10 — Say you saw it in The Real Estate Browser of Lynchburg — Volume 8 Number 4 www . LynchburgRealEstateBrowser . com
Survey Says … ( Do You Need One Or Not ?) by Dan Vollmer , Associate Broker , ReMax 1st Olympic
I have a brother who , for about 15 years , worked for a surveying company in New Jersey , where I grew up . They kept busy , because with each property transfer in that state , just about every lender requires the parcel to be re-surveyed .
It ’ s not the same here in Virginia , or at least not in this part of the state . A new survey is something left to the discretion of the buyer , and if desired , also the buyer ’ s expense to bear . So the question I sometimes get asked is , “ Do I need one ?”
Its a question worth considering . Generally speaking , for most properties , I tell buyers that if they plan to install a fence ( either a privacy fence or an underground dog fence ), plant trees or bushes , get a storage building … then yes , prior to doing those things , I would certainly have a surveyor mark my property corners - and any boundary lines in question .
Two scenarios that might help underscore this point .
Years ago I had buyer clients who bought a home with a 6 ’ wooden privacy fence around the entire perimeter of the back yard . The fence wasn ’ t installed with the utmost care , so it soon needed to be replaced . My clients - and close friends - took the fence down , including all the posts , and then reinstalled each one . This time , wanting to do it right , they put each post in a foot of concrete to make it more secure , and then reattached the fence . Not long after , one of their adjacent neighbors had his property surveyed , and lo and behold … their fence was 4 ’ over their property line and into the back yard neighbor ’ s yard . And they had put it back exactly where it had been . Lesson : don ’ t rely on existing features to determine the actual property lines .
I once had an older home for sale , and we came to understand that the driveway of this house was well over the property line onto the next door neighbor ’ s property . The story went something like this : the house next door was built by a man who ’ s daughter now owned it . Her daddy and the original owner of my listing had just built their homes and their driveways without really checking the line , and they ’ d always just gotten along . Problem was , the access to the neighbor ’ s basement was from the driveway on my listing . So there was some ‘ discussion ’ about access between both parties . And the houses were both built right up on top of the driveway in question , so moving it wasn ’ t an option . Lesson : make sure there aren ’ t any easements , particularly in older neighborhoods with closetogether homes .
Depending on several factors ( the size of the parcel , how difficult it is to find the pins , etc ) a survey can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand . It is comforting to know exactly where your property begins and ends . For some people , finding out prior to the sale is key . For the rest of us , it ’ s just best to get it flagged before putting that fence back up ….
Questions , comments , or have an idea for a future article ? Email me at dan @ DanVollmer . com .