Offering professional surveying in Eastern MA
Anderson Surveys in Hanson, MA is here to provide you with reliable and accurate survey services. For more than 42 years, We have been dedicated to protecting the public interests and property ownership.
Residential properties
By ordering a mortgage inspection plan, the banks could determine what was on the property they had foreclosed on. Residential properties in Massachusetts are governed by the principle caveat emptor. As most buyers of residential properties never have the property lines marked prior to a purchase, a mortgage inspection plan may be the only representation the buyer gets about what they have just purchased.
Today, many banks no longer require a mortgage inspection plan. As long as the bank can obtain private title insurance to cover the mortgage amount of the mortgage, the buyer will be left to fend for themselves if a title problem should arise after the purchase of a property. Most people are unaware that the bank attorney represents the lender, the real estate agent represents the seller, and neither has a duty to protect the buyer.
Certified Plot Plans
A certified plot plan is a plan that has been prepared upon the basis of an instrument survey. Often times, a certified plot plan will be prepared after a lot stake out.
It should not be confused with a boundary survey, as the research is not as extensive and the property lines reproduced are usually based upon an existing record plan. A certified plot plan can be used for proposed house additions, decks, sheds, and swimming pools.
A property does not need to have the property lines marked in order to have a certified plot plan prepared, but often, the two are performed at the same time. Most building departments have their own list of requirements for what they want to be shown on a certified plot plan.
Lot Stake Outs
A lot stake out was so named because a surveyor would mark the property corners and lines with wooden stakes. At the present time, Anderson Surveys marks the property corners with more durable semi-permanent markers such as a rebar with a plastic or aluminum cap.
Property Improvements
A lot stake out typically is performed on a property that is already shown on an existing plan or record or has a deed description that is readily reproduced. An abutter’s deed is not normally checked in the course of performing a lot stake out, as it is often assumed that there are no title problems to be resolved.
Lot stake outs are most commonly requested when preparing to erect a new structure of some type, such as a fence, house addition, shed, or some type of physical improvement to a property.
Contrary to popular belief, oftentimes the size of the property to be staked has less to do with the cost of the stake out than the degree of difficulty involved in reproducing the lot line locations. Usually the degree of difficulty can be linked to the age of the property description. A lot in a suburban subdivision that is ten years old can be much easier to stake out than a 50X100 lot in a city on a block that was last surveyed 100 years ago. The cost to stake one lot line is usually not that much less than staking the entire property.
Condominium Site and Floor Plans
In Massachusetts condominiums are governed by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 183A. Up until January 2008, all condominiums were required to have a condominium site plan prepared and recorded with the master deed at the time the condominium was created. After that date only properties that are in the Registered Land division (Land Court) are required to have a condominium site plan. We still recommend that a condominium site plan be prepared for each new condominium. A condominium site plan can prevent problems with future owners in that it provided a visual record of what are the common areas, what are their uses, the locations of individual units and provides an overall image of the property that comprises the condominium.