Physical Survey
Physical Survey
Are you thinking about purchasing or selling property? Do you need to know where the boundaries of your property are located? Or maybe you just want to construct a new fence or shed for your home or business. If any of these or similar situations apply to you, then you came to the right spot.
A Physical Survey (sometimes referred to as Building Location Survey, House Location Survey, Land Survey, Property Survey or Mortgage Survey) is a legal document drawn to scale containing a map of your property, signed and sealed by a professional land surveyor. A Physical Survey will show the locations of permanent improvements within or near your property such as buildings, fences, pools, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots, decks, etc. Additionally, any restrictions that exist on the property such as public easements, private easements, or building setback lines that are drawn/noted on the recorded plat will also be depicted on a Physical Survey.
Physical surveys include flagged property corners as part of the survey. Flags can be very helpful in determining where your property ends and if a neighbor’s fence, shed or driveway extends onto your land. If you plan on having a fence installed, the fencing company will require a survey, so that they know they are placing the fence in the correct location. Property markers will usually be long metal bars that are driven below the ground surface. These are not to be confused with the wire flags placed near them. The wire flags placed on your property are used to mark the (underground) location of the actual property marker.
Get a Free Estimate for a Physical Survey today.
Vacant Physical Survey
Choosing a parcel of vacant land involves more than just admiring the view and the bubbling stream and imagining which spot would be best for your new home. You’ll also want to find out about any hidden, nasty surprises before you buy — perhaps a public path that runs through the center of the property (an “easement”) or that a neighbor’s house sits partially on the land. One way to be an informed buyer is to get the land surveyed. A survey will not only show exactly where the property lines lie, it might also reveal unknown easements, encroachments, and boundary issues that could cause problems later.
Choosing a parcel of vacant land involves more than just admiring the view and the bubbling stream and imagining which spot would be best for your new home. You’ll also want to find out about any hidden, nasty surprises before you buy — perhaps a public path that runs through the center of the property (an “easement”) or that a neighbor’s house sits partially on the land. One way to be an informed buyer is to get the land surveyed. A survey will not only show exactly where the property lines lie, it might also reveal unknown easements, encroachments, and boundary issues that could cause problems later.
Residential Physical Survey
One of the most common reasons a landowner or prospective landowner seeks the assistance of a surveyor is the location of boundary lines and other lines of occupancy or possession. This is a critical piece of information to have before you build a fence, add a sun-room, pave your driveway, or to know exactly what you are purchasing. All too often the survey shows that you and your neighbors were operating under the wrong assumption about the placement of the boundary line between your properties. Before you have that fence erected, you want to make sure it will be built on your property, not your neighbor’s.
Commercial Physical Survey
Standard commercial Physical Surveys are almost identical to residential surveys. The main difference between the two is professional liability. Commercial properties tend to be larger and high density. Because of this, the level of detail required to be shown on the survey is usually increased substantially.
Your survey also gives you a form of protection in addition to clarifying what you’ve bought, since it can reveal any encroachments or other irregularities that might be the cause of later legal disputes. This will help to protect your investment and educate you on the boundaries that are associated with your property.