Need my lot surveyed (& am shocked by the estimates)

Ray-CA · Jan 29, 2012

I need to determine my property lines or at least find the corners. Does anyone know of a surveyor in the San Diego Area?

Have gotten a few estimates in the $7000 and up range for what I want/need done and that is a bunch of money (almost 20% of my build budget.)

So, anyone with a friend/relative etc. that can help me out?

Thanks,

Ray

PS: The lot was deeded in 1897 and is approximately 150-ft deep by 55-ft wide.

jimp · Jan 29, 2012

Have you tried a metal detector near where the corner should be located. I was considering a similar post until I looked for my pins. The were about 4" below grade.

Hephaestus29 · Jan 29, 2012

15 years ago I think I paid about 200.00 or was it 500.00 ? for a survey for my 65x200 lot. Anyway it was some of the best money I ever spent because I had one nieghbor who kept telling me where the property line was and he kept mowing about 5 feet of my yard down nearly to the dirt.

R6 Racer · Jan 29, 2012

Do you have any idea where the property lines are? If you do, I would second going the metal detector route. My last place I used one to find where the corner posts were. Around here they use 2' long pieces of 3/4" round bar & I found the tips of all mine between 8" & 16" deep. Go to your local government land office & you should be able to get the basic measurements of your property. With them & a good measuring device you should be able to get close enough to successfully use the metal detector.

Another idea might be, if you have a mortgage your bank/lender might even have a copy of the survey. To get a mortgage around here you have to have one.

When I did my last place, it ended up with us owning half of what the place right behind us thought was their back yard. OOOOOOHHHHHHH were they pissed! So pissed that they put there place up for sale shortly after that.

Also $7000.00 is WAY out of line for a survey. I paid $700.00 for one 5 years ago.

Just thought... I was assuming a piece of property the size of my own (1/2 acre). What size property do you have? I guess if you have 100 acres $7000.00 might be cheep!!

More details would help...

In any case good luck!

Steve

Shadowdog500 · Jan 29, 2012

Go to your city or county offices and get a copy of a survey map. Not sure what they call it, but they have a map of your lot and where the corners should be. Get a metal detector and a couple hundred foot tape measure from HF and go hunting.

Only cost a few hundred to get my 1 acre lot done about 15 years ago.

Chris

James E · Jan 29, 2012

I got a survey of my property (about 2 acres, only four corners) a year and a half ago for $500. I know I'm on the opposite coast but I simply can't believe that California surveys cost 14 times what they do here.

ddawg16 · Jan 29, 2012

Ray....I paid $800 for a boundry survey......

I'll pm you who I used up here...you never know, they might be willing to drive down that way....or have an office there....

volvo · Jan 29, 2012

..
One thing is to make sure that the survey is certified to YOU. This can come in real handy, for if a bank had it done for them, YOU may not be able to use it at a later date. Had this happen to a close friend once and they had to pay twice.

jkeyser14 · Jan 30, 2012

I worked for a surveying crew on weekends to make some extra cash in college. What do you need the property lines / corners for? If you just want it for your own info you can have them come do a basic plat which should run $500-700. If the corners are still there you can ask them to show you where they are.

If the corners aren't there they will have go back to the office with their data and do some calculations. They can them come back out and mark the corners for you, but that can cost a lot of money because a licensed engineer needs to do the calculations and sign off on paperwork. Then they have to come out and spend more time making sure the corners are within .1" of exactly where they are supposed to be, which involves more time and equipment. That's what tends to turn the $500 survey into a $5k survey. Also, you didn't mention how large your property was and how accessible all of the property is (trees, shrubbery, massive poison ivy infestation, swamp, etc).

Marshall2u · Jan 30, 2012

7 grand for a survey??? I need to take the two week course and become a land surveyor! My last survey was $350, and I thought that kinda high for a 1-2 hour job. And, yes, I know there is some more time back at the office drawing up stuff.

kingston · Jan 30, 2012

$800 to survey and stake 2.5 acres and produce plot plans showing existing and proposed structures.

7K is insane! Unless your lot is worth $10,000,000.

Ray-CA · Jan 30, 2012

The lot is 155x55, in the City, almost level, no trees etc in the way. It is a "deeded" lot and apparently may not have a survey on file. I'm going to be doing some research at both the city and county on Monday to see what I can find.

I need to find the corners or property lines so I can establish the site for my garage.

