How To Find The Property Lines Of Any Home (Version 2)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ส.ค. 2022
- Disclaimer: If you are buying/selling land/property ALWAYS hire and pay a land surveyor to get them exact. This video is meant to aid neighbors with minor disputes, who don't want to spend much money to solve. Smiles from here.😊
Update to my original property lines video: • How To Find The Proper...
In this video, I use an App called "LandGlide" and a cheap Metal Detector to locate the exact property lines of the property and dig them up as proof. I used the LandGlide app to get close to the property stakes, once I know I'm close, I use a metal detector to locate them exactly, then dig them up to make sure I'm in the right spot.
What I used to locate the exact property lines of this home:
1. LandGlide App: landglide.com/
2. Metal Detector: www.amazon.com/Detector-Backl...
I am a surveyor with 30 years experience. Land glide is a overlay and is out of place a lot of times but can get you close sometimes. If you are planning on building something call a surveyor, it's better to spend a few hundred dollars before you build something in the wrong place and piss away several thousand. Sometimes the pins get moved from the original position by original or adjoining land owners.
Thank you Scrimpygold. Yes, make sense. Good input.
I live in Oregon where a survey costs $2,000 ! ! !
He meant to say a few thousand dollars
If you live in an older neighborhood and go off of the gis map from the county, your property could be off by feet since some of these old subdivisions got digitized automatically. I know, I work in gis and am updating subdivisions orginally plotted 100 yrs ago manually. Improving the quality from ft to inches.
Great points Mike. Well received.
The algorithm fed this to me without searching for it - you're about to get thousands of views!
Thank you Ted. My goal with this video is to help some people with easy information about their property lines. And everyone is correct to hire a surveyor for usually more reliable information.
In Missouri you need a ‘Platted Survey’ to be acceptable in court. You will need a professional ‘Land Surveyor’ for that.
"A platted Survey"? You mean a survey established off of the Legal Description and easements recorded on Title?
You can use that app all you want, but it will get people in trouble. So often survey pins are distributed by excavation, utility and fence companies, ground movement, as well as by trees. There is no safer way of establishing your property corners other than with a reputable land survey company who can make sure your property corners are correct, and that will give you a "Plat of Survey", which will be the proof of what was found and/or set. DO NOT trust some app, an experienced Land Survey is always the proper way to establish boundary lines and encroachments, if there is a dispute.
This was so well put !
Your explanation makes it sound so easy . I am having issues with boundaries by several feet ! This Is a wholesome way to give an explanation, without a quarrel .
Everybody is happy 🏡🗝️. Welcome home ,❗ Thank You.
Sure, hello Phyllis. So the magic happens, or not, on if the mapping plat is synched up with the Aerial view. It's supposed to create this accurate sandwich. But some County's, especially hilly ones, have accuracy issues. Sorry about the challenges there.
As a retired professional surveyor I could write a book's worth of comments about this video. But I'll only make one: Please don't hammer your marking stake right next to survey marker. In soft ground you can move the survey marker. They move enough on their own with freezing, thawing, swollen ground due to rain and shrunken ground in dry periods. Keep your marker 4-6 inches away from the survey marker.
Thank you Jeff for not writing a book. I have received numerous threats so I do appreciate that. Post video I hired a professional Surveying team to come out, and that Survey showed the stakes I found were indeed the lot corners and they did not need to reset them.
Hugely Helpful!
Hiring a PLS to verify that your "found" corners are where they are supposed to be according to legal land plats is totally worth the money spent. A survey and legal description of your property will settle any disputes down the road. Never just assume that corners are in the correct spot. Never build anything without verifying with a survey first. It can affct everything from setback codes, encroachment, and having to spend thousands on legal bills and moving of built fences or structures. My father was a surveyor. He saw it all.
Thank you JW for the comment.
Saw some guy outside with some "measures" between the neighbor's home and ours. My parents had planted Oleanders between us and the neighbors, that had grown quite nice. The neighbor built a fence. The NEW neighbors surveyed for their property line. Later in the day I was outside, the neighbor said to me (I was a kid), your fence is on our property. "That's your fence, Einstein."
Property disputes are quickly becoming the #1 reason why people change houses. Every year neighbor wars start over this sensitive topic. The fix is for a Licensed Surveyor to go fix the problem. But, people are so thrifty neither neighbor will hire a survey. And the war continues.
I think something that you may have overlooked happened to us. A street abutting our property had been vacated, meaning that we own 1/2 of said street, in our state. You can't always just look for a stake or online to find out things like this. Online had it wrong. Our municipality insisted the paperwork was missing so it wasn't vacated. It took a lot of research for us to find it and we had to have said 'missing' paperwork that we found to the surveyor for the survey. One of our clues was a property description for an abutting property that mentioned a portion of the vacated street in it's property description. This was a property that was originally part of ours. We spent hours at the county offices and did find the 'missing' document that three title companies could not find. History is often a big part of finding the right property lines.
Good points Karen. Thank you for the comment.
To say I’m grateful is an understatement .Thank you so much for this empowering and knowledgeable video. Subscribed and again, Thanks!
In a sea of negative comments, I so appreciate the grateful ones. Thank you.
I appreciate the info you provided. People on here trolling about the cost. They spend more at Starbucks for burnt coffee, give me a break. This is a helpful tool and like the man said..."get a survey done". Have you tried getting a surveyor lately? If they are good and their fee is reasonable you may get a date 30-60 days from now.
Hi K Jay. Yes, we have trouble finding a Surveyor who can do the job within the Contingency period, communicate with the buyers, and recommend solutions to defects found on the Survey. It has become a real issue as there are fewer and fewer workers every year.
You have to be careful not to jump to conclusions when you locate a property pin. Sometimes they have different color caps on them. Most of the time they do mark the actual corner - however, the cap color may indicate an off-set and the pin is not the actual corner. This can happen when there are obstructions in the way of the actual corner, like a manhole cover or buried utilities. Sometimes the off-set pin was placed because at the time the pin was placed something was in the way of the actual corner, so an off-set pin was placed.
