Some may not understand what that really means. It means doing everything to ensure you are producing the best possible opinion as to the true location of the property without regard to the net profit or loss.
We took on what should have been a simple survey of a single lot in a very old subdivision. The block only had four lots with no alleys. Simple, right?
Had I billed every hour as usual the resulting fee would have been over five times the quoted figure.
The city engineer from the early 60's to early 80's did most of the recorded surveys in the city. Other surveyors did 'stealth' surveys, meaning you find survey quality bars with no history to them all over the place. The two recorded surveys in this block do not agree. One is the survey mentioned a few days ago where the surveyor neglected to account for the 10-foot strip the city acquired to widen a street.
We searched in eight different blocks to find monuments just to determine the true location of this one lot. We also had to find a section corner and quarter corner as the south line of this block was to be 30-feet, originally, from that section line, thus producing different dimensions on the east and west sides of each block.
An interesting sidelight to this story is the so-called reasidence on the lot being surveyed. It has not housed a family in over 20 years and is in very poor condition. It is a railroad passenger car that was retired from service many, many years ago and moved to this lot to be used as a house. There are still a handful of similar railcars left in the city. One boxcar still houses a family. This city was a significant division point for the railroad and retired box cars and passenger cars still dot the countryside as storage buildings. I can see one now as I look out my window that was used for many years for grain storage. It was placed there about 1945.
Doing the job correctly, so you can do it again
Very Old subdivision + fixed quote = I used to be a surveyor but couldn't make any money at it.
I hear ya. We just took a job in a subdivision that I know somewhat here in town. It sux all to be damned. There are NO bearings, diverging lines, you have to calculate what the lot distances are through proportion.
Anyway, the girl at city hall asked if we would mark her lines and what the cost would be. So, I told her a lowball price because I'm a councilman and she works on a fixed income and I KNEW I was going to run over, but you do what you can, right?
So we send the field crew out, and they come back with some corners. The found two new corners with caps along the road. I asked where the two in the back were and they said they didn't exist. WRONG answer, so at 5 p.m. I sent their lazy butts back out there (read overtime) to find the other two. The chief is an SIT and makes a calculus theorem out of nearly everything. That coupled with his RA, he moves pretty slow.
So they bring it in, we figure where other corners are to look and go back and find some.
Before it was over, we had over 2 1/2k in a survey that I charged $350 for to a lady on a fixed income.
Now, I'm ready to do some more lots cause I know where everything is. 🙂
Doing the job correctly, so you can do it again
> Very Old subdivision + fixed quote = I used to be a surveyor but couldn't make any money at it.
Why is it that surveyors loose money on the more difficult surveys which require a greater level of skill, experience, expertise and education? Could it be a contracting problem?
JBS
> So we send the field crew out, and they come back with some corners. The found two new corners with caps along the road. I asked where the two in the back were and they said they didn't exist. WRONG answer, so at 5 p.m. I sent their lazy butts back out there (read overtime) to find the other two. The chief is an SIT and makes a calculus theorem out of nearly everything. That coupled with his RA, he moves pretty slow.
>
> So they bring it in, we figure where other corners are to look and go back and find some.
>
This is why I'm solo... 😉
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you...
Yep kris!
That's how I think!
You may lose out on the first lot, but I bet you end up back there in the future.
Some I have worked for never grasp this. They have several surveys in the same area that don't jive with one another....
> I hear ya. We just took a job in a subdivision that I know somewhat here in town. It sux all to be damned. There are NO bearings, diverging lines, you have to calculate what the lot distances are through proportion.
>
> Anyway, the girl at city hall asked if we would mark her lines and what the cost would be. So, I told her a lowball price because I'm a councilman and she works on a fixed income and I KNEW I was going to run over, but you do what you can, right?
>
> So we send the field crew out, and they come back with some corners. The found two new corners with caps along the road. I asked where the two in the back were and they said they didn't exist. WRONG answer, so at 5 p.m. I sent their lazy butts back out there (read overtime) to find the other two. The chief is an SIT and makes a calculus theorem out of nearly everything. That coupled with his RA, he moves pretty slow.
>
> So they bring it in, we figure where other corners are to look and go back and find some.
>
> Before it was over, we had over 2 1/2k in a survey that I charged $350 for to a lady on a fixed income.
>
> Now, I'm ready to do some more lots cause I know where everything is. 🙂
BTW, the next step in my story is that this simple one lot survey will soon be a subdivision plat with three half-million dollar homes. That job will not start for a few months, however.
Doing the job correctly, so you can do it again
Been there and done that...and yes, the only regret was the contract. But, it sounds like HC did an exemplary job.
What JBS said...sigh..
Buisness practices probably vary somewhat between SLC and BFE MO/KS....
JBS
Could also be the socio-economics of the area and what the market will bear. What do I know, right?
Anyway, one of my favorite lines is, "You can be proud and hungry all at the same time."
I know, I've done the same in years past.
But, and it's a big But, in todays world with filing of everything (I always filed these types even though not required by law) there is no upside.
Somebody else will merely take your excellent work, silently thank you, and underbid you on the rest.
Or is that not what you have found in your area?
Discounts can't be on the tough stuff. IMHO
If you want to discount, do it on the later run of the mill stuff.
Now you ask (maybe), how do I get in there in the first place then? Sorry, can't help on that; have only figured out that eventually attorneys refer those whose decisions stand the test of time and the courtroom, and Real Estate agents and banks are not good clients.
It's a tough business.