Ray

Rick98Z · Jan 30, 2012

That price seems ridiculously high! Problem is it is a very old deed and markers might not be in. I don't know how things are there in the west coast, but older deeds like that here often call for a marked tree, or stone as corner property markers which overtime get removed. If the adjoining properties have been surveyed, more than likely they have markers in which you would be able to probably find with a metal detector. Around here basic location survey is $350 with boundary surveys beginning at $500 and going up. Look to the smaller surveying firms, they should be hungry for work in this economy and the price shouldn't be too high. Go with a larger co. that has architecture, engineering, and surveying and you will see a much larger price due to the high overhead the company has...Usually we do some deed research on your property and the adjoiners to see what is called for to be able to establish a price to charge. If the companies you called did some research and realized that your property was going to be a nightmare to survey based upon you and the neighbors not having clear lines, markers called out...then they might have drove the price sky high knowing it wasn't an easy survey.

1967marti · Jan 30, 2012

I live in el cajon and i just got mine done by a great guy.
He gave me a GREAT price... PM me if you want his info.
He seat all the monuments and filed all the paperwork.. GREAT guy.

- matt

1967marti · Jan 30, 2012

To do a propeer job, AKA setting new monuments (if any are millsing) submitting all the paperwork and spending hours on-site using their 30-50K GPS eqpt. to measure dozens of points down to the hundredth of an inch.... it's not hard to see why they charge 4K and up...

CaptRick · Jan 30, 2012

Survey prices are high. (my estimate during a disbute was for 5k on a .92 acre). The Planning Board doesn't except class D surveys ( The ones that only cost a few hundred dollars.) in my area. (They also have their mind made up before due process, But thats another story)
The Register of Deeds should have the history and measurements for you. It's easy to research and interesting just takes a little time going back through their books. The high price for the B###S### surveys is to get a signed and stamp drawing from the licensed crook, I mean surveyor.

IslandOlds · Jan 30, 2012

I spent about 20 years in the survey industry in Canada. I take offense to the above comments. Surveying is like other professions, There are definitely some that are crooks and there are a lot of good honest ones too. It's not just just a 2 or 3 week course to get a license. It is a full engineering degree and a number of months or years working under a licensed surveyor to get signed off. The over head is pretty high too. a starter GPS system with just the electronics and no tripds or anything can be more than 60K to purchase. Then there is the cost of insurance and the annual license fees, Staff wages, vehicles and other required electonics. Most of the people you see running the gear are the Survey Techs and not the Surveyor himself. I've worked on surveys where to do one lot we had to do an entire city block to ensure all the pieces fit together, and everyone gets What they are supposed to have. A 3 hour onsitejob can take 3 or 4 days of research and calculations, Plan drawing etc. Nothing worse than someone showing up to pay for a weeks work with a 50 dollar bill in their pocket, figuring it was only a couple of hours work. (It has happened). That all being said, $7K Seems pretty excessive. around here the standard fee would be $1K to $1500 or so for a typical lot.

Falcon67 · Jan 30, 2012

$500 to 700 is typical here for most residential lots. 155x55 should not be anywhere near $7K period. If it was platted in 1897, I'll bet there are no pins to find. You should have received -or somebody should have ordered- a survey when you bought that property unless you've been there since 1897 LOL. Find it, go to Harbor Freight and buy a $40 metal detector, grab your sharp shooter and get your gopher on.

Around here, if you find a survey on the property, it's usually good for the sale no matter who ordered it. A survey is a survey. And it will be found with the sale papers at the title company that did the closing, not with the county/city/etc. County records usually only have the Deed of Trust. The original neighborhood plat may well be there somewhere, and may well be wrong or superceeded.

Todd.Brock · Jan 30, 2012

I too rented a metal detector to quiet a bitchy neighbor of my moms. It was about 15 bucks for the day and put a big stake with a ribbon to show her whe it was. Money well spent for about 20 minutes of wondering around.

ptschram · Jan 30, 2012

Considering what the possible complications are if it's done wrong, it's cheap insurance.

I have ten acres in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. To have it surveyed, the minimum cost is about $10,000 because it hasn't been surveyed since the state was platted in the mid 1800s, thus they need to survey the entire section. Given that I'm on a "closing corner" north of the 45th parallel, it is virtually certain my neighbor built on my land, but I can't afford the survey to challenge it.

The SOB had his lot surveyed by hip chain and compass-in a part of the country that has more iron beneath than just about anywhere else in the continent, it makes that survey worthless.

Good luck, but get a good surveyor to avoid future MAJOR problems down the road.

GarageEnvy · Jan 30, 2012

Here's what I was told by my civil engineer brother when I was wanting my lot surveyed. A lot of the cost is dependent on where the nearest "monument" is that they take off from. In urban San Diego I wouldn't expect that to be too far away but in urban Fresno my monument was actually pretty far away. Incidentally, the family rate for a survey of my lot was $3,500. I ended up going off the fence line even though I suspect it's 2'-3' on my property.

mikeyr · Jan 30, 2012

$1,200 3 years ago in Santa Barbara, I thought that was pretty expensive and could have found one less expensive but the city was holding up my garage permit until they knew the exact lines and this guy was willing to come out next day.

