Many people and businesses in Wisconsin who purchase real estate are hesitant to order and pay for a survey when they close on their real estate transaction. What is a survey and why should you consider getting a survey when you buy real estate? A survey is a drawing that shows the precise measurements, boundaries, easements, improvements, and right of ways on a particular property. A survey is a valuable piece of insurance for a buyer. A good survey will identify the boundaries of your land and where the building(s) are located on your property. It will also locate outbuildings, fences, easements for utilities and other things affecting the use or value of the property. There are often setbacks under the local zoning laws affecting the real estate. A good survey will indicate what the setbacks are and show whether your buildings are built to comply with the setbacks. Why is this important? For two reasons. First of all, this “snapshot” of your property shows you where your actual boundary lines are and can indicate if there are legal problems with the property you are buying. Is the size of the land what you expected? Is a building built over the property line? Does your property violate setbacks? Is there somebody else making a claim to your property line by putting up an outbuilding, fence or something else on the property line? Knowing these things prior to closing enables a buyer and seller to resolve, up front, what could otherwise be expensive legal problems down the road. Don’t I have title insurance to cover that? Most title policies specifically exclude problems that would be revealed on a survey. Therefore, if you choose not to get a survey, and that survey would have revealed the problem that thereafter becomes an issue, the title policy will not cover it. At that point, maybe years later, you will end up trying to locate the prior owner(s), and may end up in a long and costly legal battle to resolve the title issue that could have been easily addressed prior to purchase.
Title insurance is good… title insurance and a good survey is better… and title insurance, a good survey and competent legal representation prior to a closing is the BEST protection you can have to avoid costly legal problems down the road.
article by Anne Ertel-Sawasky
