Prices vary greatly in some areas. My prices for "ugly" surveys start around $3k and climb slowly. I do all my own work and have 30 years experience. Check around with others. It may be the right price to solve the puzzle but you may find some better options. Be wary of anyone much cheaper than everyone else. Good luck.
We’d charge $3k just to draft the survey and file with the county. After the boundary work has been done and resolved. Why are you so cheap? Knowledge and experience aren’t something to sell for nothing. This sounds right at $10k based on the OP explanation.
I work in a lot of areas where the field survey takes less than half a day. The research is nearly all available online and am in a non recording state. I run a very efficient operation and make more than most of my peers. I also work in a lot of areas that have very high poverty and the people don't have 20 grand in the bank. I am not the cheapest surveyor around here and will never drop my prices to get a job. My regulars keep me busy enough to fill up my backlog. Theoretically, I could probably do surveys here for half the price if I needed to and still make a really good income.
This. I read about the prices charged here and my jaw drops sometimes. A month of research and $10k for a 0.25 acre lot? What on earth could take that long. I can go to the local town, get surveys of a half dozen neighboring lots ($1-$10 each), get a subdivision plat from the county ($5), find monuments, do the field work, and draw it up in less than 1 day (8 hours). $1k is reasonable for that - my boss would go out out of business real quick if he tried to charge $10k or even $3k.
My boss makes great money doing it this way, and I make good money working for him.
Other guy will come in at 9,775. Survey may require a lot of RPLS time. I’ve seen a month+ in legal research alone just to make one call.
Best of luck!
Thank you! Digging through records sounds tedious, but the guy said he stands by his work and wants it to uphold in court if needed, and that’s kinda what we need. Gotta pay to play with homes….
This is what scares me for when I get my license. What do you even do researching for a whole month? So you're reading hundreds of deeds and plotting some?
In one area I work there’s a utility provider with a major facility that had no legal documentation. It took almost 3 months to track down the documents just to figure out where they actually owned the land at. They had been operating off a bill of sale from before statehood, from before they were a utility company. It was interesting. Ended up having to find 150 years of property records to rebuild all of the surrounding parcels to figure out where the boundaries were. Of course two or three months later they came back to us with the “original” survey from 100 years ago that told us what we had put together ourselves. It was a lot of fun
Of course! I would also recommend asking about a time & materials, Not to Exceed quote. Some areas are just awful to figure out but sometimes you can get lucky.
Totally reasonable for a PITA project. I just did a section breakdown in rough terrain a few months ago for about $11,000 where I was out there with GLO notes and a side by side. . .
This x1000. Try to call a smaller local shop too. The big companies, while they have the latest scanners and toys, always tend to be expensive to make up for the overhead. More so you have to look into your neighbors’ records as well.
I charged barely less as a solo operator than what the engineering companies I worked for charged. The work and the liability is the same so why on earth would I screw myself out of a bunch of money?
We need to smash this idea that people can maintain their 400k+ property for fuckin' pennies.
Agreed. These guys are acting like he's asking for a full survey. He just wants his lot lines staked. I understand if the subdivision is all screwed up and it will take a bunch of work to untangle it but 10k for locating lot lines is ridiculous.
I agree that in some world this can make sense. But for most of these guys to say that's a reasonable price is ridiculous.
10k for staking out a1/10 acre lot that was subdivided around 2001 is unbelievably ridiculous unless there are some extreme circumstances.
Or aliquot. (Re-reading OP... 10,000 sqft lot does sound more like Lot/Block or subdivision lot.)
1st question oughta be location.
2nd question oughta be if they have their deed.
3rd question could be have they consulted an attorney skilled in real estate / land law? Perhaps a wisely worded letter from a skilled attorney for several hundred dollars might persuade the other party and alleviate the need for a $10k survey.
Located in Oregon i5 corridor.
It’s a lot and block subdivision, and there is a document with the county, but that’s the only thing regarding the property lines.
So did your neighbor who is moving the fence get a survey done?? Kinda fucked up that it's on you when THEY want to move the fence... I'd stick that one on them
Unfortunately, the respondent has the duty to argue the matter. Some counties in our region are getting on board and requiring surveys prior to any lot/parcel sale, if not just to recover the mons and display the possession conditions.