Thank you Qapla. Good points.
In our neighborhood (suburbs) done in the late 1970's, they laid out the side walk sections so they always ended on the property lines. It is very helpful in assuring no disputes occur due to lawn maintenance.
That is helpful Monkey. Want to read something crazy? In our market we not only have Street Creep, we have sidewalk creep. Especially when the street grade exceeds 4% and with thermal expansion, our streets and sidewalks will creep downhill. Wether it's 1" or 4" they move around. So sometimes markers not in the ground can move around. Which is crazy.
@@MarkTheRealtor Indeed - that's pretty crazy!
@@MarkTheRealtor I built a house on a block where the plat had bad arithmetic when it was laid out. Someone took the block length and divided it by 20, but in reality, they created 21 parcels. Everyone lost about a foot, but so few people actually had land surveys that most were unaware.
I attached a mailbox to an existing fence and the neighbor came out threatening me and asked what I was doing to HIS fence. I stood up and showed him the fresh survey marker. I asked him why he built a fence on MY property.
With a $40. metal detector from Harbor Freight bought 6 years ago, I found the 4 corner rods for my new lot that we now have our home on. 🥳
Good work OJB.
thank you sir! the app and metal detector made it possible 😊
Glad to hear it!
Amazing how so many people were quick to criticize your video when you plainly stated that a formal land survey is needed for exact dimensions. I am a retired real estate attorney and we also have problems with people only hearing or reading what they want to and ignoring plain facts clearly stated several times verbally and in writing. Those people caused a lot of the problems which kept me in business. I think this video performed a valuable public service for people who need a quick idea of the location of their property lines without paying a small fortune. This method will also give you an idea as to whether a formal survey will be cost effective. The number of views is testament to the value of your message,
Hello Stan. Out of 100's of comments, this one is the most congruent with what my message was intended to be. Thank you. #6 Forever.
I’m a surveyor in Texas and I use LandGlide all the time. Quite handy.
Awesome thanks for sharing, I'm glad to know surveyors are using LandGlide as well.
Lol
Great video Mark. My neighbor pulled up all the marker flags once he got wind I wanted to build a fence.
That’s illegal
Exceptional video!!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
As a surveyor, never, ever trust an app to locate your property corners! And, even if you find a "corner" with a metal detector, you have absolutely no idea if that is the correct corner, or if the corner is in the right place! Many, many land owners "move" corners! I see this all the time! NEVER use an "App" to determine your property lines! They are all based upon GIS data, which is close, not accurate! There is SO much more to this than what you you telling people! It is a good way to get someone sued! I do thank you for the end of video statement of how to properly find lines! Apps are fun, and that is about all...thanks!
Thank you Eric for participating.
In the elementary example given, he's pretty safe. It's a pretty new development. It's a bit unusual that there are no fences of the same vintage as the houses built on top of the property lines. The owners of the houses probably were barely aware or completely unaware of the existence of those original property corners with the Surveyor's license cap, so the likelihood of shenanigans is pretty low. The only thing left to do is to ask the standard engineering question: What's wrong with this picture? That is, take the tape and pull the distance between the two corners, and more importantly the distance from each of the corners to the edge of the sidewalk in front, which is almost certainly the front property line. Do all this with a copy of the plat in hand. I say good enough for planting and mowing. If I wanted to build a fence or anything else subject to zoning, setbacks property lines etc, I would definitely have a surveyor verify both corners and mark the property lines, which would not be prohibitively expensive in a modern development like this one. In my short (five years) in the field in the dark ages before GPS and total station instruments in every crew truck, I saw few if any real attempts at fraud, but tons and tons of complete incompetence and stubbornness on the part of land owners, public employees and even licensed surveyors and engineers.
@@blindleader42 Hello Blindleader. I had a post video Survey done and the 4 corners were EXACTLY accurate. And Landglide was within 3' of all 4 property corners. Consumers and I have had a rough year with multiple situations where the Surveyors were late, wrong, expensive, ruined closings, and would not return phone calls. And I get it, everyone seems short staffed including the Title Company's who provide much of the raw data and easements.
@@MarkTheRealtor I don't know why you're directing your reply to me. I'm not the one telling you you're full of it...
One picky little thing, though: There 's no such thing as _exact.😁_
@@blindleader42 Hi Blindleader. You commented "What's wrong with this picture"? I repeat, the post video survey confirmed that the stakes Landglide helped to locate were EXACTLY correct. Not 6" off, not 12" off. Exactly correct. Including the location of the front pins near the sidewalk out front.
My county had a free online GIS map. Seemed fairly accurate, could sew where my neighbor fence crossed over. Showed my old house too, confirmed what we always thought was the line, but neighbors survey lines went another 5 ft over
GIS maps are not accurate representations of property lines! They are only approximations for tax purposes, and cannot confirm or refute what a survey determines. If your GIS map differs from your neighbor’s survey, chances are slim that the GIS is correct. Only way to know is by surveying your own property. Chances are high it will agree with your neighbor’s.
When I tried those types of Apps they all seemed to be off by about 15 feet.
Yet they are very helpful.
the more satellites you can get the better GPS is - the fewer satellites the worse
Good info. for knowledge. TY.
Thank you so much for this video, it was easy to understand. I live in a neighborhood and my neighbor is putting up a fence, he has encroached on my property and I told him so and he knows it. I've tried talking to him about it and he was being very loud, cussing and was very unreasonable to say the least. So I think my next step will be is to use your method of finding the markers in the ground and going to court if he refuses to take down the part of the fence thst is on my property. I do have a survey aswell. 🎯🎯🎯
An official survey by a licensed surveyor would hold a LOT more water in court than a phone app.
