Somebody needs to have a talk with Mr. Vila

A boundary survey for less than $1000 ????

What is this .....80's night?

While were giffing, here's one of my favourites, that sums up most things:

They must have pulled up an old article and re-ran it without updating prices.

There are some good points in the discussion, if you ignore the numbers quoted.

I wonder who set up the tripod height in the lead photo.?ÿ Maybe the guy's adolescent child? It makes my back hurt to look at it.

Bob is very entertaining.?ÿ?ÿ

There is a link at the bottom of the article for providing feedback ("contact"), which I have done. Put your word in too. Be respectful!?ÿ

Bob Vila is a graduate journalist and a television host who has a staff who does the research.?ÿ I find it disrespectful to put out misleading information.?ÿ Must have polled the National Survey brokers.?ÿ An industry that should not exist.

I remember about 25 years ago, they were doing typical boundary surveys for $150 all day long.?ÿ Good grief, not worth getting in the truck for that.

Hey Wendell,

Sounds to me that Vila's price is way too high. Twelve years ago, Vicki Payne had (in addition to her stained-glass craft show) a home improvement show entitled, "For Your Home." Episode 2601 dealt with building a yard fence, so IF (big if) you couldn't find the "pins" and needed a surveyor, HE should only charge between $150 and $250. Before she could say dollars after 250, the TV went silent.

I didn't find her as entertaining as some here find Bob. 🙂

Reminds me of a man who owned a residential lot in Central City, CO who saw that I posted about mineral surveys on an older version of SurveyorConnect. He called me up, offering an entire US Grant for me to come up and set one pin he needed before the town would issue a building permit. The lot was surveyed by someone else, who refused to reset his pin without a lot more money. Otherwise, he'd appreciate the owner taking back the moneys paid and forgetting that a "land" survey was ever done (yes, he had an active license at the time). I never felt curious enough to inquire which of my peers accepted that generous compensation.

Posted by: @bill93

I wonder who set up the tripod height in the lead photo.?ÿ Maybe the guy's adolescent child? It makes my back hurt to look at it.

@timd1971?ÿ

I don't doubt you but would like to know where they were charging that for any boundary survey.?ÿ

When I first saw this article I thought surely they must be talking about Mortgage Loan Inspection "surveys".?ÿ That's the only way I can get this article to make sense in my head.

@out-of-level Mortgage loan inspection "surveys"/encroachment inspections are a HUGE disservice to our profession and industry. Mortgage lenders, banks, real estate agents, and title companies all refer to them as SURVEYS. Joe and Jane Blow have no idea that they are not boundary surveys, even though 99% of them state that they are not boundary surveys.?ÿ

Personally, I would love to see these type of "inspections" heavily regulated by individual state and national survey societies. Either outlaw them outright, or fix a minimum price of no less than 1% of the appraised value of the property for the service. Such a price fix would allow for a more thorough product, and would curtail lenders and title insurers from having "Cheap-surveys-r-us" from cranking out garbage.

I'll step off of that soapbox, for now.

As a local Surveyor friend of mine said "I can't even pull out of the driveway for less than $1000!"

I clicked on it and now Bob has more money.?ÿ?ÿ

@hi-staker Agreed. Realtor's get 3% of sale because use civilians don't have access to MLS. Lenders charge "loan origination fees" to do paperwork so they can collect interest on you for 30 years. Surveyors doing a real boundary survey could actually provide some value.

I had a friend realtor reach out to me just last week looking for a favor. He had an MLI that the surveyor had noted "Description is comprised of six seperate parcel descriptions, the location of the boundary is difficult to locate with certainty. A boundary survey is recommended."?ÿ ?ÿGood for that surveyor, thats how MLI's should be done.?ÿ

Realtor friend to me: "I'm in a jam, client is suppose to close in 2 weeks and title won't insure without an updated description. I reached out to see if another surveyor would write a description and they said it'd require a boundary. What do you think? Could you do a description or some sort of quicker survey that would satisfy?"

My reply without missing a beat: "My recommendation is a boundary survey as well." (why would I disagree with 2 other surveyors. "If I work on the side some I could have it done in 8 weeks for $4k." (at least the MLI gave me warning that its a little bit of a mess).

He's going the route of searching out another title company that issued insurance in years past on the property and crossing his fingers.?ÿ

My issues with this: for one, the MLI is the most approximate looking outline I have ever seen. I feel it's almost a disservice to even attempt to draw a parcel outline with the available info.

Secondly, the title company didn't have a problem with the fact that the boundary is uncertain, they just wanted to a description that sounded more like a single parcel.?ÿ There's an old road in the parcel too, but that's more than 40 years old since its been mentioned, so title certainly won't be noticing that.

Sadly this sounds about right for my area.?ÿ We lost multiple residential lot surveys last that were in our back yard to a company coming from an hour away to do them for $450.?ÿ Lost a few more to a local competitor for... you guessed it $450.

That outfit is still in business??ÿ You get what you pay for.