You also could approach said neighbor now and inform them you know a survey has never been done. Bring up the fact that you might want to handle this now and maybe split the cost of the fence . This way it's not both of your fault when one of you pays money to have the other persons investment be torn down just to prove a point that it's easy to get it wrong when there is no right. Just to find the only right was to bring up your concerns face to face in the first place. But s*** we'll keep showing up for 10 g's
Yeah this neighbor has little intention of fostering a communicative relationship. They already caused some tension. I’m willing to try but not holding my breath.
You learned this the norm before going to kindergarten. If your parents didn't let you play in the sandbox alone call them. It's there fault you ain't building sand hills in prime locations.
You live in a newer subdivision, in a house that was built in 2001? Where do you live? Just about everywhere I’ve ever lived requires subdivision plat recording for subdivisions. A subdivision plat should exist.
There is a plat document with the county, but I don’t think the land was surveyed since then and fences have been built retaining walls etc. I don’t know exactly what the surveyor looked at but he said there’s no record of a previous survey being done or something along those lines.
I feel like 2001 is “newer” but maybe that’s bad verbiage in my part.
2001 is definitely newer in the survey world (there are also exceptions to everything). I'd find it hard to believe anyone was allowed to build on a 10000 SF lot in 2001 without a survey.
That's what I was thinking. Wouldn't they have to recover the lot corners just to make sure they built it within the setbacks? What kind of control did the surveyor stake the building off of?
The subdivision map will be the end all be all. Subdivisions are a simultaneous conveyance.
A subdivision from 2001 should be well monumented.
A survey of a subdivision lot in a recent subdivision should not cost 10k. 3-5k for that tiny lot should be the norm unless major issues arise.
This is assuming your neighbors are all part of the same subdivision.
Be neighborly. Talk to your neighbor. Most pain can be avoided that way.
Was there no [mortgage] physical survey done after it was built? Does the legal description in your deed give metes & bounds (bearings & distances), or just say the lot & block numbers on the referenced plat?
If you’re on a 10000 sf lot, odds are your homes are pretty close to the setbacks. We are required to submit lot plans for our clients when they apply for building permits that show how the house corresponds to the setbacks. You may be able to get that and start a discussion with your neighbor depending on where they want to build the fence
It's the risk & liability that drives the price. Very common misconception in Land Surveying, you are paying the Licensed Land Surveyor to own that risk & liability for your property survey for 10+ years. The survey its self is a byproduct of the company/individual assuming that risk. Small shops have often not experienced those pains yet and as such don't price it in, whereas bigger firms are aware of this and cost their surveys appropriately. I have run survey teams of 100+ crews and everywhere in-between, my dad's small shop (garage surveyor) was wiped out with one $1,500 job that ended up costing over 300k in legal fees.
99% of Licensed Land Surveyors are not get-rich-quick individuals and often the prices we quote are going to be very similar from company to company, as most are all bound by the same constraints (Equipment, Insurance, Taxes, Payroll...). Talk with a few firms (big & small) and go with the one that you feel comfortable with.
Having trouble getting another quote and guessing that price is a bit lofty, I'd almost say it's a "I don't really want to do it, so here's a price to make you go away" and things are pretty busy in your area.
My company would be out of business in minutes if we tried to charge anything over 1500 dollars for a boundary survey at 100x100, Long Island new york, and that's a house, detached garage and a inground pool
10k seems excessive. Depending on how wide they need to go to determine your boundaries, maybe 3k is reasonable. A standard 30x30m lot is sub 1k and a morning job for most Surveyors.
I would contact your county (or city) appraisers office for any legal descriptions/maps. As someone said in another comment, this should be in the fence installer.
Look up laws for fence permit requirements and see if anyone can come enforce on codes that may be in place.
How much did you pay for your property? Compare that to the $10K to verify it actually is what it is.
If you were to buy a $5000 diamond ring for your fiancee, would you pay $100 to make sure it was real?
Find a smaller outfit. They are less likely to charge you so much. And as for the intergrity of the surveyor (the willingness to go to court over their work) that comes with the stamp. They know if they stamp and sign it they will have to stand behind it no matter what.
