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How To Find My Property Lines?

Joseph Coupal - Thursday, October 31, 2019
Morse Engineering and Construction - Septic System Inspection

When you look at your house and yard, you're fairly confident you know your property lines. The neighbor's fence and where you mow your grass all seem to match the boundaries between other houses on your street. A fence here and there may slightly stray into someone else's yard, but for the most part everything seems about right.

Now imagine being so wrong about your property lines that your house is built on the completely wrong lot.

It’s happened before.

Much smaller mistakes, or discrepancies between documents, can lead to costly issues if you and a neighbor disagree over the location of your property line, whether it's a couple inches or a couple yards. To steer clear of conflicts, avoid making any changes to the edges of your property that could lead to a problem, monetary or otherwise, down the line.

Why You Must Know Your Property Lines

From permits to purchases, being able to identify your property lines accurately makes it much easier to complete a project or move forward with a transaction.

In most official cases, having a new survey done is the way to go. If you want to build a swimming pool, and you're not 100 percent sure where that easement is. You could have a new survey done.

Additionally, when you purchase a home, it's not uncommon for your mortgage lender to require a new survey be conducted on the property. Even when that's not the case, your title insurance company will likely recommend a new survey as well, so you know if the neighbor's garage reaches over onto the property or if the outdoor kitchen encroaches on a sewer easement, which could be costly to remove down the line.

Issues discovered in the new survey of the property may not be covered in the standard owner’s title insurance policy, but knowing those concerns before you close could help you decide if you need to renegotiate with the seller or walk away from the deal entirely.

How Do I Find My Property Lines?

Your property lines were established when your neighborhood was originally developed. The property lines are noted in a couple different locations, including in the legal description for the lot, which would be on your property deed, and on a plat map, which is typically available through your local assessor's office or planning office.

But being able to perfectly translate the legal description to establish the physical boundaries on your property can be quite the feat if you’re not trained to do so. Many properties have hidden markers at the corners that, if found, can help you find your bounds, though hiring a professional surveyor to reestablish your property lines will give you the most accurate answer.

Here are your options for finding your property lines:

Hiring a Surveyor

For existing residential properties, a surveyor specializes in making precise measurements to locate the legal boundaries of a plot of land and any improvements to the property, from the house and driveway to a swimming pool or backyard shed. Surveyors also play a vital role when developing land to determine new property lines, locate the property location of a building to meet zoning and code requirements and more.

Taking the details from the legal description and plat map, a surveyor carefully measures the legal boundaries of your property. When the original survey is completed, metal bars are often buried at the corner points of the property. To help you see the corners or boundary lines, a surveyor will likely leave wooden stakes or flags in the ground at those spots as a temporary reference for you.

The complexity of a survey depends entirely on the geography of the area, what's on your property and what surrounds it.

Hiring a surveyor is certainly the most accurate way to find out your property lines

Required or not, have a new survey done – or refer to one conducted in the last few years – as a way to play it safe when buying a property and doing home improvements. Otherwise, you could find that you need to pay to remove an addition to your house or take out a swimming pool because it encroaches on the neighbor's land or is going to be a part of planned road expansion. Those fixes are going to be problematic, and they're going to be costly.

For more information, contact Morse Engineering and Construction.

Source: realestate.usnews.com


How to Find Out Where the Property Lines Are

Joseph Coupal - Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Morse Engineering and Construction - Septic System Inspection

Property lines, or boundary lines, are the defined points where one person's land ends and the neighboring lands begin. You can find them on your property deed, on the survey you received when you bought your home, or by using the mapping tools at the county assessor's office. Use your boundary lines to determine where to legally place desired items. Erecting a structure, such as a fence, or using a part of another person's land can lead to lawsuits and unpleasant situations with neighbors.

Check the official website for the assessor's office in your municipality. Some assessors have mapping tools available online for all of the real estate in the area. Use the maps to find the boundary lines for your property and to determine where nearby landmarks are located, such as the west line of your street. The landmarks are fixed points that you can use to measure from. Using a tape measure, measure the distance from each of the landmark points to your property line as shown on the maps.

Check your deed. The deed contains a description of your property's measurements and boundaries in words. Measure from the landmarks in the description to the property lines. Mark each corner with a stake or other marker. Measure from each stake to the next all the way around your property to ensure the measured lines match the deed. Physically measuring the boundaries will allow you to visually determine where the lines are and avoid encroaching on your neighbor's land.

