As a homeowner or future homeowner, you have the option to get your current or future property surveyed. A survey helps define where one’s property starts and ends. However, why exactly should you have your property surveyed, you might ask? Here are the top reasons:
- Discover Property Lines
Especially if your property doesn’t have a fence, which isn’t always a requirement depending on where you live, it can be difficult to truly know your exact property line. A simple property survey can make that evident. Knowing this can be useful for a plethora of reasons, but sometimes it’s simply sheer curiosity as to what land you do and don’t own.
- Spot Utility Features
A professional surveyor can spot and identify utility features on a property. These include, but are not excluded to, electric wiring, vaults, water pipes, drains, and cables. This information can be useful for construction projects, utility companies who may need to perform utility-related work on your land, or for creating rules for the property owner (e.g., tree maintenance).
- Define Property Responsibilities
Little things like knowing where to stop trimming the lawn or plowing snow can be determined with a property survey. Any other property-related responsibilities can be discovered and properly divided thanks to a surveyor.
- Identify Issues on a Prospective Property
Before buying a home, it’s important to have a survey to determine any problems the property may have. Some things that can be discovered with a property survey include major repairs that might need to be done, existing structural issues with the house, and whether or not the property is within a flood zone.
- Resolve Disputes with a Neighbor
When in a dispute with a neighbor over what’s your property and what’s theirs, the best thing you can do is get the property surveyor involved. If the dispute gets more tense, the survey can be used as evidence in court if legal help is needed to resolve the issue.
- Get a Mortgage or Construction Permit
Before getting a mortgage loan or construction permit, you’ll need to have the property survey. Depending on where you reside, this may be a requirement before you are even granted either of the latter.
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- Before Building a Fence
When putting up a fence on your property, it’s critical to get your land surveyed first. The last thing you’d want is to accidentally have part of your property cut off or even steal part of your neighbor’s or the city’s property. To get a fence job done right, it starts by knowing the correct boundary line.
- Locate Cemeteries on Your Land
While very rare, it’s possible there could be an old burial ground somewhere on your property. A property survey can help detect that if that’s the case.
- Prior to Getting a Driveway or Sidewalk Installed
Before pouring concrete, always get your land surveyed. It’s not fun ripping out a driveway or sidewalk after the work has already been done!
Conclusion
Sometimes a survey of your current or prospective property is required. Other times, a property survey is something you can opt for, like, in the case of a dispute between you and another party or if you’re wanting to install a fence or sidewalk on your land. In the end, property surveys serve an important purpose and can be necessary in many ways.