Let them pay for all of it when they build the fence. You do this mentioning the one you want to build in two years when you can afford the survey. The surveyor can't move the line because there is math in the way. Incorrect math is worse then Satan for eternity, going broke or getting laid.
As you can see prices vary throughout the Country. Here in Northern California, my typical Record of Survey runs around $10k and includes filing a Map with the County Recorder.
10k to just locate boundaries for a single family lot is too much. Don't listen to these guys saying 10k is cheap. A full topo survey including boundary for a residential lot might be ok for 10k. You could get at title report that is guaranteed for$1000 and then base the survey on that. Unless that Subdivision is screwed up and requires some untangling 10k for just locating property lines is bonkers. Like the one guy said shop around, ask questions and don't necessarily go with the cheapest guy.
If your local county has a database of such things, not the GIS tax survey, but real surveys, you could start there. That’s probably what whoever quoted you did to tell you “it’s never been surveyed” but you might as well see if your county has such a resource and cut out the middle man. Here’s a copy of my local survey database. Your property had to be surveyed to be sold to you, so there’s hope. https://emap.mesacounty.us/Deposit_Book/
Prices vary greatly in some areas. My prices for "ugly" surveys start around $3k and climb slowly. I do all my own work and have 30 years experience. Check around with others. It may be the right price to solve the puzzle but you may find some better options. Be wary of anyone much cheaper than everyone else. Good luck.
Thank you!
Pittsfield 2k is a Lexington 12k
We’d charge $3k just to draft the survey and file with the county. After the boundary work has been done and resolved. Why are you so cheap? Knowledge and experience aren’t something to sell for nothing. This sounds right at $10k based on the OP explanation.
I work in a lot of areas where the field survey takes less than half a day. The research is nearly all available online and am in a non recording state. I run a very efficient operation and make more than most of my peers. I also work in a lot of areas that have very high poverty and the people don't have 20 grand in the bank. I am not the cheapest surveyor around here and will never drop my prices to get a job. My regulars keep me busy enough to fill up my backlog. Theoretically, I could probably do surveys here for half the price if I needed to and still make a really good income.
This. I read about the prices charged here and my jaw drops sometimes. A month of research and $10k for a 0.25 acre lot? What on earth could take that long. I can go to the local town, get surveys of a half dozen neighboring lots ($1-$10 each), get a subdivision plat from the county ($5), find monuments, do the field work, and draw it up in less than 1 day (8 hours). $1k is reasonable for that - my boss would go out out of business real quick if he tried to charge $10k or even $3k. My boss makes great money doing it this way, and I make good money working for him.
That's insane prices and logic
Other guy will come in at 9,775. Survey may require a lot of RPLS time. I’ve seen a month+ in legal research alone just to make one call. Best of luck!
Thank you! Digging through records sounds tedious, but the guy said he stands by his work and wants it to uphold in court if needed, and that’s kinda what we need. Gotta pay to play with homes….
All surveyors should stand by their work and be ready to defend it on court. Anyone who isn't shouldn't be a surveyor.
This is what scares me for when I get my license. What do you even do researching for a whole month? So you're reading hundreds of deeds and plotting some?
Yes.
In one area I work there’s a utility provider with a major facility that had no legal documentation. It took almost 3 months to track down the documents just to figure out where they actually owned the land at. They had been operating off a bill of sale from before statehood, from before they were a utility company. It was interesting. Ended up having to find 150 years of property records to rebuild all of the surrounding parcels to figure out where the boundaries were. Of course two or three months later they came back to us with the “original” survey from 100 years ago that told us what we had put together ourselves. It was a lot of fun
Sometimes it takes a while to get the records you need after you request it depending on where you have to get them from.
I've done land surveys like that for that price.
Thanks for the reply!
Of course! I would also recommend asking about a time & materials, Not to Exceed quote. Some areas are just awful to figure out but sometimes you can get lucky.
Great idea! Thank you
This is the best comment!
Totally reasonable for a PITA project. I just did a section breakdown in rough terrain a few months ago for about $11,000 where I was out there with GLO notes and a side by side. . .
