Boundary Surveys
When it comes to boundary surveys, apples are never apples. There are as many different standards for providing boundary surveys as there are states in the USA. It is very important when ordering a boundary survey to know the standards needed and that the surveyor you contacted is capable of providing those standards. The most common survey we provide is the residential property survey. These are typically requested at the time real estate changes ownership. There is no law in New York State that requires a property survey when purchasing a home, but is usually a requirement when obtaining a mortgage or title insurance for the property. All boundary surveys that we provide are completed to New York State Association of Professional Land Surveyors Minimum Standards and can be tailored to meet your specific needs.
Property Survey: Why All BUYERS Should Have One
When a title insurance policy is purchased at closing, the title company can issue two policies, one for the lender and one for the homeowner. If a new survey is not obtained prior to closing, the title company makes an "exception" on the homeowner's policy for survey coverage. Meaning, they do not provide survey coverage. The homeowner is getting guarantee of clear title, only. In other words, just deed related coverage, not survey related coverage. However, the lender policy includes full survey coverage. Lenders stopped requiring buyers to pay for a survey several years back. The reason for this is the title insurance industry came up with a solution for the lenders. They provide survey coverage to the lenders, without a new survey, but not to the homeowners. The only time a survey related claim would come up for a lender is if they have foreclosed and then have a survey related dispute. How often will that happen? That’s right…, next to never! So for the title insurance industry, it is a safe bet. The home buying public doesn’t seem to understand the importance of having that survey coverage for the homeowner. To put it in plain English, if a buyer doesn’t have a new survey done prior to closing on a property, any easement, encroachment, set-back violation, or boundary dispute that may arise, will not be covered under the homeowner’s title insurance policy. Failure to get a survey prior to closing can be devastating to the homeowner. The home-buying public is sometimes short-sighted when it comes to spending a little money upfront to protect them in the future. Surveys aren’t cheap and may cost anywhere from $300 to $500 for residential surveys in the Western New York area, but that is money well spent when the neighbor goes to sell his property, has a survey performed and finds that your garage is sitting 3 feet on his property and he wants it moved! Or, you have built a new 30x30 work shop on the back of your property, only to find out later that there is a power company easement running across the back property line and they insist that you move it to allow them access to their transmission lines. You can see that to remedy either of these situations is going to cost you significantly more than $500. |
Here's a few instances a boundary survey may be helpful:
1. Buying or selling a home.
2. Building a new structure or addition.
3. Errecting a fence or other enclosure along the property line.
4. Harvesting timber for sale or general clean up.
5. Subdividing property to sell as individual lots or to donate to family members (remember, eventual the family
member may decide to sell the lot latter and that is not the time to discover a boundary issue).
6. Refinancing your mortgage.
7. Anytime there is a question of what the real boundary is between coterminous land owners, especially if you feel
your neighbor is overstepping his/her boundary.
Why are those surveys so expensive?
These are a few of the reasons:
A. There will be 1 or 2 people that will be traveling to the property and making precise measurements of
the boundary and any improvements.
B. The field work will usually take a minimum of 3 hours to accomplish and goes up depending on the size
of the property, the terrain, the amount of improvements on the lot, and the vegetation.
C. There is typically another 4 hours of office work (research, computations and drafting) to complete the
project.
D. The crew will be traveling in a full sized truck loaded with equipment and supplies to properly measure
and mark the property.
E. The company also carries public and professional liabilty insurance and worker's compensation
insurance, because after all even the most careful surveyor can make a mistake and the client needs to
be protected at all times.
Just remember, the cost of the survey will often be less than most other closing costs and we are guaranteeing that what you are buying is what you are getting.
When you choose Aaron Kennerly PLS, LLC, you are choosing experts in the field of boundary surveying. We won't be the cheapiest company out there, but we will be very competitively priced. Our fees are simply based on the amount of time required to complete your particular project and we will do everything possible to minimize the amount of time we spend while maintaning the highest precision. You can be confident that the survey will be performed to the current standards in our region and will be completed by experts in the field of Land Surveying. All of our surveys are covered by our professional liabilty insurance to give your transaction total protection. We hope that when someone is looking for professional boundary surveying services, that they look past the cheap prices and choose someone that will provide a superior product at a very reasonable fee.
Sample Boundary Surveys
All of our surveys are performed to New York State Land Surveyor's Association Standards as well as incorporating the latest Bar Association Standards. Certifications can be added at no extra charge if requested when ordering the survey.
High Quality - Proffesional Values