One of the speakers at last week's PLSO Conference spoke of his unusual business model. He has systematically surveyed the area around his office - over a period of years - and now sells the data to others, if asked. Or he can prepare a survey very quickly to meet the typical real estate agent closing needs. It's a very high priced neighborhood with plenty of survey problems.
Our office is in a upscale neighborhood with plenty of redevelopment going on, so I'm thinking about it. Are any of you following a similar business model and, if so, how is it working?
> One of the speakers at last week's PLSO Conference spoke of his unusual business model. He has systematically surveyed the area around his office - over a period of years - and now sells the data to others, if asked.
In a recording state, what advantage does having this proprietary information really give? After 1/3 of the area is covered by Records of Survey, isn't the jig up?
On the other hand, I do like the idea of a surveyor specializing in certain geographical areas to the point that he or she has solved the significant problems in play in the areas that someone doing onesies or twosies would be unlikely to figure out. I've long thought that surveying work ought to be licensed by district to promote just that.
> In a recording state, what advantage does having this proprietary information really give? After 1/3 of the area is covered by Records of Survey, isn't the jig up?
This speaker claimed that the ability to complete a survey for real estate closing in a compressed period of time, while having a handle on the several significant boundary issues in the area, was a significant feature. Especially in his particular very high dollar market.
Also that the initial work had been completed by crews "filling out their 40 hour work week" on this long term project. So the up front costs had been minimized and written off, to an extent. He further asserted that the continuity of workload had help him maintain a stable workforce, raising efficiency, and therefore profitability, on the paying jobs.
> This speaker claimed that the ability to complete a survey for real estate closing in a compressed period of time, while having a handle on the several significant boundary issues in the area, was a significant feature. Especially in his particular very high dollar market.
>
> Also that the initial work had been completed by crews "filling out their 40 hour work week" on this long term project. So the up front costs had been minimized and written off, to an extent. He further asserted that the continuity of workload had help him maintain a stable workforce, raising efficiency, and therefore profitability, on the paying jobs.
The activity is what I'd call "research surveying". If I understand the speaker's premise, it is that he does enough research surveying in an area to be able to have a basis to make a survey of any parcel in the area if requested, not that he has already made surveys of all of the parcels. I assumed, possibly incorrectly, that the areas where the speaker had focused his research surveying were residential simply because it's hard to believe that areas in commercial use would generate the sort of turnover in ownership that would be necessary to make the model viable.
Most of the high-dollar residential areas familiar to me in Texas have extensive destruction of boundary evidence, mostly from wall-to-wall landscaping. So having what little remains as a skeleton to begin from would in fact be advantageous. Selling the information to other surveyors sounds unlikely to work as a scheme for cost recovery, so it would boil down to marketing of services.
The speaker's premise would then seem to be that there is a market for reliable surveys done quickly for fees that are substantially above average. I can see there might be a market for quick, cheap surveys, but if a surveyor is able to convince clients that a more expensive, higher-quality survey is what they want, then that is the real secret to the business model. I tend to think it's about the same small fraction of the population as presently are willing to pay well for quality.
The secret, such as it is, probably lies in the relationships with third parties who generate the referrals and what their interests in the transaction are. Realtors? Probably not. Title insurers? Seems unlikely. Attorneys? Could be.
Mark, one thing I found fascinating is that his crews NEVER knew the word layoff or slow, they actually never knew, because they were guaranteed work that was an investment in the future of the firm. Sure would help crew moral and stability of the workforce, surveying has ALWAYS been seasonal in my career here in the PNW.
It seems this model only would work with concentrated repeat business in a small geographic area and indeed the speaker's business model was concentrated in a small area and in an expensive area, you probably need both conditions to make this viable.
SHG
Business Model No. 1 - Nichols Hills, Oklahoma
I worked a number of years for a firm that had platted (almost 200 blocks) of an upscale residential area in North OKC called "Nichols Hills". The majority of the plats were completed in the 1948-1955 timeline. Being wrought with almost every property line on a curve and hand calculated, surveying in there was challenging.
I'm not sure the management had planned to provide ongoing services in the manner you described, but it happened. We were the "go to" firm to straighten out surveys in the area. We had field books and notes that went all the way back the thirties in the area PLUS the old man's original hand calcs for the lots (he pinned most of them himself also).
Now I'm sure your referenced speaker made it seem as though it was a tidy process and an admirable undertaking. In reality we experienced a big mess. There was ALWAYS an existing survey (by others) right smack dab in the middle of the block that threw chaos into our "on-going" maintenance of the area. Pincushions were extremely common with 4' to 6' busts in the plats. And every other huge mansion was owned by an attorney. Keeping the area pinned in accordance with the original notes and such was, at times, an exercise in futility due to 8' tall ivy-covered masonry fences, swimming pools and outrageous property owners. There were several law suits that were products of our work. I'm not so sure it was ever a really money making affair.
It would be nice if one could pull it off. From my experience it was difficult when there had been so many other surveyors adding their spices to the broth.
Business Model No. 1 - Nichols Hills, Oklahoma
> Now I'm sure your referenced speaker made it seem as though it was a tidy process .... Pincushions were extremely common....There were several law suits ... I'm not so sure it was ever a really money making affair.
This fellow didn't imply that it was all a bed of roses. A very large part of his practice now is providing expert testimony.
BTW, having a recording law and county surveyors giving every submission an anal exam does cut down on the pin cushioning. At least it makes it easier to track the perps down. There are some in PDX but they usually set wood hubs for corners, which have a half life of about a year in the Pacific North-wet even when left undisturbed.
Business Model No. 1 - Nichols Hills, Oklahoma
We had a local surveyor, when it was slow; survey property with forsale signs in the yard then call the agent and tell them he had a survey.
