Oh No! Where Is My Property Line? The Tree Fell Down!

Pamela Madore
The Pamela Madore Group
806-290-1920
http://myamarillohomes.com

Oh No! Where Is My Property Line? The Tree Fell Down!

When you are buying or selling real estate whether it is a house or land, it is important to have a survey.  Most lenders will require a survey because they want to know what they are lending on. 


The survey will show you where your property lines are.  You can hire a local surveyor to go out and do their survey and stake the lines. Understanding how a survey is done is a little above my pay grade but I believe that surveyors base their surveys off from a reliable point that is staked and then measure from there.  Or something like that.




I remember years ago when I sold real estate in Palm Beach County Florida, where was an area that the surveys overlapped.  The reliable points were in question and some surveyors used one and some used the other.  It was very confusing.  There might even have been a couple of turf wars. Fortunately, the area in question was of 1 to 5 acres so the overlap wasn't that noticeable.  If it had been on a 50 x 100 lot you can see where there might be problems.

When you live in an area of flat treeless land like we have here in Amarillo it isn't too hard to stake it out.  Some of the areas north of town where there are canyons and rolling hills it is a little trickier I am sure but you can still see the stakes.

Recently, I took a trip to Maine where I was born and grew up.  Maine is known for its "Maine Woods".  Doing a survey in the woods of Maine can have its challenges.  This little video will give you an idea of what the challenges are.

My grandfather and grandmother had a farm in Maine.  I guess this was probably before lots of professional surveys were done.  His legal description read something like this "from the old elm tree on the south side of the Drew road at the Wytopitlock line, then east until the big granite rock by the spring at the foot of Potter Hill, then ......".  You get it.  There were always challenges with these descriptions.  What if the tree died or someone moved the rock. When roads were put in landmarks changed and "Potter Hill" might have a new name.

We don't really have to worry about that much here in urban and suburban Amarillo.  As a matter of fact, most title companies/lenders will use an old survey as long as the seller stipulates that they didn't make any changes. Those changes would include building a garage, putting in a pool, or running a slab for a patio.  Sellers-- save the survey from when you bought the house!

For additional information on some of the new changes to the Texas Real Estate Commission's contract regarding survey coverage, email me.

Pamela Madore
Pink House Team
The Pamela Madore Group
Keller Williams Realty
7304 SW 34th
Amarillo, TX 79121
806-290-1920
http://myamarillohomes.com