By Diana Carr, marketing coordinator – R&R Engineers-Surveyors, Inc.
Surveying plays a pivotal role in the real estate and construction industry, providing vital data and insights to assist with smooth transactions and effective property management. Whether you are buying, selling, or managing a property, understanding the types and purposes of surveys can significantly impact your decision-making process.
BUYING AND SELLING PROPERTIES
When purchasing or selling a property, knowing its precise boundaries and site features are highly recommended. Boundary surveys are crucial in identifying the exact limits of the property, preventing disputes with neighbors, and ensuring you get what you pay for. A detailed survey can reveal any encroachments or easements that might affect the property’s value or usage, offering peace of mind and protecting your investment.
Title Reviews are also recommended for buyers, lenders, and developers when involved in a real estate transaction or development project. Having a surveyor review documents, such as deeds, land contracts, mortgages, easements or relevant court records can save the potential new owner from legal issues like unrevealed bankruptcy, forgery, or fraud. Plotting the extents of easements and encumbrances on a survey and adding reference notes from deeds or covenants, gives potential buyers document with the key site information.
For sellers, providing potential buyers with an accurate ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey can enhance transparency and trust. This comprehensive survey includes detailed information on property boundaries, improvements, easements, and other vital data, making it easier for buyers to move forward with transactions, not to mention ALTA surveys are typically required to secure financing and insurance.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Effective property management relies heavily on an accurate documentation of the property attributes. Topographic surveys provide detailed information about the land’s contours and existing features, needed for planning maintenance, landscaping, and new developments. Understanding the terrain allows property managers make informed decisions about drainage, construction, and overall site improvements.
Familiarity with site features and utilities provides efficient maintenance and operations, strengthens safety and compliance, and improves tenant satisfaction. This knowledge aids in cost management by optimizing utility usage and preventing costly repairs. In emergencies, understanding the property layout leads to a quick response and effective implementation of repairs. Additionally, it supports strategic planning for upgrades or expansions and is a key component when dealing with legal documentation and insurance matters.
As-built surveys are valuable for property managers overseeing ongoing construction or renovation projects. These surveys verify the work is completed according to design specifications, warrants compliance with regulations and minimizing the risk of costly corrections.
DEVELOPERS
Platting is another critical aspect, particularly for property/real estate developers. Platting divides the land into plots, for subdivision or commercial property development. The platting process creates detailed maps that outline the proposed lot lines, streets, and public utilities, confirming the development adheres to local regulations and planning requirements.
There are variations of platting to consider when developing your land that include:
Subdivision Platting typically takes a single, large parcel of land (or an assemblage of parcels) through the process of division into new, legally defined parcels, each with a unique identification number. This allows proper land utilization, zoning, infrastructure development, and tax assessment.
Replatting and Lot Line Adjustments, also known as a re-subdivision or replat, takes existing platted parcels of land, combines and/or reconfigures them, to create a new single parcel or newly configured parcels. This is the type of survey is required when consolidating land, optimizing land utilization, or adjusting property boundaries. A replat can lead to enhanced land use for potentially higher property values and accurately resolve disputes between property owners sharing boundary lines.
Finally, Condominium Mapping is the recommended approach for dividing a single ownership building or complex into multiple units that can be sold as individual properties. Once the property owner prepares a condominium declaration to outline the legal framework for the condominium, a survey of each unit and common elements within the entire property is completed to create a condominium plat map. It’s important to have a detailed graphical representation showing the location, boundaries, dimensions, and unit numbers for each unit, when paired with the declaration, for legal approval showing that it complies with zoning regulations, building codes, and other applicable laws.
At R&R Engineers-Surveyors, Inc., our attention to detail and our expertise in surveying and platting gives our clients accurate, reliable data that supports informed decision-making. Whether you’re involved in buying, selling, or managing a property, our professional surveys provide the foundation for successful real estate transactions and effective property management.
For more information on the survey services highlighted, visit our website for more in-depth articles, What Type of Survey Do You Need? and Platting Breakdown from the Pros.
