I make a 50 minute commute to and a 1:10 from my job every day. But I really make that commute to Survey, not to work.
@stacy-carroll love that. When I worked for the agency my commute average was 2hrs one way. Traffic sometimes up to 4 hours. I literally slept at rest areas overnight before because of traffic or wreck. Now I loved what I did and knew it was a very valuable role and serving my country. It. An get to you for sure. I 95 is horrible in northern va. A lot of that was my choice as I wanted to raise the kids in rural area so I sacrificed. Glad those days are behind me now. I just concentrate on getting my job done now and studying for licensure. All the other time is family time. I thought atlanta traffic was bad when i lived in Georgia. But on its worst day it doesn’t hold a candle to VA northern area. Especially on a holiday weekend as govt agencies let people out.
My mother was from Winchester and I have a brother in Stafford.
@stacy-carroll Oh wow. The wife and my daughter just returned from Winchester today. They took the youngest to meet grandma halfway. Winchester is a neat area.
Keep trying. Get a commitment from a licensed land surveyor, but, it still may be several months before they can do it. If they say call back in a few months, you will still be told it will be several more months from then. You want to get on their list NOW, knowing it will be a few months before they get to it.
@holy-cow Thanks for the sound advice. I will try calling around again. Wish me luck!
The law of supply and demand hasn't been repealed. Want faster service? Offer to pay a premium fee. There are probably more than a few "too busy" surveyors who will arrange to be less busy when offered the right enticement.
Added two new surveys to my too long list today. Told both it would be two to three months. They both said they could live with that. In fact, one of them said they had contacted another company who said they could be there in about one month but their price was almost double my estimate. That firm does a lot of commercial and highway work. They only do residential as "fill-in" work to keep their crews busy between bigger jobs.
I am coming to the same conclusion. The problem is I don't know what a reasonable "premium" would be on a residential ~0.5 acre plot. $500? $1,000? Could you give a ballpark range on a typical price + premium? Thanks!!!
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Could you give a ballpark range on a typical price + premium?
I'm in CA, not NC, so I have no way of knowing what rates are like there, let alone the complexity of the survey. In my area no one requests a survey unless there's a problem, and when there's a problem a typical residential survey runs between $4k and $8k.
As far as incentive for faster turnaround goes, not every surveyor will respond the same way. It would have to be a pretty unusual circumstance for me to take a job out of order, and additional money might not be the motivating factor. But in a given market there are bound to be some for whom a premium fee will turn the trick.
@gstritter glad to help. A lot of others gave great advice as well. If they say 3 months go ahead and reserve your spot now. Or you will still be looking 3 months from now. Its not bad when a surveyor sais he has a backlog. That tells me they are steady and planning ahead. There employees are being watched out for long term and they are probably have a good set of clients repeat so you will probably get a good quality survey. I know we all want it done tomorrow but I would go on a list vs the person who says tomorrow. Not that tomorrow is bad just reality says they might be flying by the seat of the pants. Good luck.
Thanks so much, Jim. I really needed that ballpark figure! It may end up being cheaper in NC given how many (but not all) things are cheaper there compared to Cal.