@@drozcompany4132 Thank you🙏🕊✝️
I had noticed a large discrepancy between my plot map and actual yard....After owning it for 15yrs, my neighbor behind me went into foreclosure, I paid for a survey and gained 35' x 75' of back yard that had been encroached on since the 60's when the area was developed. $750 bucks..... well worth it.
I like it Joel. That is a great outcome. Good work.
Only $750? What state of you live?
@@adriennef1770 Hi Adriennef. Not sure where Joel lives. We have seen Survey prices go up, but I have seen the professionals and they work so hard outside in the weather. AND, the prices of pretty much everything has gone up too.
@@MarkTheRealtor I am one of those trying to figure out prop lines. The recorded parcel map (created in 1952) containing my house and my neighbors' houses to the left and right of me, was stamped INCORRECT subsequent to the original recording. No property stakes, or plaques can be found any where. Suggestions? TY
@@adriennef1770 Missouri.... That was 4 yrs ago price.
Fantastic exp;anation!
Thank you!
30 years ago, I set a coffee can over my stakes, went down a few inches, then poured concrete around the stakes. Easier to find the them later on. Then a new neighbor moved in. He saw that 'wierd thing in the ground' and yanked it out and filled/graded over the spot. Grrr. Fortunately, there was a 2nd stake there from some other survey so the location was not lost.
Thanks SSJ. Glad it worked out.
Couple things:
1) The lines on these apps are based on tax maps in most cases, which are mainly for parcel inventory and are not survey grade representations. As you can see in the video, without the confirming survey markers, one could easily costrue the driveways on each side to be encroaching onto neighboring properties. Once the irons were recovered, that obviously wasn't the case.
2) In our area, all tax maps contain disclaimers that they aren't to be construed as survey-grade accuracy. Unfortunately, the phone apps that I've encountered do not pass along such a dislclaimer.
3) The use of the hoola hoop strikes me as comical, as the radius of uncertainty can be substantially greater than that. If you're going to go this route, expand your search if you don't have luck right away.
4) In the era of underground dog "fencing", it's not uncommon for those being in close proximity to boundary lines. If your metal detector is of a beachcomber variety, be sure to let your neighbor know if you accidentally spade through one of their wires. Otherwise you may wind up in court because Fido got hit by a car.
5) The irons recovered in the video looked authentic because the had identifying plastic caps on them. This wasn't the case in bygone years, so anything looking as if it took real effort to drive in the ground could be a surveyor's official marker. Without corroborating survey map information, however, you may be taking a chance that it's something like an old horseshoe stake. Or even worse, something that an earstwhile landowner decided was a corner based on their phone app.
6) Phone-grade gps is not as accurate as survey-grade particularly when "canopy"
obstructs gps signals. Don't believe me? Go stand in the woods or concrete jungle and watch the blue dot move while you're standing still. Or if you can mark a "waypoint", hit a fire hydrant and navigate to over a period of time.
In conclusion, don't get into a shooting war with your neighbors without consulting a licensed land surveyor.
Good points Neal. There was a 2' or 3' delta between the points. The diameter of a hula-hoop.
neal, you are spot on (and I suspect you are a surveyor). They just dont understand what they dont understand. Even IF monuments are found, it certainly doesnt mean they are necessarily the true location of the property corner. He is trying to shoot a fly off the head of an elephant at 500 yards with a cannon by using these apps.
@@itchynackers Itchy: The HE you are referring to is ME. I paid for a very expensive survey post video, and confirmed the stakes that I located were 100% accurate. No 500 yards, no flies, no elephants. Just helpful free advice that 1,000's of people have used already.
Great Video and good to know!! THANK YOU!!!
Glad it was helpful!
Wow thanks a billion I'm trying it out!
Sounds great, let me know how it goes, hope it helps!
A few things. Lucky that lot is in a new subdivision. Newly created subdivisions are usually marked well. Surveyors know this and will give a better price. Most parcels are not defined that well and using an online mapping app will probably get you in more trouble than you want. The source of the data is through the towns GIS database and most towns do not have very accurate records. I'd give the average error about 10-15 feet, but I've seen it off by more than 50. As an aeample the town where my cabin is located shows the lot line going through my house. As a surveyor, I know I staked my foundation 30' from the lot line. Ive also seen the old deeds like you describe. Beginning 100 rods from the intersection of Old Bog Road, more or less to a large oak tree, thense southwesterly 250 rods by land of Jones to a stone wall located in a meadow, thense 250 rods to a stream, etc...
I've also seen cases were there are iron pins/rebar off by a few feet. Maybe someone hit it with their lawnmower, pulled it then maybe put it back in as best as they coudl remember. So yes, iron pins can be in the wrong place.Typically surveyors will go back before the subdivision was created to locate the drill holes, stone bounds and other monuments before they set pins in new lots.
Thanks Mark for the comment. In my County is is rarely outside of the 3' circle. Even on hilly and treed property.
@@MarkTheRealtor 3' is pretty amazing, or you've just been lucky. Just the typical GNSS error for most phones is 10' or so. Even my GNSS survey receivers are more than 3' without a correction stream. I can guarantee you that you'd need a 30' hoola hoop to find a pin in a pine forest. Cheers!
@@markohara3645 Good point Mark. Many viewers are commenting that it's not very accurate in their area. Darn.
Just dealt with and still dealing with property line issues. DON'T use phone GPS app or anything related. It's not accurate. Don't be cheap and get it marked properly, by a surveyor. Just because you found the "pin" doesn't mean the neighbor or previous property owner hasn't moved it. Yes, people move them even though its illegal. You pay the couple thousand up front for the survey but it'll save you possibly literally years of adverse possession lawyers and court fees. Speaking from experience. Luckily it all worked out in my favor. I still had to move fence lines that were 20+ feet off on a neighborhood lot. IMHO it should be law to have the "pins" surveyed when a property is purchased/sold. I will NEVER buy a property again until it has been recently and properly surveyed and any/all issues have been resolved with the neighboring properties.
wow excellent!!! thanks!
