The Importance of A Survey

When purchasing real estate, a common misconception is that you don’t need a survey. This is because lenders don’t typically require a survey; however, if you don’t have a survey, you may not know exactly what you’re buying. Investing in a property survey now could save you from costly issues down the road. Below are 6 examples of issues that can be avoided by obtaining a survey prior to closing on your property:

Example 1 – Title Insurance Claims

Lenders do not require a survey for you to get a loan. They rely on the attorney and title
insurance company to ensure that the legal description of the property matches the boundaries.
If there is a title claim made that might have been shown on a survey, the lender is covered.
However, without a valid survey, your title insurance will not cover any issues that a survey may have revealed. For example, that dream of an outdoor area for friends and family? Well, it may remain a dream when you find out that the size of the property you purchased is actually much smaller than you thought.

Example 2 – Boundaries

One of the most common legal disputes between neighbors occurs over boundary lines. Often, a neighbor wants to sell their property or wants to build a fence, so they survey their land and the survey shows one or more potential issues. It could be an encroachment onto their property of a fence, a driveway, an outbuilding, or their house itself. It could be that they discover the size of their lot is not what they thought or the boundary is not where they thought. Without a survey at the time of purchase, none of this would be known. Additionally, because there is no survey, title insurance would not cover the claim. Further, even if there is a survey, the title company will take exception to any problems showing on the survey. The only protection that the buyer has is to see the survey ahead of time to know what they are getting. Remember, fences, driveways, hedges, or trees can’t be trusted as reliable markers. Trees grow. Hedges grow. Driveways or fences may not have been installed at the edge of the boundary, and hedges or trees may have been removed prior to your purchase. An updated survey is the only way to know the location of your property lines.

Example 3 – Encroachments

When your neighbor intrudes onto your property or vice versa by a fence, tree, etc., it is an encroachment. Sometimes encroachment is more complicated, such as a portion of a house sitting on the neighbor’s property. Again, a buyer that proceeds to a closing without a survey is stuck with a significant title issue and likely no coverage from their title insurance policy.

When you obtain a survey prior to closing you have the option to walk away after the
encroachment discovery, or require the title issue to be resolved prior to purchase.

Example 4 – Ownership of the “wrong” property

A title insurance policy insures the property described in the title policy. Surprisingly often, the
description in the policy isn’t the property that the buyer intended to purchase. Examples
include:
* Purchasing a lot with a house but only receiving good title to a vacant lot
* Making improvements to an existing structure, only to discover that the buyer actually
owns a different house in the same neighborhood
* Purchasing and owning a townhouse for ten years, only to discover that they actually
have title to the townhouse next door
In all of these cases, the buyer isn’t covered because the descriptions listed in the policy are not the same as the survey would indicate. Investing in a survey can help alert you to these potential problems.

Example 5 – Legal Description

Having a survey provides a cross-reference to what is filed in the tax office. This cross-
reference allows an attorney to compare 1) the shape of the property in the legal description, 2)
the drawing on file at the tax office, and 3) the shape of the property from the most recent
survey. These comparisons assist in determining exactly what you are purchasing.

Example 6 – Access

As a buyer, you want to know how you can legally access the property you are considering. This
is especially important when looking at land-locked property, but can show up in other property
issues as well. While there may be multiple ways to access a property, title insurance will only
cover legal access. In order to avoid future headaches, getting your future property surveyed
can clearly inform you of the legal access to it.
There are many pro-active reasons for getting a property surveyed prior to purchase. From
avoiding neighbor disputes to confirming exactly what you are buying, a survey gives you
accurate information about your purchase, enabling you to make an informed decision. For
more information or questions on surveys, or any other legal issues regarding real estate,
contact Goodman Law, PC at our website: https://goodmanlawpa.com/contact-us/.