Land Surveys: What You Need to Know When You’re Buying Property

surveyor doing his job

If you’re financing your real estate purchase, the lender will require it. That said, land surveys hold critical information that you need to know when you’re buying property. Make sure you understand exactly what your investment entails.

Truth be told, even if you’re the one selling real estate, you may want to look into an up-to-date survey showing your property lines. It may hasten your sale and break down the size and extent of your land.

Some say fences make for good neighbors. Ironically, they also make for property line disputes. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, you’ll want a surveyor to measure out the placement of the fence. In all too many cases, fences wind up improperly placed. It pays to know what you’re up against before problems actually surface.

In the meantime, it can be something as big as adding a garage that creates legal issues. Newly added garages can sometimes cause concern. It’s possible to battle encroachment when a structure ends up on the wrong person’s property. However, it’s much better to deal with the problem before changing hands between a buyer and seller.

Land Surveys Contain Critical Information

The goal of retaining a land surveyor is to establish and update property lines. More than likely, you’ve noticed someone acting in this capacity looking down into a tripod. If you look closely, you’ll also see they have a measuring tape on hand, as well as other specialized tools.

Land surveying not only involves taking precise measurements. Most often, a land surveyor looks at an existing survey and prepares the following types of documents:

  • Maps
  • Reports
  • Plots

Technology makes the job easier for land surveyors, as they take advantage of global positioning systems in pinpointing information. Meanwhile, the outcome of land surveys proves useful in legal documents such as deeds. Surveys record all types of information in addition to spelling out property lines.

A land survey may address soil conditions and always marks existing properties, as well as any easements. The legal descriptions found on deeds comes as the result of the measurements taken by land surveyors.

Those who wish to subdivide land also need land surveys to plat a tract of land. The formal definition of a plat involves a map drawn to scale that shows the subdivisions.

All things considered, failure to get an updated land survey can turn into a legal fiasco. For many, it may make or break a real estate transaction. It can also result in a dispute that subsequently lands you in court.

Contact Us

If you have problems related to a real property dispute, Mazzoni Valvano Szewczyk & Karam can help. Contact our office to set up an appointment.

Contact Scranton NEPA Lawyers
Mazzoni Valvano Szewczyk & Karam

Free Consultation. No Obligation. Fast Reply. Find out how we can help you.