# How much does it cost to have land surveyed?



## Michael W. Smith

Ever have your land surveyed? If so, how much did it cost - and how many acres?

My sister is looking to have their farm surveyed - they want to know for sure where the property lines actually are. When asking one surveyer for a price estimate to survey and mark the lines for a 125 acre property, they were quoted $8000.00 - $10,000.00!!!

Seems awful expensive to me!


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## Pam6

I just called a week ago and got an estimate of $690 to find three pins on 2 acres. 3 pins were already in place.
Ended up taking us 10 minutes to find all three of them with a metal detector!
Another guy said a minimum of $350 to come out and look at a city lot.


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## Gregg Alexander

Just finished buying a 26 ac parcel , cost was $1250. The land joined my home place on 2 sides.


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## wy_white_wolf

Been needing to get my place surveyed (~340 acres). Only price I was able to was he wanted a $3000 deposit and final cost could run as high as $20,000. We've been looking for another surveyor.


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## Windy in Kansas

About $1200-1500 depending upon the property. 

Last year I paid $200 to get city lot property lines staked, work previously done by the same company so it didn't take long as they were also doing a neighbors. Most of the cost was for paperwork.


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## Honeymoon Acres

It cost us $1538 for 15.9 acres. Found out the neighbors fence didn't quite follow the line on one side, but ended up with 16 acres anyway. An extra tenth of an acre did not cover the cost of the survey, but it helped.


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## big rockpile

Honeymoon Acres said:


> It cost us $1538 for 15.9 acres. Found out the neighbors fence didn't quite follow the line on one side, but ended up with 16 acres anyway. An extra tenth of an acre did not cover the cost of the survey, but it helped.


Just because the Fence is off don't mean your neighbor can't move it which is what I'm going to do once this property is surveyed.

big rockpile


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## SFM in KY

The young couple that bought the 4 acres from us were quoted between $1200 and $1500 for the survey on that four acres.


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## starjj

Neighbor had his done. I think it is over 20 acres he paid $5K. Found out my fence is about 4 feet inside my property line. They put stakes and metal posts all the way to the back. I got quoted about $1K just to do one side.


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## jassytoo

We are having 105 acres surveyed now. We've been quoted 7000$.


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## Country Lady

Around here quotes can vary greatly. Get several quotes.


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## katy

Questions to ask your surveyor and time of year, as well as TYPE of survey, sounded good to me and we have wondered the same thing. so thanks for asking.

http://www.landsurveyor.us/learn_c1j.htm

A proper boundary survey involves a thorough search of recorded documents and examination of physical evidence of prior surveys.
The cost of a Land Survey is directly proportional to the total effort and time involved.
When giving you an estimated proposal for services, the Land Surveyor estimates the cost for you based on many factors. Some of these are:
Accessibility:
Time to perform the fieldwork varies with the distance to, and the difficulty in reaching, the property corners necessary to complete the fieldwork.
Availability of Information and Records:
Record research can be affected by the amount of parcels involved, including the number of past transactions. (Often times land transactions have been handled poorly in the past, resulting in vague, incomplete, and often contradictory legal descriptions and deeds). The Land Surveyor's familiarity with the area may include the availability of records that the Land Surveyor has possession of.
Availability of Survey Monumentation and Evidence of Monumentation:
Iron, wood, or stone monuments, old fences or occupation lines, witness trees, and parole evidence (oral evidence - word of mouth) aid the Land Surveyor. Someone pointing out accepted occupation lines and monumentation can be an effective aid to the Land Surveyor, especially prior to the fieldwork. Absence of them may increase the difficulty in retracing the original survey.
Boundary and Occupation Problems or Disputed Property Lines:
Complexity, Sectionalized Land, (PLS-Rectangular Survey System):
Property described in this manner may require a survey of the entire Section (Â± one square mile) in which the land being surveyed lies, regardless of the area of the parcel. In some cases, a survey of more than one section is required, depending on the location of the parcel, and available government (PLS) monumentation.
Improvements - Houses, Garages, Fences, Pavement, Etc.:
If improvement locations are required to be located, additional measurements are taken in the fieldwork. It is usually advisable that improvements are located and put on the Certificate of Survey for future reference. A recommendation might be to have your house or garage âtied intoâ your property line, which will show the distances from the building corners to your property line. This will allow you to always find your property line near your buildings, or other improvements. Privacy fencing often restricts visibility, requiring the Land Surveyor to work around them by âtraversingâ the measurements.
Equipment required to perform the job:
If any specialized equipment is needed, this could increase the cost of the project.
Size of the Parcel:
An irregularly shaped parcel has more corners to monument than a rectangular parcel containing the same area. Be careful to not determine or place any special relationship factor between the size of the parcel and the cost of the Land Survey. This is not true in many cases, but many people often incorrectly equate a "small lot" with a "small price" of the Land Survey, and a "large parcel" with a "larger, or more expensive" price.
Time of Year and Weather Conditions:
Foliage can make fieldwork difficult in the summer. At times in the winter months, weather hinders accessibility to the site, as well as making it more difficult to work on the site. Winter snows also can hide field evidence under the snow.
Topography, Terrain and Vegetation:
A level parcel of land is easier to survey than a mountain parcel. The Land Surveyor will usually ask if you would allow them to âclear a lineâ in wooded areas, or âbrushâ branches and small trees. This makes possible a line of sight for the fieldwork. Shrubs, flowers and trees on home sites are normally not disturbed, but might need additional fieldwork to work around them.
Type of Land Survey Required:
Costs may increase should the required precision and extent of the Land Survey increases. ALTA Land Surveys, and Title Company requirements may require considerably more documentation and fieldwork than is normally required by the average property owner.
Land Surveying FAQâs (frequently asked questions)
When do I need a Survey? | What can a Surveyor do for me? | What should I ask the Surveyor? | What information do I supply?
What will the Surveyor do? | What do I get from a Survey? | Do they change the boundaries? | What about building a fence?
Building & Surveying? | How much does it cost?


