Why Every Home Buyer Needs To Have A Survey

When you are purchasing a house, the Realtor and you probably have a good idea of where the property lines are based on lawns, fences and trees. But does that preclude you from having a survey done on a house? Just because a house has a six foot brick wall fence around the back yard should you not order a survey? I just went under contract on a house that much to the surprise of the home buyer, the seller and the neighbors had serious encroachment issues based on a survey. My buyer was willing to accept the lot as it was because the builder had put in a 7 foot high beautiful brick wall fence around the rear of the property. So the natural inclination was that was the property and maybe a few feet beyond it around the perimeter. However, a survey showed this to be a flawed assumption. Now most neighbors probably would not care if say the fence bordered both property lines. They are both getting the advantages of the builder’s brick wall. In this case though it was found and verified that the brick wall actually cut 18 feet of the neighbor’s property out. In fact, we found that even a corner of the driveway (it has a side load garage) was in the neighbor’s property. Now what are we to do? The home was built in the 1990's and after addressing it with the seller (who knew nothing of it since he bought the house with the wall already up) and the neighbors we had a dilemma on our hands. The attorney said we probably would win in court over the property since it was over ten years. But the buyer did not want to take that risk on such a high priced property. After a lot of negotiation going back and forth and attorney fees adding up we came to a mutual agreement for the wall and the use of land. But what if my buyer did not have a survey and the neighbor sold his house and that buyer had a survey done? Would the seller have gone to court to fight this? I do not know but am glad I do not have to find to either. The moral is not take anything for granted when it comes to property lines. Just because you are in an affluent area and in a high priced home with an original brick wall surrounding your property does not mean that the property lines are them....Always have a survey done. A few hundred dollars now can save you thousands of dollars down the road. Dave dicecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United Cell:704-519-7895 ddicecco@cbunited.com www.davedicecco.com