Looking for opinions and market advice on survey cost for rural land. I'm buying 100+ acres in Houston County and received a quote of $40/acre for a survey. Scope of work appears simple: Identify/establish four corners for the rectangle property on flat to gentle slopes. Mix of pasture and forestland. County road on one side, fence lines on the other three (one is brand new and appears to be on a survey line).

I don't need boundary lines marked. Just the four corners, document the survey (bearings, distance, etc), and send to title company for insurance and closing. 30 days to complete the work. Seems relatively simple.

The quote strikes me as very high, but I'm not an expert. What's a reasonable fee for something like this? I realize the range can vary somewhat across geography.

Following because I need something done somewhere else, but in general that seems to be reasonable for the boundary survey, finding corners, dealing with title, etc.

Is there a residence on it, and an old survey? Might ask for a T-47 in lieu of a new survey. Or of there's an old survey many times the original surveyor will "recertify" the survey for a reduced cost.

Gonna disagree. I use old surveys on my residential loans 95% of the time and no problem. But this property, you need a updated survey. And the surveyor must mark his meets and bounds. They do that now with GPS so no need to clear cut but a few feet here or there adds up quickly.

OP shop the deal. Quotes can vary widely on that property but the main issue completion date. The tighter the window the more it costs.

Cost is market rate

Find a different surveyor.

Most of them don't want to mess with real estate deals because they have everyone trying to beat them up on cost because it is so simple and nothing to it. Then end up getting stiffed on payment.

In 17 years of mortgage I've never stiffed a surveyor. Bull sh/t

Did I accuse you of stiffing on payment? Speaking from experience...

You accused my profession, my clients and the title profession of regularly cheating surveyors. I know exactly how surveys are ordered and paid for residential deals.

You chose the wrong clients. Sorry for your loss.

I've personally never priced a survey I do, by the acre. But with $40/acre, $4000 doesn't sound out of line and may be a little low. GPS is going to get a lot a surveyors in trouble when they don't actually traverse the boundary. It only takes one improvement missed to get you into a law suit.
Basically, you will get what you pay for. There's a lot of guys out there lowballing to get the work and those you can follow on the Survey Board website trying to defend their actions after a complaint is filed.

Liability plays a big part in the cost of a survey. Residential, Rural or Urban, it doesn't matter.

There's no way to know without more information on the property. If anything, I would say it's probably a little lower than I would feel comfortable with. Quoting by the acre seems a little fishy to me, though. Same with the surveyors who have a fixed price for lot surveys.

I paid $5k for 72 acres by what I consider a top notch but more expensive company.

Don't be cheap when it comes to raw land surveys and I suggest paying for the extra survey coverage on the title insurance.

Never seen one quoted by the acre.

Genuinely curious ... What's the purpose of a survey to begin with (especially if there is an old one already). Is it only needed prior to building? Or to make sure the acreage being purchased is what it claims to be?
and what's the liability of "missing an improvement" ?

The cost is reasonable, but feel free to get other bids to verify. I was working on a deal once where the title company couldn't get bids submitted because surveyors were so busy. After several attempts, they got one bid for $12000, when they expected a bid in the $3000 range.

We ended up using a surveyor from outside the title company's standard list who did it for a reasonable amount, even though he had to drive an extra hour to do it.

At first I was reading $40,000 and thinking holy sh/!... but actually $4000 for a good surveyor is actually not a bad price.

Thanks all for the feedback. Very helpful.

You're hired to survey property for partition and miss a water well that is suppose to stay with the seller, but ends up being within the boundary of the buyer.

I've seen this happen. Surveyor received big fines from the Board and had to pay for a new well for the seller. Over 20K in restitution.

Oh, and the survey was also done strictly with RTK GPS equipment. Basically not following the footsteps of the original surveyor and not surveying the partition line, by foot, to check for improvements.

Doc, are you at Symposium this weekend? I'd sure like to meet you after all these years of "knowing" you here on the boards.

MemphisAg1 said:

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Looking for opinions and market advice on survey cost for rural land. I'm buying 100+ acres in Houston County and received a quote of $40/acre for a survey. Scope of work appears simple: Identify/establish four corners for the rectangle property on flat to gentle slopes. Mix of pasture and forestland. County road on one side, fence lines on the other three (one is brand new and appears to be on a survey line).

I don't need boundary lines marked. Just the four corners, document the survey (bearings, distance, etc), and send to title company for insurance and closing. 30 days to complete the work. Seems relatively simple.

The quote strikes me as very high, but I'm not an expert. What's a reasonable fee for something like this? I realize the range can vary somewhat across geography.

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Very reasonable quote for that amount of land, but like others, the pricing per acre is a new one on me.

As for scope and what's required....with all due respect, do you let your customers tell you how "simple" the work involved in any given job will be? Do you realize that they're not just going to be looking for your four boundary monuments but also those of adjoining properties if they are granted access? You need a title survey not just a boundary survey. Don't you want to know what and where any easements that may be encumbering the property are? What and where any improvements on the land are? I'm pretty sure the bank loaning you the money for this transaction does.

I just did 5 acres in the middle 1300 ac in the middle of nowhere Moore County in a flat cow pasture with no trees. It was $1,200. Surveyor had to come from 70+ miles away. Plus we had the corners already staked so it wasn't much field work. The real work is the Research and title work if I'm not mistaken.

You are hiring a professional and if you hire a competent professional, you should expect to pay professional wages. Same with a rural appraiser, or a title company, etc. $4K-$5K for those services by the best is typical in lending. Less you are getting what you pay for.

That's close to what my parents paid last year to get our family land surveyed so we could get a small home tract deeded over to us in Houston County. Land has been in the family since the 1860's and no survey could be found, my grandfather had connections in the right offices and no survey was done when my parents got a home tract in the 1980's.

I'm visiting family this weekend. Can not afford to take time for granted anymore.