I made this exact mistake on a 47-acre parcel outside of Wartburg. Realtor had a surveyor she always used, said it'd be faster and cheaper to just go with him. I figured sure, saves me some running around. Survey came back clean. Closed the deal.
Six months later I'm clearing a trail line toward the back corner and my neighbor rolls up hot, saying my fence is eight feet into his pasture. Turns out that surveyor had a longstanding relationship with the seller's family going back twenty-plus years. Not illegal, just real cozy.
Hired an independent surveyor from two counties over. Her findings were different enough that I ended up in a boundary dispute that cost me more than the original survey savings three times over.
Your realtor is not your enemy but their convenience is not your interest. Pick your own surveyor. Pay a little more. Drive a little farther to find someone with zero ties to the seller or listing agent. That independence is worth every penny.
Anybody else run into surveyor conflicts of interest, or am I the only one who learned this the hard way?