There are many situations where you may need surveys done on your property or a piece of property you’re considering purchasing. While land surveys may seem expensive, they are not as expensive as having to defend a building you’ve already constructed or even who owns a fence.
At the first sign of a problem with your neighbor about property lines, begin your research into any property lines that have already been done. Most of the time you can find information at your building department or even the tax assessors office.
In fact, you may be able to solve the issue without even hiring a surveyor or a lawyer. So research first before panicking about a problem. When you don’t find your answer there or there is a discrepancy of one sort or another, you might have to have the property lines established.
Issues needing a surveyor will be those where there is discrepancy in surveyed lines and there is already a building or fence on the wrong side of the original survey lines. In cases such as these, often it will be a court case and not just having it re-surveyed.
It’s best if you can figure out a way to avoid the high cost of court but in certain situations it may be necessary. Look at previous cases in the area and see if you can find a precedent, then try to settle out of court. If not, then you’ll need a lawyer or attorney that specializes in property lines as well as have the area resurveyed.
There is no doubt that having property surveyed is expensive, if you think you might have a problem or are looking at a new piece of property, you’ll want to know that the property dimensions are correct. If you have a discrepancy in the dimensions, then there’s a good bet that you have to have land surveys done in order to prove who owns the tree, fence or outbuilding.