6768rogues · Jan 30, 2012

I just paid $1200 to have a lot with 8 corners surveyed and subdivided. For another $800 he said he would survey my entire parcel, which is 19 1/2 acres with at least 25 changes in direction.

Oldtymeflyr · Jan 30, 2012

First find out exactly what kind of survey you need. :headscrat

There are surveys and there are surveys. It is extremely important to make sure you know precisely what you need. Get an example from the city.

There are many kinds of surveys, you really don't need much more than an improvement survey, they are maybe $200 around here.

bill9860 · Jan 30, 2012

In 2010 I paid about $420 for a 3/4 acre lot. Rear property line is a bit zig/zaggy so that took some time but unless you have a some huge acreage $7k sounds nuts.

pop pop · Jan 30, 2012

ptschram said:
Considering what the possible complications are if it's done wrong, it's cheap insurance.

I have ten acres in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. To have it surveyed, the minimum cost is about $10,000 because it hasn't been surveyed since the state was platted in the mid 1800s, thus they need to survey the entire section. Given that I'm on a "closing corner" north of the 45th parallel, it is virtually certain my neighbor built on my land, but I can't afford the survey to challenge it.

The SOB had his lot surveyed by hip chain and compass-in a part of the country that has more iron beneath than just about anywhere else in the continent, it makes that survey worthless.

Good luck, but get a good surveyor to avoid future MAJOR problems down the road.

Well, if you don't challenge him, he owns it. Its called adverse possession.

DekeT · Jan 30, 2012

Marshall2u said:
7 grand for a survey??? I need to take the two week course and become a land surveyor! My last survey was $350, and I thought that kinda high for a 1-2 hour job. And, yes, I know there is some more time back at the office drawing up stuff.

Try four years of college and some apprenticeship time before you can take the licensing test.

Dr Klaun · Jan 30, 2012

Oldtymeflyr said:
First find out exactly what kind of survey you need.

There are surveys and there are surveys. It is extremely important to make sure you know precisely what you need. Get an example from the city.

There are many kinds of surveys, you really don't need much more than an improvement survey, they are maybe $200 around here.

+1 on this.

Sounds like your surveyor may be pricing more scope than you need / intended.

KELLHAMMER · Jan 30, 2012

I would be curious to know what the scope of work is for the proposed 7K. To find the corners of the lot should be a fraction of that amount. And to prepare a plan to show the house on the lot and boundries should only add another fractional amount. To the OP, are you sure you know what the proposed services being offered for the 7K. And are all of them required for what you are trying to do?

southalabama · Jan 30, 2012

Find out who all the locals are using. Ask a friendly bank or attorney to recommend you one. If all your doing is locating corners, I'd do a metal detector search myself first. Its important to use a local, surveyors sometimes can cause land line disputes. My neighbor had his land surveyed.....I used the same guy so all our numbers and markers would match. He tromped through snake and bug infested swamp and it was still in the $1500.00 range for 13 acres.

fionasdad · Jan 30, 2012

This scares me.

My wife and I inherited a piece of property in Lake County Ca. a few years ago. A family member had tried to buy it before we got it and had the land surveyed, so there were some informal flags indicating the property boundaries. Later we found a different fence line (very old and pretty much rusted to the ground barb wire) along the boundary we share with a National Forest. I went to the county to get a copy of the original survey but it's so old the ink flaked off the document and is not legible so we need to get a survey done and have it filed with the county to establish our property lines.

Any suggestions?

Ray-CA · Jan 30, 2012

Here is an e-mail that I received from one of the more reasonably priced surveyors:

"Because your lot is a deeded lot, that is no map has been filed showing the corners, more then likely a Record of Survey would be required to set the property corners. I could do this for $2,500. An alternative is to map the fences showing precisely their location in relation to the property line, and give you the setbacks you need, If I find any corners while there I can verify their location. As long as I do not set any physical corners to the property I would be able to do this for $750."

Ray

trbomax · Jan 30, 2012

We had the 35a here surveyed in 2005.There are actually 4 parcels in two different countys.he put the iron stakes in all 10 corners and set wood stakes every 250' on all the lines.We did luck out because the county corner monument is one corner of one parcel.Any way he charged us 1400$ and that included a drawing and registering it. I thought it was a killer deal,but the county didnt agree. Got my **** chewed because when we built the house I thought we were on the last parcell in one county.I just used a compass and went off the county monument. As it turned out the county line runs right thru the house. After some negotiation,one county took the single parcel and house, and the other was happy with the other 3 vacant parcells,probably figureing that they would get thiers if and when we built on them. I tricked them though and put all the ag buildings and mule barn over there so they got nothin! The building inspection dept was not real happy with me for a while and kept comming around to see if we were useing them for non-ag purposes,but eventually they got over it.

