# Land Surveys.....



## MarvinWilleyJr (Sep 26, 2006)

In the process of buying a half an acre of land, just wondering a round about guesstimate on charges for surveys.

It's just a 200' by 110 or so flat lot, not to much growth just a few pines.

Any guesses would be helpful, thanks. Not looking for a bid or exact price.........I heard a price thru someone like 1,500, and that just sounds way off to me......am I wrong?


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

MarvinWilleyJr said:


> In the process of buying a half an acre of land, just wondering a round about guesstimate on charges for surveys.
> 
> It's just a 200' by 110 or so flat lot, not to much growth just a few pines.
> 
> Any guesses would be helpful, thanks. Not looking for a bid or exact price.........I heard a price thru someone like 1,500, and that just sounds way off to me......am I wrong?


Marvin,
Price seems like it could be in the ball park. If you don't mind me asking , why are you getting it surveyed? Is it part of a large subdivition? Are there any corner monuments or iron pipes now? You should be able to get a survey map from your town hall / bldg. dept.


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## MarvinWilleyJr (Sep 26, 2006)

My girlfriends dad has 2 acres, and is gonna sell us a half of an acre. Just need to get it surveyed to split it up.


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

We can usually get an improvement location certificate for about $150. A surveyor just comes out and looks over the property and does not set up instruments. 

Are you paying cash for the lot and are you getting Title insurance. A title insurance co. would have some minimum requirement for a survey and would have people they work with or include it in the Title policy. If someone is trying to give you a "Land Contract" I'd talk to a lawyer. I think I would talk to a lawyer anyway on any raw land deal unless you are experienced.


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

MarvinWilleyJr said:


> My girlfriends dad has 2 acres, and is gonna sell us a half of an acre. Just need to get it surveyed to split it up.


Then $1500 sounds right for that. You may have some kind of subdivision process to go through too.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

the engineer is going to have to write up a new legal description for the property you are getting from your father in law. and if i'm not mistaken, your father in law will have to get his rewritten. after the legal is written, here anyway....the deed is prepared, filed by an attorney. don't shave bucks on this dude, people die, people change their minds.


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## MarvinWilleyJr (Sep 26, 2006)

Thanks....

Gonna check into this more, thought all I had to do was just get it surveyed and pay him. But I believe there's gonna be more to it than I thought.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

MarvinWilleyJr said:


> Gonna check into this more, thought all I had to do was just get it surveyed and pay him. But I believe there's gonna be more to it than I thought.


Not really. The deed work must be done. You can have a surveyor come out and survey anything you want, but that does not make it a legal subdivision. It just makes it an accurate measurement, done by a professional, and nothing more than that. Many surveyors can assist you with the subdivision process. Most often, in these little subdivides among family members, the deed work and the survey work cost more than they're paying for the property. It's just the breaks of the game.


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

MarvinWilleyJr said:


> In the process of buying a half an acre of land, just wondering a round about guesstimate on charges for surveys.


FYI- I had a complete "existing conditions" and boundary survey done last year on a 3.6 acre community swimming pool site. The survey extended to 20' beyond the limits of the property and included locating all above ground and known underground improvements. The engineer provided (6) copies of a preliminary drawing, (6) copies of the final drawing and an autocad file on cd - all for about $6K. It took a 3 -4 man survey team the better part of 10 days to collect the data.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

The old pros can also be wrong. Two cases in point.

My NC home was advertised as 5 acres. After survey it became 5.52 acres, I got a half acre for free.

My current home is in a subdivision that was developed in the 70's-80's. After the hurricanes blew the fence away and we were in the process of replacing it, we noticed that all of the survey measures didn't add up correctly or our house was severely out of square. Somebody, way back when, had moved one of the 'iron rods'. We called the surveyor back in and he tried to stick us for $1,800.00.

I guess that all that he originally did was pull the plat and verify that the rods and monuments were still in place, even if they were in the WRONG place. 

BTW, he didn't get paid the second time. We paid him the first time.


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## rd592 (Dec 19, 2006)

Being that you are subdividing a property the surveyor will have a slight change in procedure than a regular survey theirfore the price may go up a little. 

Your county may have to approve you proposal on the resubdivision therefore you may have to put a fire hydrant in etc. etc. 

1500 dollars doesnt sound that bad of a price.


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## MarvinWilleyJr (Sep 26, 2006)

Wow do times change. Been awhile since I have been on. Now I am having to sue my X and her dad to get the deed he never gave us, since we split up. What a pain this has been.


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