I've been asked to give a short presentation to a realtor's office. The main purpose of the speech is to tell about our company, but I'd also like to expand the speech to talk about the importance of surveying. Anyone got any pointers?
Please note that not every real estate agent is a Realtor.
Tommy,
Go over Winstead v. First Tenn. Bank NA, Memphis, 709 SW 2d 627 with them.
Ask them to explain to you:
Vendor and Purchaser å¤ 68, at 945-6:
[W]here the means of information are at hand and equally accessible to both parties so that, with ordinary prudence or diligence, they might rely on their own judgment, generally they must be presumed to have done so, or, if they have not informed themselves, they must abide the consequences of their own inattention and carelessness. Unless the representations are such as are calculated to lull the suspicions of a careful man into a complete reliance thereon, it is commonly held, in the absence of special circumstances, that, where the means of knowledge are readily available, and the vendor or purchaser, as the case may be, has the opportunity by investigation or inspection to discover the truth with respect to matters concealed or misrepresented, without prevention or hindrance by the other party, of which opportunity he is or should be aware, and where he nevertheless fails to exercise that opportunity and to discover the truth, he cannot thereafter assail the validity of the contract for fraud, misrepresentation or concealment with respect to matters which should have been ascertained, particularly where the sources of information are furnished and attention directed to them, as, for example, where the source of accurate information is indicated or referred to in the contract.
They will tell YOU why they need a survey!
DDSM:beer:
astrodanco, post: 360955, member: 7558 wrote: Please note that not every real estate agent is a Realtor.
I suspect that they probably already know that.
Indeed. I didn't mean to tell them that. 🙂
I was just being pedantic. It's a bad habit.
Don't rely on GIS maps. Last week two clients came in because of what a realtor said after viewing GIS maps on their property, they view it as a survey.
You can touch on boundary surveys, locating easements and flood certificates as services we provide.
This is provided by the Mississippi Society of surveyors and may be helpful.
astrodanco, post: 360960, member: 7558 wrote: Indeed. I didn't mean to tell them that. 🙂
I was just being pedantic. It's a bad habit.
I knew what you meant....just ribbing you....
We did this once from one of our Home builder and Land Developer client's staff. We started with the original land grant, broke the tract down over the years going over Senior Junior rights each time, till we got to the tract they brought. Went over the platting process, then we took it down to the first house they sold in that neighborhood. It did open some of their eyes seeing how something that happened over 100 years could effect a just sold Lot.
Many years ago I had a presentation on approved for real estate license continuing education. Made the presentation twice at local board of real estate meetings. Both times I ask that they invite an attorney of their choice to attend. Before the meetings I asked the attorney to review the Ohio surveying laws and rules.
In both cases the presentation started several of the senior agents/brokers stood and encouraged members of their firm to leave. I said "One question before you leave. Have any of you ever shown a potential buyer the property line locations? Show of hands please." A number of them raised their hands. "Those of you with your hands raised. Did you have a professional survey performed first?" All the hands dropped. "You have all admitted in a public meeting to practicing Professional Land Surveying in violation of the Ohio laws. Mr Attorney would you care to elaborate?" Within two sentences the attorney had all the real estate agents sitting down.
I then did a short summary (less than 3 minutes) of the education and experience requirements to sit for the Surveying Internship and Professional license exams. Followed by a short summary (less than 3 minutes) of the content of the national and state specific exams. In less than ten minutes the attorney and I had generated enough questions from the audience for another 30 to 40 minutes of questions.
The agents could not believe the length of time required to be licensed. Nor could they believe that surveyors study both statute and case law, as well as advanced math, equipment calibration/adjustment and history of original surveys and equipment. The fact that monuments control over written documents nearly caused an argument.
[sarcasm]Spike the punch and have them repeat "Yes, you will need a survey and I will gladly pay for one"[/sarcasm]
I did something similar to this about 20 years ago during which a topic came up that forced them to schedule a second meeting to expand on the discovery that not a single one of them could adequately describe a "survey monument." The vast majority thought it was "the wood stick with the ribbon." I would up taking a 5-gallon bucket to the second meeting, filled with all the various items we seem to use as monuments. I took along photos of things such as marked stones, scribed posts, car axles, etc.
