Having a survey certified to you as the owner means you are able to use your survey to settle any property border questions. A survey protects the integrity of your deed. If you run into conflicts, consult with a local real estate attorney for experienced advice on how to work out the issues.
Full Answer
Surveys, Survey Inspections, and Survey Endorsements in a New York Real Estate Transfer. So, your attorney has indicated that the Seller of a parcel of real property has an “old survey” and that you could get around the cost of a new survey with a survey inspection.
Once you have your completed and certified survey, you may want to consult an attorney about whether you are using your property in conformance with zoning ordinances. They can also offer other advice about the legal ramifications of your property survey.
Survey: A licensed professional surveyor investigates the deed transfers into the owners of the parcel of property, and all of the surrounding parcels.
To sum up, having a property survey done is important because: 1 A survey is a basic way to understand the physical details of your property. 2 Having a survey certified to you as the owner means you are able to use your survey to settle any property border... 3 A survey protects the integrity of your deed. More ...
A property survey confirms a property's boundary lines and legal description. It also determines other restrictions or easements included in the property. While you can technically get your property surveyed at any time, confirming the boundaries of your land is an important part of the home buying process.
Land surveys are a necessary tool for determining property lines and the location of a property's features. Without land surveys, there would be no way to know where one piece of land ends and the other begins.
One of the most important things you should do when buying a property is to get a survey. When you're about to make a major financial investment, it makes good sense to protect your purchase by taking the advice of a property professional who can give your dream home the once-over.
A real estate closing survey is a land survey performed prior to closing on a piece of land or property. Closing surveys are also sometimes referred to as lot surveys. However, a lot survey can technically take place both before and after closing.
The surveyor must note natural objects, including property boundaries within streams, and objects such as boulders and stone markers. The surveyor also creates a written metes and bounds description , to identify a piece of land. Metes are borderlines. Bounds comprise land within those metes.
A local estate attorney in your county can advise you about what your legal description and property survey reveal, how to keep them current, and how to avert risk.
Because the above-mentioned discrepancies are so common , an updated survey is vital to preserving the accuracy of the homeowner’s legal description. That said, if a survey was created in recent years, the title agent might accept it, along with a seller’s affidavit stating that there have been no material changes to the property since the existing survey was created.
Especially in urban areas, a legal description can be found using the lot-and-block (recorded plat) method. This identifies a specific parcel by lot number with a given block, or subdivision plat. The block, in turn, may be located by metes and bounds.
Examining the land. A surveyor hunts for stakes, stone markers, tagged pipes, ancient trees, and old fence segments to retrace original boundaries.
Alternatively, the legal description can refer to a public (rectangular) survey. A surveyor is not well served by a legal description comprised merely of an address and account number, or one referring to missing attachments.
State bodies, in turn, are affiliated with the National Society of Professional Surveyors. The surveyor locates and identifies markers, objects, and boundaries of a property—in two ways. Examining the land.
With a survey, the whole idea is to ensure the continued accuracy of the legal description on your deed. Being well informed will also help you make the right decisions about the provisions that can benefit you in an owner’s insurance policy.
To sum up, having a property survey done is important because: A survey is a basic way to understand the physical details of your property. Having a survey certified to you as the owner means you are able to use your survey to settle any property border questions. A survey protects the integrity of your deed.
A property survey is, as the term suggests, a diagram of boundaries, angles, and measurements. It shows where on Earth the real estate is. It precisely sets forth the property’s dimensions. It shows the key structures and features of the real estate, and makes clear where the property owner’s land stops, and the adjacent property owners’ lands begin.
Otherwise, the insurance will likely exclude coverage for problems that could have been discovered by the survey.
A surveyor goes to the site with current home deed, including the current legal description, and the home’s historical records and maps. The existing legal description was written by a prior surveyor. This prior information enables the surveyor to identify dimensions and borderlines. At the same time, the new survey checks the accuracy of the current legal description. Surveyors also inspect the boundary descriptions of the adjacent properties , to see that various owner’s documents match.
For many detached homes, hiring a surveyor can help to ensure a transparent and informative home sale. Proactively taking this step could spare the seller the agony of watching a deal fall though on account of something that could have been remedied in advance, if only the seller had known.
