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Land surveys- are there uniform standards between surveyors?
Apologies if this is an ignorant question, but I'm curious if the results of a land survey (in connection with home sale) could possibly give different results depending on the surveyor?
It seems like it's a pretty cut and dry thing to me vs. something open to interpretation. Our old neighbor was asked to sign a boundary line agreement because more than 12 inches of our land is outside of our fence, in spots. His response was that now he is having it surveyed by HIS surveyor, and will only sign if they come up with the same result.
Umm...isn't a measurement a measurement? Besides sitting on the letter for 2 weeks, with our target close date 10 days away, this is not the first time this guy is being a challenge regarding our sale of the house.
I guess I assumed a survey was based on measurements- isn't a number a number?
I posted a few weeks ago about him scaring off potential buyers once, and then almost our current buyers during their inspection:
http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/58650763.aspx
I guess if he wants to spend his money that's his business. I can't wait until this is DONE and we will never have to deal with him again.
Re: Land surveys- are there uniform standards between surveyors?
- the land survey will show what current legal records show for property lines. They can mark these out for you.
- often times people mark the boundary of their property with a fence. Since the fence is not the boundary marker in this case your surveyor may be trying to be extra cautious to make sure that through default that extra few inches has not become your neighbors.
- do you take care of the property outside of your fence ... do you mow and trim it or does your neighbor? THAT is an important question here ... if you have not been actively caring for that property - then your neighbor can make a case that you abandoned that property and by default they now own it. But that all depends on how long this has been going on and for how much time.
Personally, I don't understand why your surveyor didn't just mark the property lines based on legal documents on hand. Has such a substantial amount of time passed from when you purchased your home to today? And, perhaps your neighbor feels the same way, is confused and is concerned that you are trying to get one over on him.
Yes, the surveys should be consistent from surveyor to surveyor. However, as with all professions, some surveyors are idiots.
If I were in your neighbor's position, I'd get my own survey. For all they know you got someone incompetent or you hired your BIL to mark the lines.
I'm not sure if this is universal, but in my area, the corners of the property are generally marked with some kind of metal stake. Usually it's fully embedded into the ground and may have head about the size of a penny or nickel. You'd never see it if you didn't know where to look. If that's the case for you, then no, nothing will change with a new survey.
If you're in a subdivision, even if it's an old subdivision, your plat was almost certainly done in the lot & block system of surveying. That means that there's a giant master map recorded at the county detailing every measurement of the entire subdivision, each lot, the street, etc. In that case, I'd be really surprised if a surveyor could come up with a different measurement, since they're basically just measuring out that's on the master map. If you live in a rural area, a very old area, or an area that was never part of a subdivision, your lot might be recorded in either metes & bounds or Public Land Survey System. Those are more likely to have inconsistencies but if the property has changed hands and been mortgaged recently, inconsistencies would have likely been corrected already.
The fence hasn't moved since I purchased the house, but apparently these agreements are a new requirement- probably resulting from a case just as you suggested- someone claimed the owners had abandoned property outside of the fence, etc. etc.
We didn't have the property staked because the survey required for sale didn't require it and to have it done would've cost us $300 more dollars. At least this way our neighbor is paying for his own peace of mind (assuming the surveys come out the same).
We have maintained the land on the other side of the fence, and he's well aware it is our land because in the past he's joked that if we did ever move the fence onto the property line he wouldn't be able to back his camper out of the driveway (his driveway is technically on part of our land, and has been since it was put in). I believe part of the problem is that these homes were built by the same family back in the day (over 100 years ago) and driveways/property lines were not the issue when it was all 1 lot. Oh well, fingers are crossed it will all go ok.
We provided him a copy of the survey and the name/address of the firm that did it. Ironically the one he is using is also another firm that our attorney recommends, so at least I don't have to worry about him using an idiot. I understand him wanting his own answer, so hopefully they will both show the same thing and we can move on.