Tommy Young, post: 360950, member: 703 wrote: I've been asked to give a short presentation to a realtor's office. The main purpose of the speech is to tell about our company, but I'd also like to expand the speech to talk about the importance of surveying. Anyone got any pointers?
Try to impress on them the value of knowing where the property corners @ the time of sale. When the property being transferred is a good time to find or set the corners, and fix any issues if there are any. If there are boundary issues that come up after the sale, the new buyer will be very upset. They may claim that there were no issues "that they knew of", but I would hope that a professional real estate broker would know exactly what he/she is selling.
If there are no problems due to boundary a boundary survey plat should give them and the buyers piece of mind that they know what they are buying. If there are boundary problems, the title commitment always excludes any additional facts that might be brought up by a survey.
A fly-by-night realor real estate agent will make a sale as quick as s/he can and get out of there. A good reputable agent will encourage that all possible issues due to possible boundary problems are resolved so that the buyer and future buyers can have faith that their best interests are being looked after.
Ha! Tell them that realtors that have their dope in shape will make sure a survey is done.
I have done something similar and try to express that a survey provided by the seller is an investment in the potential sale of the property. The fee for the survey will be recovered by attracting more buyers, identify title issues while there is time to fix them, and foster good will with the neighbors who benefit by knowing where the corners are. Simply, a survey is more likely will get them to closing faster and make them more money. You are going to get those who disagree but you may also get through to one or two.
I don't offer opinions on the value of a parcel, I would hope that they don't offer opinions on the location of it.
When I've done that, I try to impress the point that the "SURVEY" is the work done in the field, not the paper map. It helps when you are trying to explain why using a 10 year old photocopy of a map just doesn't cut it. And why I won't send out copies of maps to random callers.
good luck!
Dan B. Robison, post: 360956, member: 34 wrote: Tommy,
Go over Winstead v. First Tenn. Bank NA, Memphis, 709 SW 2d 627 with them.Ask them to explain to you:
Vendor and Purchaser å¤ 68, at 945-6:
[W]here the means of information are at hand and equally accessible to both parties so that, with ordinary prudence or diligence, they might rely on their own judgment, ...They will tell YOU why they need a survey!
DDSM
I gave a quick read of the citation. Curious: Do you (collective professional "you") make a professional statement on the appropriate uses for lands that are subjects of your surveys?
I do my research (and generally review restrictive covenants); however, I don't always know what a particular client wants to do with a piece of land, much less make any definitive statement on acceptability for any specific purpose. I will note zoning in accordance with a current, published map.
FYI: I am licensed as a real estate salesperson.
But, far more of my experience with real estate transactions comes from the numerous firms for which I have provided survey services through the decades and my personal experience with buying and selling my own land. As a standard rule of thumb, it would be ideal to have a property listed that has no current mortgage against it, the buyer will not require a mortgage and there are no potential adverse elements to arise during the transaction. Adverse elements range from lead-based paint to survey issues to neighbor problems to contrary lenders to community policies to you name it. Anything that gets in the way of a fast and easy closing is to be avoided. For every case where a survey helped simplify a closing, the real estate agent will be able to list two dozen where it has held things up or completely wrecked the closing ever happening.
In a recent local case the real estate agent all but hung up on me when I began to explain that there was a title issue whether or not a survey was made. He did the equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears and going LA LA LA LA LA LA LA. Ignorance is bliss. If it can be proven that the agent knew about a problem, he can be sued for not revealing that problem to everyone and he can also lose his license. Therefore, they DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING that might be potentially negative.
Tell them you show what is there and do not falsify surveys to please prospective buyers!
Try to drive home one point:
The title to a piece of property is only as valuable as the survey.
Thanks. Good stuff here.
Tommy Young, post: 361126, member: 703 wrote: Thanks. Good stuff here.
Remind them A potential Land Owner will hang on every word a realtor says as gospel. So it's important to make sure the gospel they are preaching is correct!
Take them to church and preach on, you got some good stuff here. Stories are better than a busy power-point every-time.
Leaving them with a quick cheat sheet or reference papers on surveying showing some terminology, section breakdown, etc with your contact may be extremely beneficial as well.
