How Do You Know Where Your Property Line Is
July 22, 2021 July 26, 2021 past
Updated on July 26th, 2021
As a homeowner, you probable take a full general idea of where your property begins and ends. Y'all may exist using your driveway, the edge of your lawn, or a fence every bit a reference bespeak. But are you certain those are the official holding lines? They actually might non exist.
So before you lot dive into any outdoor projects similar a garage add-on, fence replacement, pool installation, or landscaping upgrades , it is important to take a step back to assess your property's boundaries. Y'all'll want to be able to savor the improvements to your house or 1000 without disrupting belongings lines and potentially causing problems with your neighbors.
What are property lines?
Property lines are necessary during construction by the developer, urban center, county, or state to bear witness where ownership of one plot of state starts and ends. A surveyor establishes the formal boundaries and marks them. When the property is legally split up, the new property lines are established in a survey. The holding line at the front end of your house is known as your frontage, the measured distance beyond the forepart of the plot you ain. The property lines on the side of your plot are known as sidelines. Local zoning laws often dictate these distances.
Why is information technology of import to know the location of your belongings lines?
Belongings lines are in place to keep one property owner from encroaching on another owner's land or compromising their privacy by edifice too shut to their business firm. A typical encroachment might be tree limbs that abound past your property and overhang into a neighbor's yard or a driveway poured to extend onto a neighbor'due south property. When y'all know exactly where your belongings lines autumn, you'll avert accidentally encroaching on your neighbor'south land.
If you lot program to build a permanent structure, you'll want to exist equally accurate as possible, and ordering your own land survey is the best option. In most states, y'all are required to telephone call a diggers hotline 811 to request cached utility information earlier you build a fence, plant a tree, or extend your driveway. This call ensures you know the location of whatsoever buried wires or irrigation systems to avoid causing impairment. Inside a few days' detect, someone from your local utility visitor should be able to mark canton wires or pipes with spray pigment or flags.
Since property line data can be valuable to someone you lot may sell your house to, y'all will want to keep all records. Proceed a copy of a new survey yous've completed, a plat map, or any information from the city or canton offices in digital or hard copy format. If you do a new survey, you may besides need to register it with your county assessor or recorder. During the auction of a belongings, the title company will search for inroad of i belongings into another. They may refuse title insurance to the seller if they detect a property line dispute.
When you lot know how to notice your belongings lines, you'll proceeds peace of mind for whatever project that could come close to the edge of the property. Showing respect for your neighbor and their property rights can help you lot avoid a lawsuit.
12 ways to notice belongings lines
To avoid issues with belongings lines and prevent confrontation with your neighbors, hither are 12 easy means to detect belongings lines.
i. Rent a licensed country surveyor
The most accurate way to know where your state begins and ends is to hire a surveyor to determine your property lines. The property surveyor volition beginning check county records to understand the history of the lot. And then they will find out about easements , subdivisions, and any other of import factors that could affect your land and what you choose to do with it. The cost to rent a licensed state surveyor typically runs between $330 and $670 per survey and depending on the location, size, and property history, it could exist up to $one,000 per survey.
2. Review your belongings deed
Your property human action will requite you a revenue enhancement clarification of your property. This tax description explains the boundaries of your plot of land. The description often references the names of subdivisions and other land references that may no longer be in the expanse, such every bit a row of trees. You can become a copy of your human activity online or from your county recorder'southward office for a fee.
3. Check the metes and bounds survey
A metes and premises survey identifies a landmark to define the belongings boundaries, such equally a tree, creek, road, or intersection. This is the "place of starting time" or POB. You can then utilise a compass to follow the directions provided. This survey can exist hard to understand considering it ofttimes uses landmarks that may no longer be. For example, the survey may state that a belongings line extends "fifty meters from the tall maple." However, that maple tree may no longer be standing.
4. Read the belongings line map, or 'plat'
When you buy a house , you typically receive a plat or property line map. If you don't, y'all can find it at the county clerk's part. The plat will give you the exact dimensions of your lot related to other lots on your block. For a belongings on a residential street, look to see similarly sized rectangles lined up on each side of the street, showing each privately owned property. Every private belongings volition be labeled with an identifying number. This number is dissever from the packet number for tax purposes. Your neighbors may exist able to assistance as well. You lot can ask them if they accept a copy of their plat map, which would bear witness the neighborhood.
