Should you get a survey on your property when you buy?
The short answer is absolutely!
Having a survey done tells you if the property you're buying has anything of the neighbours encroaching on your property or if anything that you're buying is encroaching onto a neighbour or an easment or right-of-way. Remember, just because you can see survey markers at the corners and everything looks fine, it doesn't mean it is. Underground cables on side line easements are not apparent to you while standing there looking at the house.
Prior to becoming a REALTOR(r) I was a surveyor. I have seen a number of times when people ended up paying a lot of money to fix a problem that would have been found with a $500 survey. Once, we discovered that the house our client was about to buy was sitting very comfortably on the lot - just not the right one! Yes, the house had been built on the wrong lot and the builder didn't know.
The survey is just as important as having a building inspection. If you have any questions about your survey needs related to a property you are thinking about buying or selling, contact me anytime. I'd be happy to help.
Posted by Paul Burns
on September 19, 2010