What is a survey in real estate?
A real estate survey is a drawing of your property that details the location of the lot, property lines, home, and any other structures within its bounds. The purpose of a real estate survey is to confirm land boundaries in the event of a legal dispute. Surveys are typically held by the local county tax collector and are part of the closing costs associated with buying a free-standing home.
List of reasons to get a real estate survey:
- Identifying Property Boundaries: A real estate survey clearly outlines the exact dimensions and boundaries of the property. This helps avoid potential disputes with neighbors over property lines.
- Uncovering Potential Issues: Surveys can reveal potential problems such as encroachments from neighboring properties , easements, or restrictions that could affect your ownership rights.
- Ensuring Legal Compliance: A survey ensures that the property and any structures on it comply with local zoning laws, building codes, and regulations.
- Assisting in Planning and Development: If you plan to make changes to the property, like adding a fence or building an extension, a survey provides necessary details about where these can be legally and feasibly placed.
- Facilitating Accurate Property Valuation: A survey can help determine the accurate value of a property, which is important for setting a fair purchase price and property taxes.
- Informing Mortgage Approval: Many lenders require a real estate survey before approving a home loan to understand the exact property they're financing.
- Protecting Investment: A survey can reveal if there are any issues that may affect the future sale of the property or lead to costly legal disputes, helping protect your investment.
- Verifying Property Descriptions: The survey verifies that the legal description of the property matches the physical property, ensuring that what you think you're buying is what you're actually getting.
- Identifying Easements: A survey can reveal any easements on the property, which can limit your use of certain parts of your land.
- Uncovering Unknown Rights: A survey can uncover unknown rights others might have to the property, such as rights of way or overhanging structures.