Seems like a really nice guy, purchased a one acre corner lot in a nice area, and now wants it surveyed. Problem is, while there are old platted subdivisions a block away on all sides the immediate area is metes and bounds from a section breakdown, with curved lines on the streets, and I haven't found how the streets are established. No record of surveys on file. The surveyors who did the plats are long gone. I'm sure he was expecting in the $300 range and I could hear the gasp when he read the e-mail saying around $2,500. I gave him the name of a good surveyor with old records who may have something and more likely say $3,000.?ÿ
Get it surveyed before you buy!
Bruce, I'm guilty of this too. But, we are guilty of seeing ourselves as our clients look. Clients are looking for a "good deal". And, 2500 IS A GOOD DEAL.?ÿ
If you are in the good deal business, your:
Income is going to suffer.
Quality is going to suffer.
Social life is going to suffer.
But, enough about me. How are you doing?
Thank you,
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$3000 for a difficult survey...sounds like a screaming deal.
"Difficult Survey" sounds like a harbinger to legal action or injunction.?ÿ $4500.00?ÿ do I hear 5???ÿ
I'd probably need $3k to do the simplest of lot jobs in Portland.?ÿ
that would hardly cover the therapy and recovery from the blackberries.......brutal!
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Seriously. The thickness of the vegetation can be a problem, but when I speak of the "simplest of lot jobs" I'm thinking of, among other things, an open site. It's the map preparation, and the degree to which one must hammer out all the possible issues due to the high dollar value of the properties, which runs up the cost.
We need to start charging what the survey is worth, not what it costs. Try to separate your costs/liability from what the client can or cannot afford. If you do some pro bono work, great, apply it when you want to. But for the free market, we are businessmen & women & licensed professionals. We should charge accordingly, as do attorneys & civil engineers.?ÿ
While I empathize with a landowner getting sticker shock, surveyors should charge not just what the survey costs now, but also for the future liability of that survey. Don't defend your price; just state it & describe in minute detail the scope. 75% of my new clients instantly get it. The other 25%, I happily supply the names of other local surveyors I trust & suggest they shop around. When you do get a new client, keep your promises.