Visit the county recorder's office or the assessor's office. Ask what maps are available for public viewing that include your neighborhood and street. Request a copy of any maps that show clear dimensions of your property lines. Use the maps for reference when measuring your property's total boundary line on each side.

Look at your property survey. The survey is a document with a rendering of the property lines and measurements, and should have been given to you when you bought your home. The distance from your house to the property line and the street should be shown on the survey. Use the measurements and details about surrounding landmarks to visually determine the property lines and avoid land disputes with neighbors.

Hire a surveyor if you do not have a survey. A surveyor is a professional who can measure and map the property lines for you. The surveyor will mark the lines at the corners with stakes. Be present when the surveyor comes to measure your property, so he can point out where the property lines are. The cost of a survey varies depending on your location, property value and lot size.

For more information on property surveys, contact Morse Engineering and Construction.

homeguides.sfgate.com


Why Do Perc Test for a Septic System

Joseph Coupal - Wednesday, October 09, 2019
Morse Engineering and Construction - Septic System Inspection

A perc test, or percolation test, is a soil test that is performed before installing a septic system tank. The perc test is extremely important because it measures the level of liquid absorption of the soil where the proposed septic tank will be located. It determines how quickly the material from the septic system will be absorbed into the soil.

A septic system works by allowing material from the septic tank to flow into leach lines that are placed adjacent to the tank. As the organic material slowly seeps into the surrounding soil, it is naturally absorbed into the ground and eventually processed through the soil. If the soil surrounding the location of a prospective septic system is not capable of absorbing large amounts of liquid, then a new location will be necessary or the septic system will fail and result in expensive repairs.

Additionally, the placement of septic tanks and entire septic systems are regulated by local building codes, even in rural areas. In many areas, a soil test and perc test are required before a new building permit will be issued. In some cases, these tests must be performed by an approved county engineer in order for approval by the building department. A professional inspector will typically dig several holes around the entire proposed septic system area when performing a perc test for the purposes of building permit approval.

Generally, a perc rate of less than 15 minutes per inch or greater than 105 minutes per inch is unacceptable. However, all areas have specific guidelines and requirements for acceptable perc rates.

For more information on perc tests, contact Morse Engineering and Construction.

doityourself.com


4 Types of Property Surveys

Joseph Coupal - Friday, October 04, 2019
Morse Engineering and Construction - Septic System Inspection

There are several different types of surveys.

The type of survey that we order for closing is called a “Location Survey.” A Location Survey shows the location of the improvements on the property in relation to the apparent boundary lines of the property. It generally involves a physical inspection of the property and is accurate to plus or minus a few feet.

This type of survey will generally cost a few hundred dollars. It should not be used for the purpose of identifying the property’s boundary lines, such as for construction or permit purposes (you’ll need a Boundary Survey for that). When you go to closing, you should feel free to ask the settlement attorney any questions you might have about what is shown on the survey.

A “Boundary Survey” is used to identify a property’s boundary lines. In this type of survey, the surveyor will set (or recover) the property corners and produce a detailed plat or map. To accomplish this, the surveyor will research the public records and do research in the field, take measurements and perform calculations.

This type of survey is what is necessary for construction and permit purposes, and it can be expensive — possibly even several thousand dollars — depending on the size of the property and how complicated the records are.

For commercial closings, lenders will usually require a type of survey called an “ALTA/ASCM Survey.” ALTA stands for American Land Title Association, and ACSM stands for American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. An ALTA/ASCM survey is a Boundary Survey that must meet certain stringent standards established by these two organizations.

If you are buying a house and you plan on doing construction in the short term, such as putting on an addition or installing a fence, it might make sense to obtain a Boundary Survey as part of your purchase closing. That way, you would not be paying for a Location Survey for the closing and then having to pay for a Boundary Survey after closing.

You would just need to inform the title company so that they can arrange for the surveyor to perform a Boundary Survey instead of a Location Survey.

Property survey in practice

Where questions come up after closing regarding the property lines, but a full survey plat or map is not needed, another option is to have a surveyor “Mark the Property Corners.”

For more information, contact Morse Engineering and Construction.

Source: federaltitle.com