Bottom line is that you really should know where the lines are. I know everything costs more in kalif but for that kind of $ I'd sure try the metal detecter thing first!

darkk · Jan 31, 2012

$7000 is just plain wrong. If it took two guys 3 full days of digging around, how much could it cost in labor? Really, how much? Some one is trying to rip you off.

Provincial · Jan 31, 2012

Every thing that you can do to help document the history of the property will help reduce the surveying bill. Call the city and/or the county and find out which department keeps the survey records. Go to that office and ask for help finding records that show any existing monuments, even for the neighbor's property. If the adjacent properties have been surveyed, then the monuments for those surveys will establish the corners of your property. Even if only one or two of the corners have already been established, you will be way ahead. Really expensive surveys happen when the nearest reference points are very far away, requiring a lot of field work.

If your research finds that monuments have been placed on the corners of your property, then go look for them with the metal detector.

The quote from the reasonably priced surveyor was in the ball park, but you can help him by doing the research. If you can walk him right to at least one monument on your property, it will make his job much easier and faster - which should translate into less expensive.

I have tromped over nearly 1,000 acres of timber land in the last 20 years looking for old monuments, and found nearly all the existing ones with a compass, fabric open reel tape measure and metal detector. Only in the last year was I using a GPS, and it made it much easier. You still need to find an existing monument to start from, even if it is on an nearby property.

By the way, you are usually much better off to find existing monuments. One reason is that there is an order of authority in establishing boundries, and "found" monuments have the highest rank.

Falcon67 · Jan 31, 2012

fionasdad said:
This scares me.

My wife and I inherited a piece of property in Lake County Ca. a few years ago. A family member had tried to buy it before we got it and had the land surveyed, so there were some informal flags indicating the property boundaries. Later we found a different fence line (very old and pretty much rusted to the ground barb wire) along the boundary we share with a National Forest. I went to the county to get a copy of the original survey but it's so old the ink flaked off the document and is not legible so we need to get a survey done and have it filed with the county to establish our property lines.

Any suggestions?

Yes - find the pins or get a new survey. Because if you wait, it'll A) cost more later and B) may cause you untold problems. An example - with our old house, 2nd re-fi, the lender required that a survey be done. Well, the survey showed that the lot boundaries as set by existing fences were wrong. Like 8' wrong on the alley side. It also showed that at the back of the house, the NW corner of the "jog" in the house left the roof line over the neighbor's property line. This intrusion was caused because that house actually sits crooked on the lot. The fences on the west were 5' off the real line. So after receiving the survey we wasted no time. I got with the next door neighbor and offered to do a re-survey to set the lines on the fence and we'd pay for it all if they'd sign the transfer deed. No problem. "In consideration for $10...etc" The whole thing cost us about $500 - $120 I think for the title attorney to draw up the paper work and the rest for the same survey company to come right back (like under 10 days) and set two more pins. On the east side, I set a pole and some fence on the new line to claim the property. We gained about 13' in width from the operation. And when the house next door sold the next year, no issues with property lines.

On the new house (repo) we were able to find the survey from the house sale in 2005 because the agent we used happened to be in the same offices that moved the property in 2005. Go figure. 30 minutes digging in banker boxes and Score! One free survey, locating 7 of the 8 pins we'd need to find.

I don't know if there is such a thing as "informal" flags - flag is set to indicate a monument. Even the old pins I found on our current property have orange ribbon still on them. Get a metal detector, find the pins, set some posts. Claim your parcel - see "adverse possession". It works both ways. So you technically could set your new fence on the old one if it gives you more land and wait out the government. Usually if you possess the land for 10 years and maintain an active use, you can file for possession.

ptschram · Jan 31, 2012

pop pop said:
Well, if you don't challenge him, he owns it. Its called adverse possession.

Justice is reserved for those who can afford it.

State law required it to have been surveyed by a registered surveyor, but it wasn't.

SGKent · Jan 31, 2012

I support a friend in Sacramento who does surveying. With modern GPS equipment it is damn easy for a two man crew to find the corners. I mentioned to my friend that the utility company was going to do some digging in their easement and I wish I knew where it ended. The next morning my doorbell rang about 6:30am and there was my friend standing there saying come with me. Ten minutes later the corners were marked, the easments were marked and my friend and his crew were gone.

Your title policy should have a map in it that shows the property lines of your lot. Probably in the intersection near you there is a brass marker shown and everything is measured from there. You should be able to get all four corners marked if they are accessible and not up some cliff for $400 to $500. Most of these folks are barely hanging onto their companies work is so slow.

Zengineer · Jan 31, 2012

Crazy price, I just paid $2500 for a survey of a 7 acre industrial lot, which included CAD files, building locations, lot lines, everything right up to adjacent curbs.

stevefasano · Jan 31, 2012

removed due to

Need my lot surveyed (& am shocked by the estimates)

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