Okay, a fellow called this morning who wasn't riding a Harley. At least, I didn't hear all of the engine clatter in the background that would lead me to think he was. He had a cemetery tract that he wanted to have surveyed so that his family could build a fence around it. Per him: the tract subject to cemetery use was described in some late 19th century instrument of record. The land around the cemetery tract had since been sold off to other parties at different times, but the cemetery was still in use although they'd lost track of where all the burials actually were.
Q: "So, how much would you charge to stake the lines of the 5 acres so we can build a fence around it?"
A: "Well, the first thing that needs to be done is I have to research the conveyances and other instruments in the public records that created the boundaries of the tract that you're going to fence."
Q: "Why's that? We have a map from the Central Appraisal District."
A: (Warning bells ringing) "Well, that map is basically worthless if we are trying to figure out where you can build a fence so that nobody will be able to make you move the fence later because it's in the wrong place. Nineteenth-century cemetery tracts are typically time-consuming to research and I base my fees on the time it takes. I'd expect that it will cost several thousand dollars just to do the research necessary to make a survey from."
Q: "We haven't budgeted that much."
A: "Well, unfortunately I guess I won't be able to help you."
I gonna steal
"Well, unfortunately I guess I won't be able to help you." I will add "Good luck with your project" to it.....