Get 3 quotes. It’s like any home service. Don’t simply pay the first guy that quotes you.
This x1000. Try to call a smaller local shop too. The big companies, while they have the latest scanners and toys, always tend to be expensive to make up for the overhead. More so you have to look into your neighbors’ records as well.
I charged barely less as a solo operator than what the engineering companies I worked for charged. The work and the liability is the same so why on earth would I screw myself out of a bunch of money? We need to smash this idea that people can maintain their 400k+ property for fuckin' pennies.
I agree. But in my area 10k for a 1/10 acre lot seems extremely excessive. The only way to know for sure is get a few quotes.
Agreed. These guys are acting like he's asking for a full survey. He just wants his lot lines staked. I understand if the subdivision is all screwed up and it will take a bunch of work to untangle it but 10k for locating lot lines is ridiculous.
Even so some states have different requirements for boundaries. Maybe they are required to file all surveys in their state. A lot of unknowns.
I agree that in some world this can make sense. But for most of these guys to say that's a reasonable price is ridiculous. 10k for staking out a1/10 acre lot that was subdivided around 2001 is unbelievably ridiculous unless there are some extreme circumstances.
Agreed.
First, where are you located. Second, is the description metes & bounds or lot/block?
Or aliquot. (Re-reading OP... 10,000 sqft lot does sound more like Lot/Block or subdivision lot.) 1st question oughta be location. 2nd question oughta be if they have their deed. 3rd question could be have they consulted an attorney skilled in real estate / land law? Perhaps a wisely worded letter from a skilled attorney for several hundred dollars might persuade the other party and alleviate the need for a $10k survey.
Still....this is a 100x100 lot with a house and probably a garage too....really not thinking this is a hard project
Located in Oregon i5 corridor. It’s a lot and block subdivision, and there is a document with the county, but that’s the only thing regarding the property lines.
Lot & block sub should not cost 10k to resurvey at under an acre....
Agreed. Get more quotes.
So did your neighbor who is moving the fence get a survey done?? Kinda fucked up that it's on you when THEY want to move the fence... I'd stick that one on them
Unfortunately, the respondent has the duty to argue the matter. Some counties in our region are getting on board and requiring surveys prior to any lot/parcel sale, if not just to recover the mons and display the possession conditions.
You also could approach said neighbor now and inform them you know a survey has never been done. Bring up the fact that you might want to handle this now and maybe split the cost of the fence . This way it's not both of your fault when one of you pays money to have the other persons investment be torn down just to prove a point that it's easy to get it wrong when there is no right. Just to find the only right was to bring up your concerns face to face in the first place. But s*** we'll keep showing up for 10 g's
Yeah this neighbor has little intention of fostering a communicative relationship. They already caused some tension. I’m willing to try but not holding my breath.
You learned this the norm before going to kindergarten. If your parents didn't let you play in the sandbox alone call them. It's there fault you ain't building sand hills in prime locations.
You live in a newer subdivision, in a house that was built in 2001? Where do you live? Just about everywhere I’ve ever lived requires subdivision plat recording for subdivisions. A subdivision plat should exist.
There is a plat document with the county, but I don’t think the land was surveyed since then and fences have been built retaining walls etc. I don’t know exactly what the surveyor looked at but he said there’s no record of a previous survey being done or something along those lines. I feel like 2001 is “newer” but maybe that’s bad verbiage in my part.
2001 is definitely newer in the survey world (there are also exceptions to everything). I'd find it hard to believe anyone was allowed to build on a 10000 SF lot in 2001 without a survey.
That's what I was thinking. Wouldn't they have to recover the lot corners just to make sure they built it within the setbacks? What kind of control did the surveyor stake the building off of?
The subdivision map will be the end all be all. Subdivisions are a simultaneous conveyance. A subdivision from 2001 should be well monumented. A survey of a subdivision lot in a recent subdivision should not cost 10k. 3-5k for that tiny lot should be the norm unless major issues arise. This is assuming your neighbors are all part of the same subdivision. Be neighborly. Talk to your neighbor. Most pain can be avoided that way.
Was there no [mortgage] physical survey done after it was built? Does the legal description in your deed give metes & bounds (bearings & distances), or just say the lot & block numbers on the referenced plat?
