Land surveys are underappreciated, yet much property info can be obtained to protect buyers, including encroachments, easements, acreage, and proper boundaries.
Potential buyers always seem to understand the importance of home inspections to look for structural defects in property yet often underestimate the value of a property survey. However, by completing this vital step and combining it with the benefits of a title search, many essential pieces of information can be obtained, protecting the land’s future ownership rights and uses by a buyer.
What Is a Land Survey and Who Can Perform One?
A survey involves the determination of the boundaries of a tract of land by a licensed surveyor or civil engineer. A map or plat of the property is drawn based on the survey. If title insurance is ordered, the surveyor will also complete a certificate or report to disclose information about the property and its improvements.
The North Carolina Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors has established standards of practice and ensures a detailed approach. Today’s technology now allows an advanced computerized approach with unprecedented accuracy; current surveyors must undergo extensive training and utilize equipment such as GPS systems for data collection, analysis, plotting, imaging and generating boundary descriptions that will remain accurate even when physical markers and improvements (such as buildings or other artificial changes) disappear.
The survey helps create a “legal description” of the property, which an attorney in real estate law will review to decide title and title insurance. The attorney will also review the history of deeds and recorded plats adjacent to the property and the current survey of the property to find any discrepancies that may affect actual ownership. The real estate broker should never venture an opinion on property boundaries, and an owner should not consider this opinion legal or final. Only a surveyor can guarantee a formal review.
What Is Property Information Included in a Land Survey That Helps a Future Owner in Real Estate?
- A stretch of land or a lot’s boundaries
- Buildings, fences, and other enhancements
- Location of utility easements and right of way easements (areas of land that are reserved for the use of utility companies and passing power lines, for example, and cannot be built upon even though contained inside the property boundaries)
- Location of water bordering or located on or running through the property
- Acreage confirmation
- rights of way and public roadways, areas of driveways)
- Correct parcel or lot (for legal identification on documents)
How Is This Property Information Useful for Ownership Rights and Potential Use of Land?
The boundaries are precise and will include each corner. It is wise to request these corners to be marked on the property by the surveyor for future use (such as when a property owner decides to build a fence to avoid an encroachment issue or when an improvement crosses over the boundary line and can affect both owners when they later try to sell). The surveyor will also compute the area of the tract so the purchaser can verify the amount of land being purchased. It will avoid future disputes during the closing, and a recent survey can be beneficial to show buyers a seller’s actual property size.
The survey will also confirm if buildings and improvements comply with local zoning “setback” requirements from property boundaries, as well as restrictive covenants and regulations of private property homeowner associations. For example, it can be imperative when buying a home in a neighbourhood with an HOA. The previous homeowner has completed add-on projects such as an enlarged deck, extra room addition, sunroom, or garage. If these rules were not followed, the future buyer would avoid unnecessary problems. Also, if encroachments exist from a neighbour’s current structures (i.e. fence) onto the property considered for purchase, they will be discovered as well.
Easements are also essential to understand, limiting land development and potential use. For example, suppose an easement is present along a highway for the future projected widening of the road or along a railroad or power line. In that case, the lost use of that portion of the land should be considered in the purchase price and the property plans. Usually, improvements such as a building or parking lot cannot be completed in the area of an easement.
Water boundaries are essential to determine if a future homeowner has “riparian rights” related to a waterway, a form of access and ownership. Therefore, the survey will identify creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water located on the property.
Acreage confirmation is essential to adhere to minimum lot size requirements in neighbourhoods and confirm an appropriate price for a transaction when the price is based on per acre.
Finally, surveys are essential in real estate transfers involving mortgage financing based on the lender’s closing instructions and title insurance requirements. Whether reviewing issues related to purchasing undeveloped land, buying an existing home in a developed neighbourhood, or a potential commercial property is involved, the survey is an essential element of planning and protection that should not be omitted. Real estate is a significant investment, and a survey will confirm the legal boundaries and potential purchase complications in many ways.
