The line of demarcation

I guess we all have those problems. . . we can have the same zip codes, be in different school districts, and different townships.  I feel like a CSI sometimes!

Sounds complicated. Glad you're considering your safety, while you're working, though. Best of luck.

Gretchen

Cynthia - Years ago, I sold a wonderful home on a large parcel of land in an upscale part of Greater Sacramento.  The lot was at the end of a cul-de-sac, with oak trees everywhere, and a creek flowing through at the back.  We noticed a gazebo at water's edge on the otherside of the creek.  We assumed that it belonged to the back neighbor.  However, after close of escrow, my buyer had a survey performed for the purpose of putting up fences on the property lines.  You guessed it, the boundaries were no where near what the seller had told us, nor where they where we suspected they might be.  My buyer gained 9 feet of ground on the left side, which went into the neighbor's vegetable garden.  And that gazebo which was on the otherside of the creek, was actaully on my client's land.  The back neighbor peacefully moved it.  I can only imagine what issues may have risen had their been a deduction of ground, rather than an addition.

Ah yes, the joys of working in smaller communities. Every jurisdiction has different by-laws, zoning regulations, tax rates, safety regulations, etc. etc.  Sometimes it does require a bit of detective work to get everything straight Cynthia.

Cynthia - you definitely come from "the prepared" side of the world --- deciphering the boundaries of cities and unincorporated areas can be a full time job.   Glad to see you being proactive.  Stay safe and prepared.

Cynthia, it is a difficult task being the agent in the field sometimes...you bring great points to the table for all of us to consider..

Cynthia, if a house isn't vacant, or if I don't know, I make Frank go with me. You are very brave to go by yourself :) And demarcation lines that move? Are the city and county constantly annexing and de-annexing each other?

Sharon

Cynthia, I am glad that you take such care in regard to your safety.  We have had issues in Dallas over the last few months.

Cynthia, Good work on taking precautions, even if it gets complicated.

In this area a home can be in one city, but the mailing address will be a different city.  So a home with a Saratoga mailing address, for example, may be in the city of San Jose.  Lots of weird cases like that because our once small cities grew together into a metropolis and blurred demarcation lines.  Sometimes one end of a residential block will be in one city, and the other end of the same block will be in a different city.  The demarcation line is between two neighboring homes.  Pretty weird.

I think I'd be getting out that can of spray paint if it were me Cynthia..................

It never hurts to be prepared and careful - sounds as though you have a system in place to ensure you're as safe as possible. Keep it up, and don't ever be tempted to cut safety corners.

Cyndi...

How did we come to this? I'm often frightened by occupancy checks, especially out in the remote ares of the county. I try to take a friend with me when possible, just in case. Stay safe and BE CAREFUL!

We can see how this would be an issue Cynthia. Its unfortunate that we have to protect ourselves like this, but we do! You are smart to check into and carry the police numbers.

Good to hear you are trying to be prepared for whatever you find when you go to do an occupancy check.  A fellow agent asked me this week if I could spare a little time to go with her on an occupancy check.  Fortunately the property was vacant and she felt better having someone along for the ride.

Great idea to have phone numbers for the different police departments.  Im gonna put this to use right away.  Call 911 from a cell phone you never know who youll get.

Cynthia , When these types of circumstances arise, I always let at least two people know the address's of where I'm going and turn on my GPS tracker on my phone...