Stop! Get a Land Survey before you close on that new house!

ct-land-survey

A majority of mortgage companies require a land survey to be done before lending money to borrowers for purchasing a new house. A survey acts as a legal graphical description of a property you intend to buy and enables you to see its features from an overhead point of view.

Function of a land survey

Surveys reveal the diverse improvements made on a property such as a garage, swimming pool, additions, or boundary among others. Any divergence or uneven structures and boundary lines are stated by a survey. When preparing this document, a surveyor will analyze all of the property’s legal documents such as a property deed. The land surveyor will also visit the location of the property to take measurements and confirm the truthfulness of previously documented information regarding the property. As such, it is vital to get a land survey before closing on a new house to avoid legal problems in the future in case of discrepancies in the existing land documents.

Legal effects

In case of property disputes regarding where you and your neighbor’s property lines start and end, surveys are important in establishing the truth and resolving the issues. Using the survey, you can address items in your neighbor’s property that are intruding into your land like a misplaced fence. The survey will also help you to establish whether you can lawfully add certain features to your property. If your land has uneven boundaries, large-sized structures like pools can trespass onto your neighbor’s land. Such intrusions can put you at risk of lawsuits and other penalties.

Restrictions

Some properties have zoning restrictions that cover a particular area like a street. Breaking zoning restrictions can make you liable to legal action and penalties from the governing authority. Land surveyors in Connecticut such as Godfrey-Hoffman & Hodge understand these restrictions and will reveal any such violations in their reports giving you adequate time to tackle the issues before buying a property.

Key Takeaways

  • A survey acts as a legal graphical description of a property the enables one to see its features from an overhead point of view.

  • A land survey helps to clarify the information found in existing land documents such as title deeds.

  • Disputes regarding intrusion into another person’s land are resolved using land surveys.

  • Zoning restrictions in a property can be determined using land surveys.