Glad you liked it!
Thanks for the tip on Land Glide I will try it
Thank you Doctrine
Corners aren't always where they are supposed to be. “Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up” (Robert Frost)
Good points Solohoh. Thanks for sharing.
It isn't just a matter of finding the original survey bars (most people don't even know what they look like). It's a matter of confirming the bars haven't been disturbed/moved from their original location. That's why if you really need to know where your boundaries are, hire a surveyor.
Says a Surveyor. Too fukkin funny.
Hello Garfield. What would you recommend when consumers see a house and have 30-mins to make a decision on wether or not to buy the house? Apparently the surveyors on this thread think that all Realtors should say, "I have no idea where the property lines are, lets hire a survey and 25-days later we will have that answer for you". Sorry, NO.
@@MarkTheRealtor The first thing one should do if given thirty minutes to okay the purchase of a house is to quickly walk away, as they are probably being scammed. One should never buy a property before going through an escrow with a title search by a competent title company. The buyer should have the right to cancel the escrow without penalty, except for some very minor costs, after getting the preliminary title report. Surveys if needed can easily to undertaken while this transpires. There might be liens outstanding on the property that are more than the property is worth, phony owners and a myriad of other situations to take the buyer's money. There can be lawsuits going on as to land boundary locations. There can be ongoing lawsuits where the realtor misrepresented the property to a former purchaser. In such cases it usually takes years before the new purchaser can use their purchase. If the property uses septic systems, it is imperative to get perk tests ran and approvals from public agencies. Quick sell scammers in the real estate market take hundreds of billions of dollars a year of unsuspecting purchasers money.
Ali: most of what you just typed is BS. You don't know our market. Most homes are selling with over 10 contracts on the first day. And contingencies of any type of future risk gets removed. So asking consumers to "walk away" will assure them they won't have a house in which to live. To this moment I have not made 1 penny on this video, so your "quick sell scammers" comment is not only wrong but feels like you are just trolling, looking for attention. Reply one more time, I will honor you by reading it, and then this all goes away.
@@MarkTheRealtor Around here, years ago closing a real estate deal was conditional on financing, a survey and a title opinion from a lawyer. If the buyer didn't like what they saw, they would walk from the deal. These days title insurance has been replaced the survey+title opinion because it's cheaper -- nobody's willing to pay 1% of the price of the home to know exactly what they've purchased. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of home owners these days don't know where their boundaries are or who owns the fences. Fact. I certainly hope they've read the title insurance fine print because they are full of exclusions and generally don't cover key items like loss of enjoyment. Also fact. There's no law requiring property owners get a survey so it just becomes a risk management decision. One of the benefits about getting a survey when you buy a property is you aren't beholden to your neighbours because you can negotiate based on facts.
This is so cool!
Thank you Silver for watching and commenting.
Thank you for sharing!
3 1/2 years and 4 surveys later we are still fighting a 15 ft encroachment by our neighbor. The Title company did not find the encroachment and didn't do a survey based on one paragraph in our title policy. The Title company won a suit based on policy fine print. Read your title policy carefully with a good lawyer. We are awaiting a judgement by a judge who can give our property to the neighbor based on the neighbor's claim of making a "mistake". We have had to try to prove "gross negligence" on the neighbor. Always get a survey before buying property and Read the Title Insurance Policy.
My experience with LandGlide in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina is that it is only accurate to +/- 30 feet. I would need a larger hula-hoop! I didn't know about the street and curb markings, thanks for the tip.
Mine was off, too (AZ). The blue dot was 10' to the right of the true mark. ...after setting the phone down and let the blue dot settle down from moving all over. Then I could easily go left 10' and find whatever.
@@Skiezah If you want to lose a property, order a Survey up front, wait 30-days for the Title, copies of all the easements, locate the encroachments, spend $1,000 or more, have the Survey be late, and then try to buy the house after it's been sold to someone else 30-days ago.
Thank You A lot for learning
So nice of you
Thank you, learned something today!
I appreciate your note Cluster.
This video is better than your last on this topic. An important point is not to rely on Landglide, or any GIS system, to determine where property corners are if monuments are absent or searched for and not found. In your example, per Landglide the easterly property line appears to lie on the neighbor's driveway. The location of monumentation found in the field appear to show that is not the case. In some areas the discrepancy between the title lines shown per Landglide and the location a surveyor would determine in the course of a retracement survey could differ a fair amount more. As a licensed surveyor from CA, I don't see an issue with providing advice that Landglide or a similar ap can be used as a tool to search for survey monuments. But always remember, if you advise a client, or give the impression that you are providing advice, that your client can rely on Landglide to determine where their property lines are located, such advice could be construed as practicing surveying without a license.
I appreciate it all, the fact that you watched both videos, provided insightful/knowledgeable critiques, with help from viewers like you I'm doing my best to get better at making videos. Yes, I do my very best to spread "If you are buying/selling land/property or for any other reason need them exact, ALWAYS higher and pay a land surveyor to get them exact." I Should have that in the description, pinned comment, and said throughout the video itself. Thanks again for your time and help, I truly appreciate it.🤝
@@MarkTheRealtor Hire
Use of the app only gives estimation and ease of use for users. It never implies the app is doing a licensed surveyors job. However it sure helps the laymen better understand without having to pay again for the general info needed.
Can surveyor's pins be off?
@@bigearn8782 The short answer is "Depends...". It's important to understand that a Boundary retracement survey is much more than a math problem. Often times we're reviewing records that don't agree with each other in terms of boundary location. A good boundary survey will take evidence into consideration both in records as well as evidence found in the field, and it's incumbent on the surveyor to consider how a judge may rule in the event his survey is tested in court. In my own practice I generally regard undisturbed monuments set by the original surveyor as controlling, even if they measure a bit off record measurements. If there are gross errors that may be another story. If reviewing non-original monuments, what are the pedigree? Did the retracing surveyor tag the monuments with his license number and give constructive notice of them with the local jurisdiction? If so, I can review his work and conclusions. If not..... If I find untagged monuments with no record, I'm very suspicious of them. For all I know they may have been set by someone without a license.