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## Danaus29

We paid $1500 for 2 parcels that totalled just a hair over 1 acre. We had to pay extra for 2 pins on line half way along on 2 sides ($50 per pin).


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## Texasdirtdigger

I think we paid $250 per acre, several years ago.


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## Navotifarm

As mentioned in the prior posts, there are a lot of variables involved. I obtained my original parcel based on a survey plat but when I looked in the court records for plats of adjoining parcels, there were large blocks of land continuous or nearby which had NOT been surveyed or had been conveyed by metes and bounds which is a verbal description of a survey done many years ago (Daniel Boone was a surveyor hereabouts) which referenced trees long since dead or creeks which had changed their course. One property owner had 573 acres. This survey was done in about 1998 for $13,000. This large tract survey established some county lines which had never been established. I had two parcels adjoining mine (the ones I acquired interest in) surveyed together with my original parcel by the original surveyor. I asked him to add to the boundary survey access routes, a cemetery, and an old home site. And some electric poles. I think that composite survey cost me $2,800. I got a discount because I went to the courthouse and got xeroxes of the chains of title on the properties I wanted surveyed and all the adjoining ones plus copies of all recorded plats. I brought a whole file box of sorted documentation he could "dip into" in his office in his spare time without schlepping to the courthouse. Because this was wooded land, the survey was done in fall and winter when the leaves were off the trees and snakes were sleeping. I also paid a flat $500 in March 1993 for the surveyor and his crew to come and walk my boundary lines with me and some friends. We marked the lines by cutting brush or slashing big trees and painting them with aluminum paint. 
What is interesting these days is that there are some significant differences between the surveys done on the ground by actual survey human crews and the surveys done by fly-overs and photo interpretations with overlays of the tax maps which look like they were scratched on the back of old envelopes by eight-year-old children.


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## thebaker

Michael W. Smith Ever have your land surveyed? If so, how much did it cost - and how many acres? 400.00 buck to have a survey an land was 3 acres..including the house..


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## Anthony Propst

Pam6 said:


> I just called a week ago and got an estimate of $690 to find three pins on 2 acres. 3 pins were already in place.
> Ended up taking us 10 minutes to find all three of them with a metal detector!
> Another guy said a minimum of $350 to come out and look at a city lot.


Somehow that sounds like a good deal since I paid $200 to get .27 acres surveyed.


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## Evons hubby

Surveys cost quite a bit, lawyers can cost more.


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## tu.ia.alt

Windy in Kansas said:


> About $1200-1500 depending upon the property.
> 
> Last year I paid $200 to get city lot property lines staked, work previously done by the same company so it didn't take long as they were also doing a neighbors. Most of the cost was for paperwork.


Who did you use??


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## Danaus29

tu.ia.alt said:


> Who did you use??


The person you are asking hasn't visited here in 10 years. 

Contact your county real estate department to get a list of registered surveyors for your location.


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## Michael W. Smith

thebaker said:


> Michael W. Smith Ever have your land surveyed? If so, how much did it cost - and how many acres? 400.00 buck to have a survey an land was 3 acres..including the house..


The original post was for my sister. I'm not sure if she ever got it surveyed or not.

In the meantime, I ended up getting my 127.50 acre parcel surveyed. Even though I had copies of 3 surveys - done in the early 1900's and the last one done in the 1940's or so, I came to find out that the survey was never actually recorded in the courthouse.

Due to the state replacing a bridge which was on our property - the state was saying our neighbor owned the property, and my survey said I owned the property. I came to find out that the neighbor had a partial survey done in the early 2000's, which the surveyor did and that was recorded. When I found out I had hired the very same surveyor, I was already in too deep to stop and get a new one.

Suffice it to say that getting the survey was a fiasco. Two property sides were no problem. Old survey pins were found - trees had been marked from previous surveys. The bridge side was a problem as the surveyor (when he did the neighbor's survey) didn't dig back on our deed far enough. Even though trees were marked from previous survey, the bridge area - which I actually owned until the neighbor's survey was done and recorded - the neighbor now owns. And an area that the neighbor owned along the bridge area that used to belong to the neighbor I now own.

The one other side was kind of done as that neighbor had it surveyed, but my surveyor found about 20 some acres that that neighbor's surveyor had missed. The acreage was in "no man's land". That neighbor ended up using my surveyor to survey that acreage in no man's land so it was his.

Anyway, it cost about $6000.00 total. I did a lot of running to the courthouse and getting old records and deeds which helped keep the cost done. At any rate - my property is now surveyed AND RECORDED in the courthouse - so there won't be any further issues.


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