My thoughts always! Better to know up front then 20 years latter when selling.
ILuvRealtors said "Like any profession, in real estate you have very professional and not so good to terrible and shifty. I can say the very same about the surveying profession and most other professions for that matter."
My reality has been quite different than ILuvRealtors's. The number of bad surveyors I've met, having worked in NH, ME, and NC, is roughly the same as the number of honest real estate agents I've met, three.
Murphy,
I'm sorry to hear of your reality. Pat May is definitely one of the good ones, although it is likely due to her husband being a surveyor. Out here on the Left Coast, my experience has not been as dour as yours.
Warren Smith, post: 339304, member: 9900 wrote: Murphy,
I'm sorry to hear of your reality. Pat May is definitely one of the good ones, although it is likely due to her husband being a surveyor. Out here on the Left Coast, my experience has not been as dour as yours.
So would you, in general, agree with ILuvRealtors that the ratios of good to bad land surveyors mirrors that of real estate agents on the West Coast?
Somehow this reminds me of comparing good General Contractors to bad construction layout surveyors - not quite apples to oranges.
Real Estate Agents are sales people for the most part. They sell for their commission. No sale, not money. They simply have a different motive and need than Surveyors. It's not about good or bad per se. A Surveyor is a professional finder of fact. Your findings should not be based on whose "side" your on, or who hired you.
Holy Cow, post: 339270, member: 50 wrote: Well, hello again, Pat May.
Digger, You sure? if so, PM how's Robbie?
BH
FL/GA PLS., post: 339329, member: 379 wrote: Digger, You sure? if so, PM how's Robbie?
BH
Hi Bill, he's doing great! Business has been very good, the developers and builders are alive again and thanks to a referral from a surveyor in Tampa, we picked a good utilities client! Hope you are doing well! Are you staying retired and out of trouble? 🙂
Murphy, post: 339294, member: 9787 wrote: ILuvRealtors said "Like any profession, in real estate you have very professional and not so good to terrible and shifty. I can say the very same about the surveying profession and most other professions for that matter."
My reality has been quite different than ILuvRealtors's. The number of bad surveyors I've met, having worked in NH, ME, and NC, is roughly the same as the number of honest real estate agents I've met, three.
Murphy, love your morel avie!! We used to hunt them in the spring in So. IL and they were so good fried in batter! Yummmmmm! Sorry you've not run into any good agents, they are out there.
ILuvRealtors, post: 339343, member: 8778 wrote: Are you staying retired and out of trouble? 🙂
"Retired?" No, we are too busy for me to retire.
"out of trouble?" As you will soon find out around this site the phrase "it depends" is a catch all term.;-)
Tell RC I said hey!
I whole heartedly agree. For real estate transactions, payment is on delivery...period. Getting paid at/if closing is just a horrible business practice and I consider it borderline unprofessional.
I guess it depends if you are the buyer or seller
spledeus, post: 339284, member: 3579 wrote: If the 88 acres becomes 18 after the survey it most certainly will not add value.
I guess it depends if you are the buyer or seller
Once had a client who was talked out of getting a survey by a realtor (his) insisting that it was the correct lot with a buildable pad. He hired me after the purchase only to discover that half the pad was on the neighboring lot.
Coincidently, a week later I was asked to survey another lot (after purchase) wherein the realtor showed my client a lot with an outstanding view, only to find the lot that he actually purchased (next to the one shown) was in a hole with slopes on all sides.
Frank Romano, post: 339481, member: 10584 wrote: Once had a client who was talked out of getting a survey by a realtor (his) insisting that it was the correct lot with a buildable pad. He hired me after the purchase only to discover that half the pad was on the neighboring lot.
Coincidently, a week later I was asked to survey another lot (after purchase) wherein the realtor showed my client a lot with an outstanding view, only to find the lot that he actually purchased (next to the one shown) was in a hole with slopes on all sides.
That is an actionable mess. The buyer has nearly a slam dunk case of misrepresentation (Fraud ) against the realtor. Not to mention the civil damages.
ILuvRealtors, post: 339344, member: 8778 wrote: Murphy, love your morel avie!! We used to hunt them in the spring in So. IL and they were so good fried in batter! Yummmmmm! Sorry you've not run into any good agents, they are out there.
No, I'm sorry. I know better than to paint with a broad stroke.
Met the client today. They talked to real agent again and had changed their mind about the survey again. The agent said it was a waste of money and there would be no way to recoup the costs.
I asked the client where her property lines were. She didn't know. I then asked her if the real estate agent knew where they were. She said she didn't think so. I then asked her how is the agent going to show the property to potential buyers if nobody knows where the lines are. She decided to get it surveyed.
This job is not one that I really want to do but it is one that needs done. The deed is terrible and has a closing error of over 3300' because so many calls are missing from the description. Plus it's one of those 50 corner jobs that I always end up losing money on. But I guess I'm going to survey it. I got a retainer so it's a go.
I have found that the bottom line is who is paying for what.
Only the buyer is interested in knowing, without a doubt, where their boundaries are.
It also matters if the buyer is able to afford it out of pocket or if hopefully, the mortgage company will allow the buyer to finance the survey amount.
All these money people make sure their money is approved for them.
We surveyors are not in their equation and only a few real estate people will actually make a budget for their client that includes the cost of a survey.
0.02
A property with a survey should be worth more than that property without, especially if it is complicated and has no apparent boundries.
I've found it ironic that a topo that I've been working on lately is at a real estate office.
