Survey Cost

[Goodlife]

I will be discussing a piece of property Monday. Unfortunatly the survey office in this area was closed this week and won't be open till Tuesday to get an estimate. Who pays for the survey may well come up in our discussion assuming we are close on a price. What kind of prices have you all come up against for a survey of 25 acres? It ia mostly through woods. It is a pure rectangle. I would like the 4 corners staked of course, but at least one stake down each side would also be good. I know this is a wide open question with many variables, but I wanted some sort of rough idea what to expect for the survey price going into this discussion. I will be able to get an estimate before this would be final, but figure even when getting this estimate I wuld like to know what others have paid to know if the estimate is good or not.

 

[Beef11]

I'm going through this same thing myself. We found two surveyors the first one came in with a ridiculous number and the second came in about a third of what the first was. The seller has an obligation to prove what he is selling and so the survey costs should fall to him.

 

[circlebllc]

The buyer usually foots the bill. That can be split during closing. Price is considered per acres and how close the nearest "pin". Pin being an established survey marker to the area. They should pin each corner of property and place flags along sides. I had 100 acres surveyed 1.5 yrs ago and was charged $1200 in mid MO.

 

[LRTX1]

A lot of the price should depend on the terrain. Thick woods will take the crew longer than an open pasture. A lot is going to depend on the specific area the property is in. A lot of places are a legal nightmare due to poor surveys in the past. If the area has had a lot of boundary disputes the surveyor will have to do a lot of reasearch and additional work to make sure you get the most accurate survey possible. Bargain shopping for a Surveyor is a lot like bargain shopping for a tattoo, probably not the best idea. You need to pick a surveyor off reputation and experience in your specific area.

As far as price goes it should be a lot cheaper now than it would have been a few years ago, Surveyors are about to starve to death for work.

 

[Jogeephus]

Bargain shopping for a Surveyor is a lot like bargain shopping for a tattoo, probably not the best idea. You need to pick a surveyor off reputation and experience in your specific area.

Wise words.

Not all surveyors are created equal. Some don't know what they are doing and can cost you a fortune. Who pays for the surveyor depends on the terms of the sale. If you sell it on the deed and the deed says 200 +/- acres then you can pay for it on this or arrange to buy it based on a per acre price set on the figures calculated from the deed. Here, the buyer normally pays for the survey since his bank will probably require it anyway or sometimes you might even negotiate with the seller split the cost or if they are really trying to unload it make them pay for it.

Personally, I always do a recon survey myself and check this against the deed acres. In many instances there will be a difference in the two acreages. If the acres come up short I'll push toward a per acre price based on a surveyer's acres. If they come up over, then I'll gladly buy it for whatever the deed and the seller says is out there. I want to buy the farm that joins mine and the owner has agreed to take a price for it but after I checked the acreage I found it is 60 acres short of the deed. I've tried to get him to agree on a set per acre price based on the survey but he won't do this and a survey would only increase the cost per acre of the land since the guy has a set figure in mind and I'm not giving him that much per acre for the land since its nearly 50% more than it should be when based on real acreage. I just wish it was the other way around and I'd own this land at 50% less than market.

 

[Stepbystep]

Bargain shopping for a Surveyor is a lot like bargain shopping for a tattoo, probably not the best idea. You need to pick a surveyor off reputation and experience in your specific area.

Wise words.

Not all surveyors are created equal. Some don't know what they are doing and can cost you a fortune. Who pays for the surveyor depends on the terms of the sale. If you sell it on the deed and the deed says 200 +/- acres then you can pay for it on this or arrange to buy it based on a per acre price set on the figures calculated from the deed. Here, the buyer normally pays for the survey since his bank will probably require it anyway or sometimes you might even negotiate with the seller split the cost or if they are really trying to unload it make them pay for it.

Personally, I always do a recon survey myself and check this against the deed acres. In many instances there will be a difference in the two acreages. If the acres come up short I'll push toward a per acre price based on a surveyer's acres. If they come up over, then I'll gladly buy it for whatever the deed and the seller says is out there. I want to buy the farm that joins mine and the owner has agreed to take a price for it but after I checked the acreage I found it is 60 acres short of the deed. I've tried to get him to agree on a set per acre price based on the survey but he won't do this and a survey would only increase the cost per acre of the land since the guy has a set figure in mind and I'm not giving him that much per acre for the land since its nearly 50% more than it should be when based on real acreage. I just wish it was the other way around and I'd own this land at 50% less than market.

Help me out here please how can the deed be off 60 acres? What happened to the 60 acres?

 

[Jogeephus]

Help me out here please how can the deed be off 60 acres? What happened to the 60 acres?

In the original colonies we use a different survey system than you do in Texas and our written deeds are notorious for being wrong since our land was deemed worthless and unworthy of a proper survey. Additionally, many mistakes were created when the federal government began giving out farm loans in the late 50's. Unscrupulous surveyors created pieces of paper at cheap prices so people could qualify for these loans. Some of these surveys aren't worth the paper they are written on. Most deeds in our area state "more or less" beside the acreage. This means just that and as you can imagine this can create many opportunities as well as problems.

 

[Goodlife]

Update on my situation: i talked to one of the two surveyors in Monroe County. They are familiar with the property and convinced me it only makes sense in this instance for the seller to take care of the survey. I am wanting to purchase 25 acres out of 181 ac. He owns. It is financially much better to survey the place including some other sections he is carving out than to only survey this small piece I am carving out. So my offer asked him to pay for survey


An issue that is getting more important is that the land is in conservation reserve (CRP). There is $5500 that will have to be repaid for me to mow and graze. It is repayment of crp payments he received. He insists I pay that. Unfortunatly i want to buy more than he wants to sell so he is so far stubornly sticking to that.

 

[Stepbystep]

Help me out here please how can the deed be off 60 acres? What happened to the 60 acres?

In the original colonies we use a different survey system than you do in Texas and our written deeds are notorious for being wrong since our land was deemed worthless and unworthy of a proper survey. Additionally, many mistakes were created when the federal government began giving out farm loans in the late 50's. Unscrupulous surveyors created pieces of paper at cheap prices so people could qualify for these loans. Some of these surveys aren't worth the paper they are written on. Most deeds in our area state "more or less" beside the acreage. This means just that and as you can imagine this can create many opportunities as well as problems.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Stepbystep]

Update on my situation: i talked to one of the two surveyors in Monroe County. They are familiar with the property and convinced me it only makes sense in this instance for the seller to take care of the survey. I am wanting to purchase 25 acres out of 181 ac. He owns. It is financially much better to survey the place including some other sections he is carving out than to only survey this small piece I am carving out. So my offer asked him to pay for survey


An issue that is getting more important is that the land is in conservation reserve (CRP). There is $5500 that will have to be repaid for me to mow and graze. It is repayment of crp payments he received. He insists I pay that. Unfortunatly i want to buy more than he wants to sell so he is so far stubornly sticking to that.

Good luck on your land deal. I hope it works out for u!