What Will I Get from a Land Survey?

When you’re thinking about buying or selling a piece of property, you’ll need a land and boundary survey in Guadalupe County, TX. A land survey is a key tool to ensure you’re getting the exact piece of property you think you’re buying—and that it’s as valuable as you were told. Working with an experienced land surveying company will help take the risk and hassle out of your property transfer. Here’s what to expect when you get a land survey.

What a land survey tells you about the property

A land survey helps come up with the legal description for your property, which is key. Depending on when the property was last surveyed, it may use old or outdated markers. After all, land can change over time.

A good land survey will describe the exact location and boundaries of the property, as well as any structures or landmarks, additions and improvements. If there are any utilities or easements on the land, they’ll be listed in the survey, as well as geographic features like slopes, bodies of water and other things that could affect how and where you use the land. Finally, it can tell you important information like whether it’s located on a floodplain.

How a land survey is conducted

Land surveyors use a variety of tools and techniques to observe your land and record its features. For example, large properties might use drones and special software to create a multidimensional map, while simpler surveys might only require theodolites (optical tools, which measure angles), altimeters (which measure slopes) and total stations to measure distances. Some land surveys use GPS to ensure accurate measurements down to the millimeter.

Some surveys will require the use of all of the above, which are then combined in software to form the most accurate picture possible.

Why you need a land survey

Not sure whether a survey will benefit you? Here’s a closer look at some of the ways this investment will help you proceed with your purchase or project:

• Decide if the land will suit your purposes: Depending on how you want to use the property, a good land survey can help you determine whether the parcel will work. For example, agricultural areas have very different needs than property for subdivisions and other residential real estate.
• Find out where you can build on the land: Knowing where your boundaries are and how the geographic features affect building will help you choose the right location.
• Understand exactly where the property boundaries lie: Finally, you can use your land survey to determine exact boundaries. This is particularly important if you have neighbors bordering your land who might be encroaching on the property—or to ensure that you’re not encroaching on theirs. This is usually most important when building a structure on the property, but it doesn’t hurt to get a good survey in general. It will save a lot of hassle in the event you have different ideas about where the boundaries lie.

Bettersworth & Associates, Inc. is a land surveying company in Guadalupe County, TX. Call today to schedule your survey.

Categorised in: Property Survey