5. Ask for the belongings survey from your mortgage or title company
If yous finance your home purchase through a lender, the lender will typically crave a property survey. Your mortgage visitor should take a copy of this survey from the purchase transaction. The title company will likewise run a holding search and may take a copy of any surveys or property line maps completed for your belongings.
half-dozen. Review the existing property survey from your canton or local municipality
Property surveys are public records and you can request a copy of any existing surveys from your county or local municipality. If the county or municipality has completed a survey for your plot of state, they will have a copy. They normally charge a fee to reproduce it.
seven. Locate a hidden survey pin
During construction, builders often use survey pins to mark the plot of land. Look for thin iron bars staked into the ground in the general surface area you lot expect your property lines to be. A metallic detector tin can be a helpful tool for your search along the perimeter of your property. You'll often observe survey pins close to a sidewalk or the curb of the property. However, survey pins can be misleading as utility companies, tree-removal companies, and other contractors may have moved them in the class of their piece of work.
8. Look for belongings line markers
Locating property line markers is another alternative to finding survey pins. Property line markers can be made of metal, wood, or concrete. For a relatively new home, the property boundary markers might still be in place. If you discover survey pins or concrete boundary markers, they are likely to be more authentic, as wooden stakes are more easily moved. Check your plat map to come across where to look for belongings line markers.
9. Check sidewalks and street lights
Sidewalks and street lights tin give you a good visual reference if y'all don't know how to find property lines. While they are not a perfect reference, installers may have aligned sidewalks or streetlights with the belongings lines. Kickoff by looking at the lines cut into the sidewalk in front of the house. A contractor may have cut lines to meet up with the edge of the property or used slightly different concrete to separate properties. This method is a good starting indicate just be sure to utilize it in conjunction with a survey or plat map to ensure accurateness.
10. Visit the local zoning department
Your municipality's zoning section records plats showing land division. They volition have maps fatigued to scale for your property. Unless your home was built over a hundred years ago, yous tin can ask for a copy of your neighborhood and lot plat for a minimal fee. The zoning department records will give yous the exact dimensions of your lot.
11. Search online for your property line
Looking online for your property line might be one of the fastest ways to acquire property information today. Many counties and municipalities have plat maps on their Geographical Information System (GIS), attainable through the official county or assessor'southward website. This information tin can exist a helpful guide as a start and could get y'all close enough for your intended purpose. Usually, you can input your address to search up a copy of your holding map. It should show your house and any other structures, forth with your property lines.
Other GPS apps can provide you with accurate plat maps. LandGlide and Landgrid are two used most commonly by property owners.
- LandGlide app – The LandGlide app uses GPS to pinpoint your holding's location accurately. The app includes packet records in 3,000 counties throughout the country, covering more than than 95% of the United States. The app is available on IOS and Android devices; it offers a free trial, and it is a paid subscription service after your trial expires.
- Landgrid Map – The Landgrid app allows users to view more 149 meg properties nationwide and includes buying & accost information. The app has a survey editor that will let you to create your survey. The pro version allows users to access premium fields, bookmark properties, run surveys, and utilise various web features.
12. Measure the Property Yourself
Yous could mensurate your lot by hand. To practise this, you'll need a long measuring record, a compass, and possibly an assistant. Retrace the surveyor's steps past locating the starting point labeled on the plat. This will be the "common point" or POB. Once you find the starting point, use the measuring tape to follow the plat, recording measurements equally you go. The plat measurements should correspond with the ones y'all tape yourself.
Why you might want to locate holding lines before you lot purchase a house
Equally a homebuyer, practice caution regarding property lines as yous move through the purchase process. The previous owners may have failed to account for property lines before they started various dwelling improvements and could have encroached on a neighbour'southward property. Enquire your lender for a copy of the completed survey – yous may larn that the property is smaller than you expected. Or, an encroachment issue could prompt you to renegotiate the deal or walk away altogether.
If yous love the habitation, a suitable compromise could involve a purlieus line understanding after the purchase. A purlieus line agreement is a legal contract to settle disputes between neighbors over belongings boundaries and provides an agreement on property line usage without going to court.
At that place are fast, easy, precise, and cost-effective ways to find belongings lines, whether it'south for a property you lot own or one you plan to purchase. Brand sure to gather accurate information when buying a home or starting whatever construction or landscaping project.
Source: https://www.redfin.com/blog/how-to-find-property-lines/
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