basic ethics question

no.. I don't think so, as long as you charge $350.00 or less for the survey. 😉

You would have a vested interest in the result of the survey. Therefore it would be unethical.

Yes, that would be ethically unsound because it could give the appearance of conflict of interest. As the surveyor you are disinterested in your findings of the position of the property boundary line, and whether it is good news or bad, the client still pays you. But, as a realtor, you are interested in the sale. Your paycheck depends on the sale. No sale, no pay. Thus you are putting your land surveying neutrality at risk.

You would want to avoid this situation.

Stephen

That seems reasonable, but suppose the client had already indicated that he was going to purchase the property and paid his earnest money along with making his offer. He just wants to know where the property lines are.

I'm both PLS & broker. I do this all the time. I survey my own tracts as well. I use the same procedures no matter who or what is involved. I do understand that there is potential for conflict. I don't operate on what could happen. Do it right...you're covered. The sad part of all this is that I typically make double or triple (sometimes more) the amount in commission compared to the survey fees associated with a transaction. I often think about all the work, sweat, and liability that goes with a large boundary survey and I'm making double or triple the survey fee for a few phone calls, a little travel and paperwork.

There would be no problem with that. As long as the survey has no effect on the sale transaction.

> If I were a real estate agent/surveyor (I'm not) and I were representing a client as a real estate agent, would it be a conflict of interest for me to survey the property they were interested in?

I'd say it would mainly depend upon the fee arrangement that had been made for your services as a real estate agent. If your compensation is dependent upon the transaction closing (as is typically the case for realtors), then it is an obvious conflict of interest because land title surveys can turn up facts that cause buyers to back out of closings.

On the other hand, if you are representing the buyer under some compensation agreement that doesn't depend upon the sale closing, I'd say that the same conflict of interest doesn't exist. There is no financial inducement for you to shape the report of the findings of your survey in a way that will tend not to blow the closing.

I definitely see both sides of this, that's why I brought it up. One side of me says "if it looks inappropriate, don't do it". The other side says "I'm not doing anything wrong, so why worry about how it looks?". I'm not trying to take either side here, I just start thinking out loud when the bills start coming in.

Vested Interest ?

Realtors do appraisals for sales and mortgages all the time which have a much greater affect on the sale.

In a surveyor your opinion is the facts as you find them.

I am not sure but does the realtor code of conduct recommend against reporting facts?

In my opinion a realtor has the same obligation to report a survey fact as a house inspection indicating termites. Seldom does a surveying actually inhibit a sale, but it is an easy one for realtors to blame since the sellers and buyers are much less aware of surveying.

I have heard of too many times the realtor telling the seller that the survey showing the driveway 6" over the line meant the buyer could not get a loan. That is much easier than telling the seller the realtor brought him a potential? buyer who had insufficient income.

Paul in PA

>... I do understand that there is potential for conflict....
No. There is a conflict of interest. You may perform proper survey work in spite of it, but you cannot avoid it.

Kent, What Is A Land Title Survey?

As far as I know Title does not flow through a survey.

Paul in PA

I would venture a guess that the majority of those that say it is a conflict work primarily in the bigger towns and cities and the majority of those that say it is not a conflict work in rural areas. People that have lived and worked in rural areas and small towns are much more accustomed to seeing individuals wearing multiple hats.

Similar questions have come up before such as surveying your own land, surveying land that you intend to buy, or surveying for a non-profit organization that you are a member of. The opinions were often split by the urban/rural difference then.

I would say it is not a conflict as long as both the buyer and seller don't have a problem with it. If either disagree then hire another surveyor.

Just my opinion.
James

There are a number of surveyors in this area that are...surveyor/developers....surveyor/broker....surveyor/real estate agents...and surveyor/builder. Some, all of the above. No one has ever raised a question of conflict of interest. In reality, they have to much riding on their long term business interest to risk cheating on a survey to skim a few dollars.

I have always argued this. Maybe it is different in others states, but around here, if you are a truly bad surveyor, you would loose your license pretty quick and get you socks sued off in a hurry by the hoards of lawyers and real estate people that would be thrilled to sue you.

Kent, What Is A Land Title Survey?

A "land title survey" is a term of art used by land surveyors to describe a particular type of survey that is commonly made when real property is purchased and a land title insurance company is involved in the transaction.

Nebraska statute 81-8,122.01 states:

"...The record of survey so filed shall become an official record of survey, and shall be presumptive evidence of the facts stated therein, unless the land surveyor filing the survey shall be interested in the same."

I struggle with this rule on the basis of being licensed we are either doing things correctly or we are not when we survey any parcel of land. It implies we are not capable of making the correct decisions if it involves surveying our own land. There are many professions where licensed individuals can perform their own work on their own property.

One licensed surveyor here will typically survey his own property and then have a licensed friend sign off on the work to circumvent this statute, save money, and feel confident that the work was performed correctly.

It's sad to say, but there are some licensed surveyors I would not want someone like a real estate agent hiring (lowballers) to survey property I intended to later purchase. I would inevitably end up checking his/her work and then if I found something significantly off, I'd have a dilemma.

As already stated, as licensed individuals we should be establishing the boundary lines in their true locations. If someone has a problem or questions it, let them hire their own surveyor.

Kent's response I'll buy that

I think Kent's work is primarily rural.

Kent, What Is A Land Title Survey?

It's formally know as an "ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey". Bit, since it is a survey product and not a product of the ALTA or the ACSM, it should be called a Land Title Survey or for short.

Kent, What Is A Land Title Survey?

> It's formally know as an "ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey".

There are other widely used survey standards that describe a "Land Title Survey" in addition to those of ALTA/ACSM. There wouldn't be any reason for Paul to be familiar with them, though, which is probably why he asked.

> I would venture a guess that the majority of those that say it is a conflict work primarily in the bigger towns and cities and the majority of those that say it is not a conflict work in rural areas. People that have lived and worked in rural areas and small towns are much more accustomed to seeing individuals wearing multiple hats.

I tend to doubt that surveyors in rural areas are as unethical as you suggest. It's a given, I assume, that when a professional assumes a dual role with conflicting objectives (such as would be involved in the full and complete disclosure of survey findings as opposed to a desire to bank a real estate commisssion) that there is inherently an ethical problem regardless of whether it's in a rural county or a teeming metropolis.