How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Land Surveyor?

[sako]

A guy sent me this link via email after he saw my proposal for a survey.
http://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/archite ... -surveyor/

[wingding]

Since they are being so helpfull They should also ask "How much does a 2000 sq ft home in a residential subdivision cost ? "

[mpallamary]

That is about my hourly rate....

It sure would be great if CLSA engaged in a massive PR campaign. There is so much the public does not understand.

[pls7809]

Tell him good luck and move on to the next job.

[E_Page]

That's the result of a nationwide poll and in many jurisdictions, a mortgage report is a standard part of a home purchase. If you're not familiar with the concept, in all jurisdictions that have them except perhaps one or two, a mortgage report/mortgage inspection/mortgage "survey" is something that looks like a property survey map, gives the impression that it is the result of a real survey because of the presence of a certification signed & stamped by a licensed surveyor, but is not a survey. If one were to read and understand the certification, the plain language translation for it is "this survey is not a survey and I have no liability if I show any of the boundaries incorrectly."

They are a scam invented by the title insurance industry and willingly advanced by surveyors willing to pretend to provide a professional service for fees that cover the near minimum wage pay given to the field crew and draftsman, cover the costs of travel, equipment, etc., and provide the boss with a profit of $50 a pop.

Even though the certification proclaims "this ain't no survey", most non-surveyors, even reasonably intelligent people firmly believe they are getting a real survey for their $479.

But a fact nearly as sad is that even if you weed out the garbage mortgage reports from the poll data, there are those who will purport to provide a real survey for about 1/3 of what a prudent surveyor would need to charge to do the job correctly. That's a problem that exists in all regions of the country, but most of CA would be at the expensive end of the spectrum anyway. Some regions, particularly in rural portions of the SE and Midwest tend to only support fees and wages that are at best, at the end of the range where you would find the bottom-feeders here. Factor in those regional differences and the effect of bottom-feeders, and the fact that most of the people responding to the poll were probably bargain hunters, and the average excluding mortgarbage reports would probably barely inch up past $650.

[sako]

I heard from the designer that he found couple of CHEAPER surveyors ,but they are all booked up to a month. I told the designer that I have no interest working with such clients.

[mpallamary]

When I worked back east in the 1970's we did a lot of mortgage surveys. They were a joke. We did 4 to 5 a day and Evan is right. The owners thought they were surveys. What they were was a simple plat showing that a house existed at a certain address, i.e. the fifth lot down the street and there was a fence around it. That was about it. If those are part of the analysis, they are not surveys.

[hellsangle]

Ladies 'n Gents as Evan said - these are virtually worthless surveys.

Pallamary's suggestion that CLSA do some public relations work is a good one. However, we can do this ourselves . . . and now!

Minimally, go to the site and do their Monkey Survey and tell 'em what you think. ie price are not right.

But if you "log-in" . . . we as surveyors can give them some food for thought and make real-world "comments" for J.Q. Public to digest. i.e. what does legal description say? Terrain? The mini-treatise that CLSA already has about hiring a surveyor? Maybe CLSA Administrator could copy paste that flyer to this site as a "comment"? Maybe Evan could copy paste/edit his spot-on comments? (I'd do it Evan, but I've already got a rap-sheet for plagiarizing as past editor. HA.)

Have a good week!

Phil - Sonoma

[E_Page]

A lot of the bargain hunters who go to sites like who will read my comments, your comments, and Mike's succinct but very accurate description of a mortgage report, then recall their own fairly official looking "plat" drawn on 8.5x11 or 8.5x14, recall that a surveyors seal was on it and that there were guys who came by and made some measurements. Without having absorbed any of the info provided to them by surveyors on the thread, proclaim that they had a real "survey" done and it only cost $300. They will likely imply, but possibly come right out and accuse the surveyors of being industry hacks trying to drive prices up to make huge profits at the expense of poor unsuspecting homeowners.

Don Poole, PLS of Massachusetts made some replies on that thread and was doing a pretty good job responding to some questions. Responding in those types of forums for the purpose of educating often gets one as much negative reaction as it does legitimate questions. Sometimes I'm up for the challenge and choose to endure the detractors because even a few looking for accurate and honest info might benefit, but It usually takes a fair amount of time and energy. These days, I've got a few other irons in the fire that require my time and energy. But Phil, if you want to copy & paste my comments there, you don't really need to ask for my permission, but you have it anyway.