Survey Stakes

Category: Finance, Real Estate.

Particularly for first time home buyers, title documents are confusing. Unfortunately, regardless of how confusing these documents might appear, the buyer has a responsibility to review the title, survey and legal description.

Many buyers simply think that these documents are fine" as is, " placing their faith in the title company, or Realtors involved, lender with the sale. These documents should be provided to the buyer for inspection before the closing. Together, the survey and property description( also known as a" legal description" ) combine to create the very foundation of what is being purchased. The Survey and Legal Description Are Related. These real estate documents describe in detail the boundaries of the land. Property descriptions and surveys are connected and need to be read together.

An error in either the survey or property description can create costly troubles down the road. A buyer can find the property description either within the deed itself or attached as an exhibit to the deed and other documents. If there is a discrepancy, the error needs to be corrected before the sale to avoid title disputes in the future. The property description absolutely must match the survey. To make sure this is corrected, the buyer needs to immediately notify the title company, his or her Realtor and perhaps the seller. Surveys can be rectangular surveys or metes and bounds surveys. Types of Surveys.

Rectangular surveys are based on a system that was approved by Congress in 178These surveys read something like" NW NW SW Section 24, Range 12 East, Township 6 North, Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian. " This type of survey call describes a square 10- acre parcel of land in a section within a" township" and" range" within a state. The rectangular survey is common in real estate transactions in the western United States. The section itself is divided into 160- acre quarters, and these 160- acre quarters are divided into 40- acre quarters and 10- acre quarters, respectively. Metes and bounds surveys, on the other hand, are based upon directional calls and bearings that were carefully made by a surveyor. Regardless of whether real estate is described by a rectangular survey or a metes and bounds survey, the survey and the property description must match exactly. They read something like" THENCE North 10 degrees 20 minutes 16 seconds West, a distance of 1400 feet, " and so forth. This cannot be emphasized enough!

Another important thing to do before buying real estate is to walk the land to make sure that the surveyor s stakes are located at the four corners of the land. Survey Stakes. Sometimes, there will be additional surveyor s stakes. Kids or vandals might pull these stakes out of the ground. Surveyor s stakes or pins are usually marked on the survey. If they are missing, make sure that the Realtor, and seller are, title company informed so that the problem can be corrected prior to closing. There is nothing worse than trying to correct property descriptions and title problems after closing.

Conclusion- Avoid Future Troubles. This can be an expensive problem that forces you to hire an attorney. The best way to avoid property line disputes is to review the property description and survey before signing any type of real estate contract.