Survey Says...

Written by Mark Carroll, Land and Farm Specialist

Merriam Webster defines surveying as “a branch of applied mathematics that is concerned with determining the area of any portion of the earth's surface, the lengths and directions of the bounding lines, and the contour of the surface and with accurately delineating the whole on paper”. Sounds complicated, right? In the old days, surveyors would traverse the hills with a compass, a chain, and a map to measure between the rock at the pasture corer and the old oak tree next to the creek. Present day surveyors utilize highly accurate lasers, GPS units, drones, and computers with advanced software to measure and record data. Though today’s technology has created time saving tools for the profession, waiting for them to be completed often frustrates buyers and sellers.

Be patient! Surveys are important in the real estate world and it takes time to combine the art and science of surveying to create a new plat. The banks want them. The court house wants them. Buyers and other various parties want them. Knowing how many acres and where property lines and corners are located for a tract of land is the foundation to land ownership. 

How long will a survey take? How much will a survey cost? As real estate agents, we often don’t have a good answer for either of these questions until we have consulted with a professional surveyor. The time it takes to complete the survey and the cost of the survey both depend on several variables which can only be evaluated by a professional surveyor. Some of these variables include the quality of previous records, terrain, vegetation levels, accessibility of a tract, research, calculations, and drafting. With all this in mind, two equally sized tracts could likely require varying prices for new surveys as no two tracts are identical.

If you would like to hear more about surveys and common questions we tackle in the real estate world, follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BradLilesAndAssociates/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradlilesandassociates/ for our upcoming Q&A series with a local surveyor.