This is great now I can move my neighbours metal rods and give myself more property 😂
LOL!!!
HuntStand and other hunting apps also show property lines, but they are only approximate. In my case, in Camden County MO my western property line is approximately 5 feet to the east as shown on GSI site and HuntStand app. I like the idea to find the corner pins. But as someone commented, without a professional survey, I would only use a guide. good info because I would like to find my corners and remark them.
Yes, great comment Mike. Well received.
Interesting. I live in rural NE Thailand along the Mekong river. The local land office delineates property with 6" cement plugs much like the dug-in rebar rods. It's useful to know your boundaries.
Thanks for sharing Victor. Sounds like you too may have had an HP-41CX?
As someone who has working in the Land Surveying profession for 30 plus years I suggest you call an actual Professional Land Surveyor in your area for at least their professional opinion before you listen to anyone that does not carry such license.
EXACTLY as I said in the Video, and in the description. If EXACT is what you need, get a licensed surveyor.
This does not work well. Perhaps in the midwest, in the urban and suburban world, lots are square with metal markers under the surface. I used Land Glide and went around on my property in New England as I have lots of forest I own and manage including cutting for firewood. I found that I could stand on a spot and the Land Glide spot would move 20 feet in any direction with me just standing there. I could come back later and the marked boundary marker was now 50 feet from the new spot Land Glide told me. The added problems for me are that nothing on my lot is square. There is one post type marker on over 13 acres and it's a concrete post in the ground, exposed about 1 1/2 inches. The rest of the legal boundaries are "drill mark" in a boulder in a stone wall. Then angles defined and distances to the next point that if I'm lucky is another drill mark in a boulder. But some are just nothing whatsoever. There are no metal markers on my property. I do know that Land Glide is free for some amount of time and I am not a procrastinator so I downloaded it and went out and marked my boundaries. I mostly wanted to mark a long, straight line that went up and down hills with about 50 foot elevation changes with each peak and valley. I mostly want to not cut trees that are outside of my land so if nothing else, my new markers are a guide and I'll stay 50 feet away, hoping that's enough. I did see at one spot, a neighboring property had an invisible dog fence with flags marking it and Land Glide said that these were about 10 feet into my property. The owner came and talked to me and low and behold, he had a professional survey done so his flags were accurate and Land Glide was not. I suppose if you're a hunter and want to know "about" where you are inside a lot you have permission to hunt in, that should be fine. But as a guide to see where boundaries really are, accurately, well, no. Not even close unless you're ok with being 50 feet off.
Thank you Jack for trying. The accuracy will depend the the GIS mapping department for your County. They overlay your County's Plat on top of the aerial. Accuracy problems are worse in hilly areas too.
Really helpful
Thank you, glad to hear that.🤝
thanks...gonna try it!
Please do!
You may want to add in a future video that yes, you may try to find your property corners. However, in Texas it is illegal to disturb (meaning to move, remove or re-adjust) a survey stake (iron pin) set for the purpose of defining property lines. I would strongly suggest using a licensed engineering or surveying company.
My point exactly Wes. Rules, Laws, Licenses, .....layers and layers reasons why Consumers can not get the information they need without spending $800 and waiting 25 days for a Survey to come back. When my customers are considering the purchase of a house, I should tell them, they have no rights to those answers unless they spend $800 and wait 25 days? Please no. There must be a solution because the system has not changed in my 33 years as a Real Estate broker.
Yeah, and even though you can change a light bulb yourself, I would suggest paying a licensed electrician to do it.
Come on! We aren't a bunch of helpless noobs. I actually change my own oil, mow my lawn, and clean my gutters. I have located several survey pins, and locate doesn't mean relocate.
You are in the Midwest where they used the "Government Survey system". In TEXAS, most of Texas, the original "Survey "System" was done by SPAIN. The "Spanish Land Grant System. They used Creeks, Rivers, Trees, some obscured Rock outcroppings. So, guess what, many of these "land marks have" CHANGED or do not exist anymore. "Subdivisions" in Texas, those that have been done in the last 25 YEARS are platted as a rule. Some are NOT. The land I live on has NEVER been platted. The LEGAL Description is the Metes and Bounds done by a Surveyor. In other words, what might get you pretty close in St. Louis will not even BEGIN to work in Texas, and other states affected by the Spaniards. ALWAYS get a SURVEY!! Always, get a SURVEY. A survey tells you OTHER THINGS about your SITE or land. It will pinpoint EASEMENTS you do not even know exist etc. This situation will vary from State to State and locale to locale. The above method is only a "educated estimate" in a Subdivision. Most people live in "subdivision," which to me is a tragedy everyone has to live in a Suburb now that is not an ARISTOCRAT. I would call this a "Quick and Dirty Method". If that is all you need for "estimation purposes" for another "Quick and Dirty" idea, it might work, but NEVER rely on ANYTHING, that is the reason you should always get a Survey and then a Title Commitment before you CLOSE on a Purchase.
THIS is "what" READING "your" COMMENT is "like."
In the Video -AND- in the description I clearly recommended getting a Survey for more accuracy.
Awesome, just used the app to find that my property lines are further than I thought.
Thanks for the note Ento. Appreciate you.
Hire a surveyor to confirm.
thanks for the info
Any time
These techniques may get you close but the best way is to get a copy of your deed, most deeds but not all should have a description of the property which will tell you what you should be looking for at each corner. Not all corners are metal stakes (rebar). Some corners may be a set stone, a tree a piece of pipe. Also the information on the web is based on tax maps that can be several years out of date, depending on your location. Sometimes a corner may be in the middle of the road. If you truly won't to know where your corners are have a survey done, they can also reset any corners that are missing. This guy may find a corner but he has know way to tell if it is the right corner or something else.
