Survey Says?

When one buys a home, one gets an inspection; when one buys land, one gets a survey… and you get what you pay for. We hinted in a previous post that we thought we had purchased 67 acres, based on the last known survey. However, we knew it was important not to have blind faith and attempted to add a contingent into our offer that if the survey of  the land was +/- we would pay the sellers for the additional, or they would owe us the difference, per acre. The seller opted out but allowed us to void the contract if the property was less than advertised. As it turned out the survey concluded there were 73 acres! We essentially picked up enough land that equaled our entire first property we had previously owned upstate. The additional 6 acres more than paid for the cost of the survey; and because the sellers chose not to accept the clause, we gained almost 12 thousand dollars in property value overnight. Although the land was always there, it was a happy discovery in our favor.

It’s important to know that while older surveys are fairly accurate, tools and measurements have come a long way over the last few hundred years. As an example,  we wanted to share an excerpt from the original survey. It’s really cool and gives a perspective of written records in the mid 1800s; and also why it wasn’t great for instilling confidence in accuracy – nowadays.

“West line and running thence along said line South three and one half degrees West 6 chains and fifty links to a soft maple tree in the corner lands of Whitby thence along said Whitby’s line North seventy-eight degrees West seven chains and thirty six links to the center of the highway; thence among said highway fifty six and three fourths degrees East, nine chains” ~ Dated 1847

Ironically we are about 90% sure that “soft maple tree” is still on the corner of the property, but a lot older and way bigger. Needless to say, we are believers in adding a land survey to your contingencies when you make an offer on a property.