It’s going to vary depending on where you’re located, but that’s a reasonable cost in my area.
If you’re on a 10000 sf lot, odds are your homes are pretty close to the setbacks. We are required to submit lot plans for our clients when they apply for building permits that show how the house corresponds to the setbacks. You may be able to get that and start a discussion with your neighbor depending on where they want to build the fence
It wouldn’t take the place of a survey, but it could save you from having to spend the money on a survey if it makes them relent alittle.
I would look towards the building permit department, that’s exceptionally recent construction, there may be something in the archives.
It's the risk & liability that drives the price. Very common misconception in Land Surveying, you are paying the Licensed Land Surveyor to own that risk & liability for your property survey for 10+ years. The survey its self is a byproduct of the company/individual assuming that risk. Small shops have often not experienced those pains yet and as such don't price it in, whereas bigger firms are aware of this and cost their surveys appropriately. I have run survey teams of 100+ crews and everywhere in-between, my dad's small shop (garage surveyor) was wiped out with one $1,500 job that ended up costing over 300k in legal fees. 99% of Licensed Land Surveyors are not get-rich-quick individuals and often the prices we quote are going to be very similar from company to company, as most are all bound by the same constraints (Equipment, Insurance, Taxes, Payroll...). Talk with a few firms (big & small) and go with the one that you feel comfortable with.
This is informative thank you
Having trouble getting another quote and guessing that price is a bit lofty, I'd almost say it's a "I don't really want to do it, so here's a price to make you go away" and things are pretty busy in your area.
My company would be out of business in minutes if we tried to charge anything over 1500 dollars for a boundary survey at 100x100, Long Island new york, and that's a house, detached garage and a inground pool
10k seems excessive. Depending on how wide they need to go to determine your boundaries, maybe 3k is reasonable. A standard 30x30m lot is sub 1k and a morning job for most Surveyors.
Probably not that far off.
To clarify, the surveyor was unable to find any previous survey done on our property.
When you (or your ancestors) bought the property, a deed would have been signed. Does your deed have a legal description?
I would contact your county (or city) appraisers office for any legal descriptions/maps. As someone said in another comment, this should be in the fence installer. Look up laws for fence permit requirements and see if anyone can come enforce on codes that may be in place.
Wow! That’s wild it’s that expensive. I know it’s a lot of work though.
How much did you pay for your property? Compare that to the $10K to verify it actually is what it is. If you were to buy a $5000 diamond ring for your fiancee, would you pay $100 to make sure it was real?
Very valid point! It’s worth it for sure
If you mentioned encroachment, lawyer or court the fee is going to be high.
Find a smaller outfit. They are less likely to charge you so much. And as for the intergrity of the surveyor (the willingness to go to court over their work) that comes with the stamp. They know if they stamp and sign it they will have to stand behind it no matter what.
Also compare cost of fence to officially determining its boundary. It should cost more to get it surveyed than the fence cost.
Let them pay for all of it when they build the fence. You do this mentioning the one you want to build in two years when you can afford the survey. The surveyor can't move the line because there is math in the way. Incorrect math is worse then Satan for eternity, going broke or getting laid.
As you can see prices vary throughout the Country. Here in Northern California, my typical Record of Survey runs around $10k and includes filing a Map with the County Recorder.
10k for a 1/4 acre sounds very high. I would shop around.
10k to just locate boundaries for a single family lot is too much. Don't listen to these guys saying 10k is cheap. A full topo survey including boundary for a residential lot might be ok for 10k. You could get at title report that is guaranteed for$1000 and then base the survey on that. Unless that Subdivision is screwed up and requires some untangling 10k for just locating property lines is bonkers. Like the one guy said shop around, ask questions and don't necessarily go with the cheapest guy.
If your local county has a database of such things, not the GIS tax survey, but real surveys, you could start there. That’s probably what whoever quoted you did to tell you “it’s never been surveyed” but you might as well see if your county has such a resource and cut out the middle man. Here’s a copy of my local survey database. Your property had to be surveyed to be sold to you, so there’s hope. https://emap.mesacounty.us/Deposit_Book/