Land Buying1 min read

Hiring a Surveyor Before Making an Offer Saved Me

Deke Sorrell

3 weeks, 3 days ago

👁 4 views💬 2 replies

Common advice says wait until you're under contract before spending money on a survey. I used to believe that too. Lost it on a piece of ground in Roane County because I waited, and the survey came back showing the creek frontage I was counting on for trail access actually belonged to the neighboring parcel. Deal fell apart, and I was already emotionally bought in. That stings different than losing money.

Now I pay for a boundary survey upfront on any serious rural tract before I even submit an offer. Yeah it costs me a few hundred bucks on deals that don't close. Worth every penny. Real estate agents hate it because it slows things down. I don't care. In hilly, wooded country especially, deeds get drawn from old iron pins nobody can find anymore and lines wander all over the place.

If you're buying land for trail riding, hunting, or any kind of access-dependent use, you need to know exactly what you're buying before you fall in love with it.

Anybody else been burned by trusting the seller's described boundaries, or do you think waiting until contract is still the smarter play?

#land buying #rural property #boundary survey #trail access #due diligence

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2 Replies

Bette Culshaw

3 weeks, 3 days ago

Hard-learned lesson, and you're right to flip that script. I'd add one wrinkle for folks in Kentucky specifically: always pull the deed descriptions alongside that survey. I've seen boundary lines confirmed correct on paper that still triggered timber and mineral rights disputes because the old metes-and-bounds language didn't match modern GPS coordinates. Creek frontage is especially tricky — riparian boundaries in Appalachia shift with flood events, and courts here have ruled both ways on whether the line moves with the water.

Opal Threnody

3 weeks, 2 days ago

I hear you, and that Roane County situation sounds genuinely painful. My pushback: on leased ground, I've found that a recorded plat review and talking directly to adjoining landowners before committing tells me 90% of what a survey would. Full boundary surveys on every prospect adds up fast when you're already capital-thin. I'd rather spend that money on soil tests and a solid lease attorney review than a survey on land I might not even get.