Video Summary
Am I required to purchase a survey if I’m purchasing a home? No, you are not, unless your lender insists that you receive a survey. Now sometimes the lender says, “No, you don’t need a survey,” however tells the closing agent and the title agent that they must delete the survey exceptions on their title insurance policy, in which case the title agent will say, “Well, we will need a current survey in order to be able to provide that coverage to the lender.”
You may be required to get a survey by the closing agent and title agent as a result of the lender insisting that this exception to the title insurance be deleted. It has been my experience that lenders do require this exception to be deleted so that, in most instances, if you are going through a bank to get a loan, they are going to require a survey, which just shows that there are no encroachments.
However, if the seller has a current survey, which means that there have been no changes in it, then the title company and the lender may agree to use the old survey with an affidavit signed by the seller and you saying that this survey is accurate and thereby avoid the cost of having a new survey performed.
A survey is really very interesting and informative in that it’s a bird’s-eye view of the property. It shows you the dimensions of your particular lot, where your house or the improvements are in relationship to the boundary lines, but also show where there are easements, also fences, sidewalks, where the street is. I always like to see a survey and go over with it with a buyer whenever they are buying property because they usually just deal with the legal description, which doesn’t let them know the size of their property, and so therefore it is very informative.
So you are not required to have one. I think it’s a good idea to have one. Unless your lender insists that you have a survey, you don’t have to purchase one, the cost of which is about $300.00 to $350.00.
So if you are looking to buy a piece of property or sell it, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288. Thank you.