Good points Paul. Thank you for sharing.
Even having your own deed is not enough. You need all neighboring deeds and records. There are always overlaps, one deed being senior to another (written before the other deed). There are typos and overlaps. Law suits may have been filed that affects you. You could have gained or lost due to imminent domain procedures. Those are just some of the reasons a title company search along with your licensed surveyor's checking many of these situations will keep you from loosing many years worth of your labor.
@@alibarron7558 Thank you Ali. Well received.
This app appears to be meant to find property stakes where they were put into the ground and it does as it should. Having metal detector to help find these stakes is very useful. I have helped many people locate their property stakes using a metal detector when they knew roughly where the stake was already located, they did not want a survey they just wanted to find the property stake that they already knew was there. This app helps. Thank you
Good points Ben. Thank you for participating.
I have metal detector, just haven’t had enough time to go out and dig
Thanks for content
Thank you so much for this information. #NewSubHere relocated from NYC to AZ desert and locals were no help here. I've been lost on property that county assessors gave me bad coordinates for. 2yrs I felt like I was in the wrong spot and now I can prove it. This video is a big help! #Godblessyou #NewSubHere
Thank you UA. That sounds great. Happy to help.
What were your metal detector's settings at for sensitivity?
Good day Tyler E. I think my metal detectors is rather elementary. I don't see setting on it. Just on/off and volume.
Retired GIS guy here: GIS data should never be relied upon for this kind of legal accuracy. It is often a bit off, and usually is derived from paper maps that were also inaccurate. We frequently had to “rubber sheet” subdivisions to fit around existing parcels. There is a reason many legal descriptions end in “more or less”. My own home was built across the property line due to a survey error and the owner at the time was forced to buy 15 feet of land from the neighbor. As for using GIS with a phone app, most phone GPS units are not of that level of precision.
Thank you EVTinker. Good points and well received.
Very good info.24 years ago a woman paid cash for a house in a small town, no survey was done. She now wants to sell her 30ft wide lot with a 24 ft double wide unfortunately 2 ft of her deck is on the lot next door and all of her 12 ft wide sunroom is on the other neighbours land. The realtor wanted to know if the would sell the old girl the stolen land for a dollar and the answer is no. She has some serious alterations to make and she has a home with no side yards and she will be lucky to sell it for $50,000.
Yikes, that sound rough.
I have a 10 acre parcel and it was hard to know where the lines were since I had the corners marked and about every 300' a stake on the line.
I bought a $15 green laser off Walmart, taped it to a tripod and eyeballed where the laser hit some leaves in line with the corner markers, then
I walked with a piece of cardboard to catch where the laser was and using a pole with a string with a rock on it, I was able to see where I intersected
the laser light and where the string settled I placed a rebar with a flag just inside my line. It really helped a lot and it closer than 1 meter.
Good work Willie. Thanks for the note.
My neighbor didn't forget where the corner markers are, he pulled them out.
Yuck, that is rough.
Mark, What a great video! So well done. Thanks.
A rare and much appreciated comment Jorge.
I had a project where an entire DQ parking lot was built on state highway land because the GIS was off 50 feet, and someone found a monument that happened to also be 50 feet south, building a gas station, DQ, and parking lot off of it. We had to get the land relinquished from the state and dedicate a new right of way going through the rear yard of the property. The location was closed for three years while this process occurred, and probably costs the owners $1.2-1.8 million in gross revenue.
Another issue I see is legal descriptions often do not compute into geometric data well when it's written by lawyers or real estate people, and whoever generated the GIS data made a guess to get the map out. I'm acquiring a property right now that has a legal description that overlaps the next lot by 20 feet if the description is strictly interpreted.
Yet another issue is there may have been lot line adjustments after the monuments were set.
Another issue is there may be two monuments set by two surveyors, and one is the original. Newer is not better. The original may have been a wood 2x2, and the newer one is a pipe. If you find the pipe and there's a 2x2 5 feet inside your fence, guess what...
Maybe your side yard seems nice and wide, and you build a shop taking measurements to the existing fence, and we come along and flag corners that are 10 feet inside your land and passing a few inches inside the shop. You pick a fight in court with lots of lawyer fees, and it doesn't matter because you built it on a 20 foot wide utility easement and not only is it over the property line, your shop is 10 feet into the easement and has to be taken down no matter what because it isn't an issue with your neighbor, it's with the public utilities that you just built a shop over, all because your neighbors fence was on their side of the utility easement, you thought everything on the inside the fence was yours. Happens all the time.
That does sound frustrating Ryan. Yikes.
I used to work for a company drawing maps like this. They were never close! They would not hold up in a court of law!!! Get a surveyor!
Hi Richard. Like I said in the video and the description. If Law is involved, correct, get a surveyor.
Always hire a Surveyor to verify the accuracy and location of property lines and corners. Apps use public information that are inaccurate and unreliable. Depending on your location your corners can be rebar, concrete monuments, pipes, car axles, lighternot posts, shotgun barrels, spindle rods or any number of things that were available.
Also if you have a neighbor who moved them
Hi Shannon. In the video and in the description I suggested hiring a Licensed Surveyor. Do you have any thoughts for people who don't want to spend $800 and wait 4 weeks for the information?
@@MarkTheRealtor I would tell them it is worth the money. Land is one of the most valuable things a person can own. Hiring a liscenced surveyor to do a survey map is essentially like a type of insurance for your land ensuring you own what you think you own. And if done properly the map is recorded with the county forevor. 800$ sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Also, surveyors are in extremely hight demand everywhere, so waiting 4 or more weeks is unfortunately just the nature of the game.
@@haydencrow7802 Good points Hayden. Well received.
