What is the difference between a survey and a legal description, and when do I need a new survey?

Question

Turnrow Capital · Accepted Answer

The legal description is words on the deed defining what you own; a survey is a licensed surveyor physically locating those words on the ground and mapping what is actually there. Get a new survey when boundaries are disputed, when the description is old metes and bounds, when you are splitting land, or when improvements sit near a line. Expect $2,000–$15,000 on ag parcels.

Survey types run from cheap to comprehensive: a boundary survey marks corners and lines; a topographic survey adds elevations; an ALTA/NSPS survey — the institutional standard — maps boundaries, improvements, easements, encroachments, and access against the title commitment, and enables extended title coverage. Ag land ALTA surveys commonly run $5,000–$15,000 and take 3–6 weeks.

The classic finds that justify the cost: fences 20 feet off the deeded line, a neighbor's shop encroaching, a deeded 160 acres that measures 152, an unrecorded ditch or road crossing the parcel, and gaps or overlaps between adjoining old descriptions. Every one of those is cheaper to discover before closing than after.

You can often skip a new survey when buying a full PLSS aliquot part (a clean quarter-quarter) with undisputed fences and a recent prior survey in the title file. You should not skip it on metes and bounds ground, riverfront, recently divided parcels, or anywhere the price per acre makes a 5% acreage error real money.