That Zoom call where an older homeowner taught me to read property lines myself

I was walking a client through a listing last Tuesday and this retired surveyor neighbor just came over. He pointed at the fence line and said 'that's 3 feet over the actual boundary, look at the county plat map.' Now I pull those maps before every showing.

3 comments

3 Comments

noahwood9d ago

Wouldn't relying on county maps miss changes from recent surveys or easements?

brian_hart9d agoMost Upvoted

County assessor maps in my area are actually updated quarterly with new subdivision plats and easement records from the recorder's office. I pulled one last month for a property near 12th street and it already had a 2023 survey shown that a neighbor had recorded. The maps aren't perfect but they catch most of the big stuff like new lot lines or utility easements from the last couple years. What they'll miss is stuff like a fence built 5 feet over the line where nobody bothered to file anything. That's where a field survey still matters.

sam_cooper9d agoMost Upvoted

@noahwood, that's exactly what I ran into. The county maps are good for getting a general feel, but I had a situation where a neighbor had a recent survey done for a pool, and the property line was totally different from the old map. I started doing what that retired guy taught me, and I cross reference the county plat with anything I can find from a title report or previous listing docs. I also always ask the seller if they have any old surveys, even from years ago, because those can tell a story. It's not a perfect system, but it's way better than just trusting the fence line.