@@MarkTheRealtor I want a million dollar mansion but I don't want to have to pay a million dollars
Interesting, thank you
Thanks Seviregis.
Great video Mark!! Love the screens share of the property as well!😀
GIS platting is notoriously vague and cannot be relied upon it can be off by as much as 6 feet on a given lot. Only rely upon a proper known survey. I 100% know the ariel plat set on my lot is off by at least 3.5 feet (side to side) front to back is fairly close within a foot or so. I went through an issue with neighbor trying to claim several feet of my lot after purchase. This was all due to them looking at the GIS for the county thinking it was accurate. Had survey done with a highly accurate GPS base point (Coast Guard and State points) to resolve the issue.
Thanks Mike for the note. I understand. Like it said in the video and the description, hire a Surveyor when absolute accuracy is desired. Can you report back, how much money did it cost you to get a survey, did they stake the corners, did they pull your legal description, did they locate the easements? And how many weeks did it take to get the sealed Survey to you? Were you invited to attend the Survey? Did you have any post-survey questions and were those questions answered in a timely manner? And most importantly did your neighbor get a copy of your survey and did they trust it was accurate? And lastly what is the accuracy and the tolerance of your Coast Guard GPS? 1 meter? 3 meters?
@@MarkTheRealtor Tolerance was under 6 inches as required for surveys in my state. Surveyor said his accuracy was less than 1 inch on his equipment for my survey.Total time from survey request to final paperwork about 7 days. Mine may have been a bit sooner than for some as I worked with this engineering firm many times in the course of my career in construction. Cost at that time was 1100.00 US for full drawings with registered survey also pins are required in all surveys in my state 2018
@@mikejones-ss7rt Thank you Mike. That all sounds great. Appreciate the comments.
Mostly a sales pitch.
Hi Patrick. Clearly you did not watch the whole video. NOT A SALES PITCH. Not selling anything and I did not receive even 1 penny from the App. Trying to help property owners and home buyers find their damn corners because that information seems to be hidden from them. The only thing I may have been Selling.....is the need to get your own Surveyor to be 100% accurate every time.
You had me at Nnnnnnext! :)
Thank you. You’re really funny, too.
Hahah thank you, I appreciate that, thanks for the kind words, smiles from here. :)
I bought a $40 metal detector from Harbor Freight and found all four rods in 30 minutes on the piece of land I bought. 👍🏼👍🏼
@@jhandle4196 Point taken, thanks.
@@jhandle4196 If there is a plastic cap on the rebar with the license number of the surveyor you are 99.5% good.
I have never had a building official argue with that.
Interesting. Thank you for sharing.
As long as you pay taxes on something it never really belongs to you.
Good point Jimmy. Now we can not only pay taxes, but many Municipalities are voting in Ordinances that they can enter your property to do interior inspections. Uhhhhhh, Nope.
I’ve had three surveyors say no the property lines are too vague they go way back and there’s really no record however there is spikes in the ground showing the property lines at least the town of Torrington believes that’s what they are I just need some kind of general idea for a fence replacement
Just make a trip to your local city or county land office and get a copy of your deed, it will probably only cost for the copy itself. There will be exact measurements from corner to corner or pin to pin, just use a long tape measure. Once you find one, the others will be easy enough, just look for a steel rod or rebar driven into the ground. Be very careful digging especially near the street, many utilities are not deep at all. You normally don't have to dig to find the corner pins unless it is in an area that is mowed and then the pin may be level with the ground. Good luck!
Good points David. Yes, that will get you some information. And like the Surveyor's on this thread will point out, hopefully the corners located will be the ones we are looking for.
I’m a 20yr RE broker. From a liability standpoint, realtors should never be surveying or offering an opinion of the property lines. Only a surveyor should be doing this. Tax records (at least in AZ) use this same GPS overlay so you don’t need an app to find approximate lines. Further, without a title search and a complete legal description you won’t know about all possible easements or setbacks.
Well said. I have a land surveyors license in Az & CA. Being over 80 now, the Nevada license was let go. GPS is wonderful if used properly but right now, quick buck artists are doing some very shoddy work.
Hi Dan. I'm a 33-year RE Broker and I think consumers deserve more information pre-contract about their approximate property lines and corners. Otherwise we Realtors write the contract and would you suggest without the buyers having any idea where the property line is? Unless they spend $800 - $2,200 on a Survey and it comes back 25 days later. Customers need basic information quickly. And an App and a metal detector can often offer some early information, WITH the disclosure the Licensed Surveyors are more accurate. In the Video -and- in the Description I clearly state to hire a Licensed Surveyor if exact results are expected. I think it's irresponsible of Licensed Realtors who have tools at our disposal just to take the easy road and tell consumers "Oh, I have no clue where the property lines are, you can figure it out later".
Hi Ali. I am assuming you are calling me a "quick buck artist"? I did not earn 1 penny from LandGlide on this project. It was a complete arms length transaction. As an experienced Land Surveyor, I am asking you to sit down and try to find a way to get accurate information to consumers without them paying $800-$2,200 and waiting 25 days for it post contract? Please Ali, the system needs rethinking. I worked on a survey crew in the 1980's and to me not much has changed in 40+ years.
@@MarkTheRealtor You state that "This video is meant to aid neighbors with minor disputes" but your comment to me is about prior to contract. I always provide the tax record with the GPS overlay and the legal description, then we walk the property to see if there are potential issues we can identify prior to contract. So while I do help buyers identify approximate property lines, I don't need an app to do so - the tax record is the app. If we need further investigation, that would happen during the due diligence period after we were under contract. If exact property lines or corners are needed or we suspect there's a problem, then you would hire a surveyor and chalk that up to the cost of doing business. We're not allowed to root around in people's yards prior to contract and must pay to restore anything we destroy or modify during due diligence. What you fail to understand is the liability that comes with acting as a surveyor when you're not. What if the pins you find are in the wrong place and the buyer decides against a survey during the due diligence period? You're sued and E&O insurance wouldn't cover it is what happens. YMMV since I'm in AZ and you appear to be in MO which has different laws. I actually agree with you on a few things, but you're awfully thin-skinned and accusatory about comments here.