A survey will reveal geographic evidence of those claims. A survey could shed light on easements that weren’t obvious when you toured the property with an agent or took a virtual tour. Perhaps there’s evidence of a hiking pathway that meanders through a back corner of the land.
A survey will provide the owner with the exact description of his property and disclose any limits on his property rights, including: 1 Boundary Lines: The survey will show whether any fences, driveways or additions are encroaching on your neighbor’s property. The survey will also allow the home owner to ensure that the legal description of the property is accurate. 2 Existing Improvements: The survey will reveal which additions, improvements or repairs are compliant or non-compliance with local ordinances, if any. 3 Zoning Restrictions: Existing zoning restrictions may limit how a homeowner may use his property. 4 Utility Lines: The survey will show where underground cables and drains are under your property, if any. If these public cables and drains exist, the utility company may have the right to tell you how to maintain part of your property in order to protect the utility lines (i.e. when to trim your trees). 5 Rights-of-Way, Easements, and Abandoned Roads: Survey will disclose any laws or private agreements that give others the right to walk across your property. 6 Rights-of-Support: You may have a legal obligation to provide support to your neighbor’s land by maintaining an existing retaining wall in good condition, for example.
A survey will provide the owner with the exact description of his property and disclose any limits on his property rights, including: Boundary Lines: The survey will show whether any fences, driveways or additions are encroaching on your neighbor’s property.
An experienced real estate attorney can tell you whether or not you are using your land in compliance with existing restrictions, or whether someone is illegally encroaching on your property .
It is a good idea for homebuyers or existing homeowners who have never surveyed their property to hire a professional surveyor to locate the boundary lines of the property. A professional surveyor will show a homeowner exactly where his property begins and ends so as to avoid or settle common property disputes.
Many lawyers and real-estate professionals believe that title insurance is a substitute for an up-to-date survey. This is a misguided view. Title insurance provides indemnification for some issues but is not the same as getting an up-to-date survey. Most policies offer protection for a violation, variation or adverse circumstance ...
I’ve often said that a survey is the most important document in a real estate transaction — even more important than a deed. A transaction may be closed without a survey, but the owner accepts the risk if the house is not on the same land covered by the deed, or if part of a neighbour’s house is sitting on the buyer’s land.
Lack of a survey can be fatal to a property closing. I’ve written columns about a vendor who owned a house on the wrong side of a street, and about another vendor who owned the wrong half of a semi-detached house. I’ve also written about a transaction where, due to a botched severance, my client owned half of his house, and the neighbour owned 1-1/2 houses.
The most common reasons that a deed may be used is to either transfer ownership during the purchase or sale of a home, or when a person inherits property from one of their family members. Deeds can also be used to transfer gifts, trust contents, and certain rights (e.g., a sheriff’s deed or tax deed ). Lastly, if you receive a property deed, it is ...
Additionally, recordation is necessary in order for a deed to be valid.
As discussed above, when a person receives a deed, it is crucial that they file (i.e., “record”) it with their local county recorder’s office in which the property is located. While recording a deed is not required by law, failing to record a deed comes with many consequences.
The most common type of deed that is used in real estate transactions is the general warranty deed. This deed offers the greatest protections for a buyer through its terms. Specifically, the terms of a general warranty deed usually contain six covenants (or promises).
As previously mentioned, the type of deed received will determine the kinds of rights or protections it offers. Thus, if a property has a lien against it or there are title issues with a home, then this can have an impact on the type of deed that the seller will be able to convey.
A deed is a type of legal document that is used to transfer ownership rights in a home or other piece of property from the current owner to a new one. Although there are many different types of deeds, each of which has its own requirements, the majority of deeds generally include the following elements: 1 A description identifying the property being transferred; 2 The names of the parties who are taking part in the deed transaction (i.e., the grantor and the grantee); and 3 The signature of the party who is transferring the deed (note that the signature must be notarized by a notary public).
Although there are many different types of deeds, each of which has its own requirements, the majority of deeds generally include the following elements: A description identifying the property being transferred; The names of the parties who are taking part in the deed transaction (i.e., the grantor and the grantee); and.