Move that house! Do you care about a survey?

I had a buyer today ignore the opportunity to have a survey.  The lender does not require a survey so he said no problem the neighbors know what's their...I will live within the lines!

I had the buyer sign a waiver saying I informed him of his right to have a survey and he chose not to have one.  Now why would I do that?  Simple, it is an issue of limiting liability. 

One big reason...we had in our purchase agreement the buyer was going to get a survey at the sellers expense.  During the final negotiation the seller kicked out paying for a survey because of other requests.  So I asked the buyer if they still wanted have a survey and conveyed the reason why they might want to have one.

They opted not to have one, as I mentioned.  So I did an addendum and put in the clause, "buyer has been informed by his agent of potiential risks of not having a survey and has choosen not to exercise his right to a survey".

Here is my reason for informing every buyer to get a survey....   Over the years I have had some real surprises when representing buyers and sellers.  One I was involved in a survey issue when I purchased a home and used an existing survey with a line drawing to accept the property lines.  Later we decided to put up a cyclone fence because of our dog.  The neighbor kids liked to tease our dog and it was only a matter of time before our dog was going munch on one of the kids...so the alternative....the fence.

We had our property surveyed to make sure the fence was going to be placed correctly and not on neighbor's property.  My wife called when the survey crew arrived.  I buzzed home in about 40 minutes to find them on the back of the property.  One of the neighbors gave a shout to a member of the survey crew...."Hey get out of my yard!"  The crew member looked at my seldom heard from neighbor and said more correctly...his yard...and pointed to me.  The survey crew found I owned 20 feet into three neighbors yards across my back lot line.  They were mad, upset and shocked to find the lots they had purchased from the builder were not really "all" theirs.

I owned a wooded lot and never used the sections they had planted into grass, mowed and maintained.  But since I had just purchased the property only a few months earlier....my rights to the land were very clear.  All but one purchased the sections from me...the center parcel...kept pulling flags thowing debris over the fence and making issues.  That is another story but it did get resolved and by the way the land value for that parcel went up for cleaning and maintenance issues.  Two can play but remember land issues can be an ugly issue after the fact...so get a survey it will make sure you own what you think you are buying! 

To further illustrate how important a survey can be....I just listed a home in the city, not an unusual task for being in real estate.  The seller informs me that the home next door is actually two feet onto his property! 

I asked, how do you know that?  He pulls out a survey he just had done a few months ago.  I asked what prompted him to have a survey done?  He says the neighbor informed him they were going to pull out part of his driveway they want a strip of lawn between the driveway and their house.  The driveway was to far over and needed to be narrowed.  He told them no way and ordered a survey.

The survey shows the neighbors home is actually two feet over onto his property....he walked over and knocked on their door and told them they had to move their house!  He was kidding but the neighbor was not happy with the joke and thought my seller actually tampered with the survey...so they ordered their own...and it came back with the home two feet over the property line!

This is another reason if you purchase get a survey...it may not be lender required but it could say you a big hassle and it could also cause you problems when you go to sell.  I am working with the neighbor to purchase the strip of land where his home sits and have it added to his lot.  This could have been very ugly but they have been neighbors since 1961...so they drink beer together and pull each others chain from time to time.

Don't let your chain be pulled because you didn't get a survey!

If live in Michigan and you are thinking of selling or your home's listing has expired and you still want to sell.  Email me for a confidential counsiltation to develop a marketing program to specifically meet your needs.

Email: GaryWhite@FlexItRealty.com or Call Toll Free 877-667-4699 for an appointment set at your convenience. 
Corporate Office: 1515 Michigan St. Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503

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