Read your comment Dan. We align on very few things so it's time we just agree to disagree.
The internet property lines can be way off if there has been a mistake recorded by a previous land surveyor. It happened on my property
Thank you
great video. I was looking for a way to give me a better idea of where my property lines were. I am going to try this out asap.
Glad it was helpful!
Use a surveyor.
Exactly as it says IN THE VIDEO. And in the Description. My point is, that by the time people "Use a Surveyor" they have lost the house they want to purchase, and there is no property to survey.
GIS data can be quite good or wildly inaccurate depending on source.
Thank you for participating @oldmaninthemirror.
Keep in mind his marking descriptions are applicable to his region (state, county, etc.) only. There are different types of markers used, often buried deeper because they don't want homeowner's landscaping plans to destroy monuments. Many places do not cut crosses in the street or curb, but sink a lead tack and washer with the surveyor's number on it in the curb top or set in cement inside a 2" iron pipe
Thank you Dan. Great comment.
Mark, thank you so much for this video
Thank you Sudilos. Hoping it helps some people get an estimate of where their property lines are. And many 100's have already found their exact corners.
Hire a surveyor if you want your property lines😊
Exactly as I said in the Video, and in the comments.
Right on brother!
Thanks Mark for sharing this video. I don't know why people are putting you down, as you're not trying to survey the property, you're only trying to locate the actual (and probably legal) survey markers. I'm in the middle of doing the same thing on some rural property I own. I'm just looking to locate some original markers from a survey I had done back in the '80s. I know my metal detector is a must, but I'll have to give the app a try too and see if it's easier than a measuring wheel...Brian
Hi Brian. Thanks for the kind note. Yes, what I thought was simple and helpful advice sadly has caused many to become angry.
People putting him down because he should know that you could go right out to the curb of the sidewalk and see the mark/scribeark put in it by the people that laid the sidewalk that shows where the property line is...
who needs to pay $10 a month for a Land guide. Wake up people
Hi Kent. So only 10% of the parcels I walk have crosshairs in the street or on the sidewalk. Based on your advice would should people do the other 90% of the time? And Kent, what about the back corners, what do you suggest for those? If $10/mon is too much, then you can pay $1,280 like I did for an actual post video survey to prove the accuracy of the advice I shared.
Thank you Mark.
Cool app
What I can see is that your device shows your location about 15 feets away from where you are!
So it’s even less precise than my guesses!
Thank you for weighing in NMets.
A neodymium magnet on a string can help pinpoint that stake without digging.
I did not know that. Thanks for sharing.
Might not work if your boundary corner is non-ferrous. I have seen concrete monuments and x-cuts in concrete as boundary corners among other non-ferrous materials.
@@tumadre50 well of course not.
im having my proverty surveyed this fall, one side is 360' along the main road and 281.86' up one side, that side is already well marked from that land owner, but my property is not really square so i cant figure it out, i also suck with numbers. there are only a couple markers on the back side and nothing on the other side but i think my line follows some old telephone polls that go up on the hill up there, what confuses me is i have a drawing from the town that says 1.8 acres, i also got a picture from dOT that shows what looks like the same property with same measurements from the 80s, (this was my parents property) and that picture shows 2.55+ i am being taxed on the 1.8 so that should be the correct one, but when the survey is done i asked them to mark it good between corners. also i will know for sure what i have. my deed only says to look at other deeds which i can but still not real helpful for me.
So many stories about people having boundary issues. Sorry to hear this.
Dude . . . Sweet
Pay the money to get it done right by a surveyor. Virginia requires licensing bc their property laws are the best!
Sad part is that most people either can not or will not pay the money. YES, getting a Survey is best but it's not an available option for so many property owners.
@@MarkTheRealtor agreed. Bought a house in 2006 where the neighbor’s driveway was encroaching, and was found by a surveyor. Ten years go by without your acknowledgment of that encroachment, it becomes his
You need a surveyor to "legally" determine your property corners/lines
Correct Drew. As said in the Video and in the Description.
Yes, we know this already. It's also stated clearly in the description. Why are you repeating what we already know and what was already said???
Thank you BigMac for the note.
Great tip!
Thank you so much. We are having fence issues with a neighbor. This will come in handy...
Bite the bullet and hire a land surveyor. If things get ugly you will have incontrovertible proof that can be used in court if need be. If the neighbors don't believe you and hire their own surveyor, the two surveyors will almost certainly come to the same conclusion, so cross your fingers you are correct. Surveyors first duty is to maintain the cadaster, not help their clients win a court case. Our advice in boundary disputes is usually to take a bottle of wine next door and work it out between you. Much cheaper lol.
I can't get it to work though
@@victoriaamador5509 This is an ad! What he is using is an app that combines GIS maps. GIS maps are often incorrect. The lot lines he shows in this video don't even match his movements. He either already knew where the survey pins where beforehand or had someone (probably a surveyor) find them before he filmed this video. This video is a sham! It's an ad for the app that paid him to make it!
@@sethaaronweaver Hi Seth. It was not an ad. It was intended to be a useful tool for home owners and home shoppers. I have never received even 1 penny from Landglide. And I pay for my little subscription cost like everyone else. Before you cut down someones efforts, maybe consider that their intentions are positive.
How long the fence has been up sometimes grandfathers it’s future right to remain.
You might need a surveyor AND a lawyer
Lol… get a professional survey.. as for the iron pins, those can be moved.. “within a few feet “ can make a huge difference, especially when it comes to fences, driveways or building locations… also having a professional survey gives you legal backing in case of errors.
Hello Gearhead. Yes, exactly like I said in the Video -and- in the Description.