in.
If you think that price is too high, call the surveyor and ask why. If you're still not satisfied call another one. The most important thing is that you are satisfied with the service you receive. As with any service, you want to know that they will be there when they say they will , charge you what they say they would, and be there to answer questions should issues arise with you or your neighbors.
As I always learn so much from this board, I'm glad to contribute a little professional advice to others here. As a Michigan Licensed Professional Land Surveyor, I know mostly about Michigan laws and practices but your situation should be simillar.
Survey costs are not necessarily based on the size of the property. Like any service business, surveys are based mostly on the man hours and materials. The legal description of your property as contained on your deed is the "set of instructions" a surveyor needs to see before he can bid a price for doing the survey. The description (usually) tells us the size and shape of the property and how it fits with the rest of the world.
Bidding on a re-survey is difficult, from a Surveyor's point of view it is difficult to tell wether we can drive up to a site and find all the previously staked corners with a metal detector, or if we have to run several miles worth of traverse first. Even if we do find the corners, we would still need to measure between all of them, before we could confidently state that they are in the same position as they were originally staked in.
If you think that price is too high, call the surveyor and ask why. If you're still not satisfied call another one. The most important thing is that you are satisfied with the service you receive. As with any service, you want to know that they will be there when they say they will , charge you what they say they would, and be there to answer questions should issues arise with you or your neighbors.
herdfan
Gold Member
We paid a little over $5000 to get 115 acres surveyed. We then did a couple of land swaps a few months later and the dame surveyors charged $550 to lay out 2 seperate swaps (4 total parcels at less than 2.5 acres each). They provided lots of maps and legal descriptions for everything we needed to file and to keep records for ourselves. The bids went up to almost $10000 for the original survey! We have lots of hills and "hollers" and we had the work done in the fall before the leaves all fell off. I think it's cheaper when the trees are bare so they have an easier time sighting the lines and even hiking along the property lines.
Also, as I think TC18guy is getting at, you need to be sure that the surveyor will be there in case of a dispute. You don't want to get hosed at court if it goes to that.
Be sure that you are getting the "survey" that you intended for also. We got a complete land survey with the legal description so that we could legally file it as the legal description for the property at the courthouse. There are some brief "surveys" that are a whole lot cheaper but are mainly to get a rough idea of what your land encompasses - mainly for a home closing, etc. This is not adequate to constitute a legal record of what you actually own.
This is just what I gleaned from going through this process a couple of years ago (and finally now finishing up). Anyone please correct me if it's off anywhere. I'm always in a learning mode! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Also, as I think TC18guy is getting at, you need to be sure that the surveyor will be there in case of a dispute. You don't want to get hosed at court if it goes to that.
Be sure that you are getting the "survey" that you intended for also. We got a complete land survey with the legal description so that we could legally file it as the legal description for the property at the courthouse. There are some brief "surveys" that are a whole lot cheaper but are mainly to get a rough idea of what your land encompasses - mainly for a home closing, etc. This is not adequate to constitute a legal record of what you actually own.
This is just what I gleaned from going through this process a couple of years ago (and finally now finishing up). Anyone please correct me if it's off anywhere. I'm always in a learning mode! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
I checked with a few different realtors for the name of a surveyor they'd had good luck with. One name kept coming up that was realiable and fast. Allot of other names came up to avoid due to price, pride, delays and personal issues.
I also called around and was amazed at the difference in price for the same job. Some of them didn't want to bother with rural work.
I narrowed it down to three I liked and let them bid it out. Lowest price was the guy the realtors had recomended.
$2,000 for 44 acres with paved frontage on two sides, jungle on the other two sides with one creek crossing.
Highest price was $5,000!
I also called around and was amazed at the difference in price for the same job. Some of them didn't want to bother with rural work.
I narrowed it down to three I liked and let them bid it out. Lowest price was the guy the realtors had recomended.
$2,000 for 44 acres with paved frontage on two sides, jungle on the other two sides with one creek crossing.
Highest price was $5,000!
TC18guy
Silver Member
Price can also be determined by how much work a particular surveyor has done in that area. In most parts of the country, rural work involves retracement of the original government public land survey corners. These are the corners that are used to control the property boundaries within a given section of land. These corners were orignally marked by wood stakes, trees, stone piles, etc. and basically placed about every 1/2 mile. It may take several of these corners to determine the property lines of a rural parcel. In my part of the country most of these corners were originally placed in about 1830-1835. Most of the corners have been since perpetuated with modern monumentation, but many times there is no history or evidence to the original corner location. Not all new surveys are made part of the public record so it is very possible that one surveyor may have more knowledge and measurements from previous work that another surveyor may not have.