S2 Ep23 - Evidence, Forensics,&Intended Boundaries - a podcast by Brian Cook And Kindra Cox

On Season 2 Episode 23 of The Brian and Kindra Show, they discussed surveys with Mike Gosset. 

First, it’s important to establish what a survey is.  A survey is an evidence based outline of a property's boundaries. A surveyor can establish existing boundaries on the ground, create new boundaries on the ground, or appear in court as an expert witness over boundary line disputes. A licensed surveyor must have a two-year degree with 30 or so hours of specific courses and 6 years of experience in a responsible position. Or, you can do 4 years of college with 4 years of experience. 

The term evidence sounds odd to some when considering surveys.  Evidence for surveys is based on original surveys from statehood.  Geographical evidence can be the location of rivers and bodys of water.  Occasionally, an error is found on a survey such as the written description of land doesn’t line up with the marker on the ground. That could be due to geographical changes or sometimes occurs when an unlicensed description of the land is written.  

A licensed survey can also provide an elevation certificate that may help a homeowner decrease their flood insurance premium or even remove their property from a specific flood zone based on the surveyor's findings. Flood insurance can be very costly so this option may be a money saver in the long run. Flood zones are beneficial to planning and development on where a structure will be built. In Woodward the new detention ponds have significantly changed the flood zones in the city and is already assisting many homeowners to find decreased flood insurance rates.  Mike explains the process to have a property removed from a specific flood zone is to first call a licensed surveyor who will look at the FEMA flood map and determine if the elevation certificate may be of value to the homeowner.  Then, the surveyor looks to see if there is a base flood elevation for the location.   Next, he decides if an engineer is needed for a drainage study.  The surveyor must determine base flood elevation and drainage on how high the water could rise and compare it to how high the house is. Then, they can submit this to FEMA for their determination. Not all properties can be removed from the flood zones that require flood insurance for many mortgages, however, one may find the effort valuable if their insurance amount is lowered. 

Surveyors are licensed by state and can survey anywhere they hold a license.  However, due to the varying geography of each state and even in various regions of each state, many surveyors choose to survey only in areas they are familiar with in order to provide the best, most accurate work.  

Brian and Kindra hope this information has been helpful to you. As always, if you have any questions or need help, please feel free to reach out to your local real estate professional.

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