Know Your Boundaries

It’s opening day!!! That’s right, it’s the last week of March and the first day of Major League Baseball. Those of us with kids are probably already a couple of games in and just like all of those who aren’t baseball fans, we’re desperately hoping that we’ve seen the last cold snap of 2023. It’s the time of year where sitting in the bleachers at McCormick Field, baking in the sun on a thirsty Thursday, and watching the Asheville Tourists sounds amazing. Not sure anyone will be dreaming of sun come August but for now, BRING IT ON!

Since I’m coaching my son’s Erwin Youth League 8U baseball team, I’ll stick with the baseball theme. When young kids are playing baseball or softball, they play on a regulation field but they don’t often have any reason to pay attention to some of the boundaries. Not a lot of 8 year olds are going to hit a bomb just outside the foul pole. Those boundaries are largely irrelevant but they still exist. The same concept applies to property ownership. Let’s say you have 4 acres with a nice yard and some woods on the hill in the back. You might never go into the woods so that boundary seems irrelevant because there’s no reason to think about it. Guess what, if you try to sell that property that boundary suddenly becomes very important.

What if you have a piece of land and there’s a fence on one side along the neighboring driveway. You’ve got some nice space that goes right up to that fence so you put a building over there. Sounds good right? Maybe not. If a ball player hits the ball outside the foul line its not a hit. They hit it but it doesn’t count. They know where the line is because they can see it. It’s easy to tell whether it’s fair or foul. Unless you’re laying down chalk lines around your property, how do you know if you’ve put that building on your property or your neighbors? The only way to be sure whether you’re building in fair or foul territory is to get a survey. Never trust GIS data. It can be helpful but isn’t always accurate. A survey is the only way to go.

Surveys can take a little more time and cost a little more money than you’d like but the headache it can save you, both in the short term and the long run is immeasurable. If you own acreage and have considered selling, the first thing you need to do is get a survey. Don’t call a realtor. Don’t try to sell it yourself. Don’t apply for well or septic permits to make it more marketable. GET A SURVEY! There are lots of reasons to start with a survey, not the least of which is understand exactly what you have before going any farther.

It’s important to know your property boundaries before you decide to sell so you can clearly show others what you’re selling. If you can definitively show the boundaries of your property, it will sell faster and for a higher price. If a seller cant provide a survey, buyers will often try to talk sellers down on price or ask for long due diligence periods if they have to have a survey done themselves. Once discovery of property lines winds up in the hands of the buyer, you never know what they’ll find. Situations do arise in which a seller has a rental property with well and septic on what they think is their property. They refuse to get a survey and a buyer comes along, does a survey, and reveals that the rental property is not actually on the sellers property. Now that’s a box of cracker jacks nobody wants to open and it can all be avoided if the seller just gets a survey before listing their property.

Another thing a survey can help with is property disputes between neighbors. Deeds sometimes reference landmarks like trees, fences, rocks, or other features that may change or disappear over time. It’s not uncommon for property owners to put up fences, buildings, or remove trees. Those activities can easily cause a property line dispute. A disagreement or legal battle between neighbors is never a good situation. Such problems can be avoided by having a third party surveyor clearly lay out where the property lines lie using more modern measuring and marking methods. Should a dispute between neighbors escalate to the point where one of them feels they have to move, someone is going to wind up getting a survey anyway.

Could you imagine trying to play baseball on a field with no bases, foul lines, pitchers mound, or outfield fence? No. That’d just be chaos. Trying to sell a property without knowing the boundaries and landmarks can create just as much chaos but I guarantee it will cost you a lot more than a ticket to a terrible sporting event. This ties right in to one of my recent blogs about preparing to sell a property. Property line disputes can drag on for a very long time and cost a lot of money. Instead of taking that risk, why not just get a survey, avoid all the risk, and get more money for your property? A little pain for a big gain sounds a lot better than a little convenience for a world of pain. If you’re considering selling some land, go ahead and get a survey and you’ll be ready to…