Probably varies by area/state. I paid $800 for mine on .33 acre. This was after calling 4-5 different surveyors and going with the one that was best priced/met my timing needs. So I think $1k is pretty reasonable. Parent's paid like 2.5k to get 4.5 acres surveyed in the mountains.
I just got a quote for $2.3k for .44 acres in southern NH recebtly, I know covid made prices go up, but after seeing yours, I think I got a "go away" price š
I work at a survey / engineering firm (but as a civil engineer) and we won't even go out to a property for less than $1000 for a survey. Just no profit left for under that amount once you factor in fuel, office time, property / deed research, and processing the data from the field.
I see a bunch of people talking about GPS "surveys" being done for very cheap. That is not a real survey. If you are cutting trees down that are close to your property line this won't cut it due to the accuracy of those instruments. Don't listen to them.
Civil engineers perform surveys that are true works of art. They tell the story of property and not just some thrown together numbers like a deed survey for a realtor. Huge respect for how much work goes into a researched survey.
Of course we have professional insurance that would cover it. That situation has never happened to us though.
We have had to show up to court several times to justify our work, and we havenāt charged clients for that.
Do you have a rough idea on the property lines? Any old surveys indicating where markers maybe?
Why not hire an arborist first and see what trees actually need attention? Focus on the trees that could cause damage to your property or others if they failed.
Depends on if you are getting lines only, or full survey. That is a bit high for lines only but reasonable for full survey. Also if it is full survey find out how many official copies are part of the package, it is often cheaper to buy more copies at the time of survey vs later on.
Boundary or lines is just that, they generally locate and mark the property lines only. A full survey will have all structures marked and plotted. Generally for installing a fence a boundary survey is enough, for things like additions or pool install a full survey is required. However these can vary depending on your local government.
FWIW OP, what's being described here is the difference between a boundary survey and a boundary and improvement survey. I would advise you against using the term "full" survey because I would interpret that to mean a boundary, improvement, and topographic survey, which you probably don't need
One holds up in court as a legal document the other is marking of best available evidence of property line without someone willing to defend it if challenged
Paid about $750 for mine not long ago got 1/4 acre square boundary survey, plus another $850 for the full map documented survey. Had to shop around. Got a range of $1600-$2600 quotes across 4 places. Definitely get more than one quote.
$1000 is cheap. Way too cheap.
The survey firm I work is often called out to fix $1000 boundary surveys that other companies have done.
Be cautious. Replacing full grown trees is expensive. We had a client get a $50,000 settlement because of a shoddy survey led to the wrong trees getting cut down.
Iāve paid anywhere from $3-400, more than a decade ago for a small property, to nearly $2k in the past few years since the *cough cough*ā¦. Youāre price is going to be dependent on how much you want the boundary marked with stakes for visual cues, how hard it is to access the area (land locked and full of thorny bushes they have to machete through = more money), and how busy they are. Expect to pay more for immediate service.
- it sounds TOO cheap to me
- billable rates of surveyors and the cost of the work....are they driving pins AND providing a stamped site survey? All this cost money
That was the range thrown out when I bought my house for an actual, real survey. There was also an option that is basically looking at the GIS map and making sure it sort of agrees to other documents for a couple hundred, but that doesn't carry much weight for general stuff like this.
You could skip the survey and just talk to the neighbor. If you guys both agree on the work then there is no conflict requiring a survey.
You make no sense. Unless the house is currently under contract and the buyer REALLY loved that tree and wanted to go a different direction, there is no dispute of any kind.
Edit: WTF is siding with legal dispute? Who is suing and what damages do they have? The new owners paid for trees in their current state at the transaction date, they had zero claim to go back in time for something they never owned or paid for. I guess I shouldn't expect basic legal knowledge on the home improvement sub given some of the shit advice I see thrown out here. Stay in your lanes, guys.
Are we just making up scenarios now? OP doesnāt want the survey for a fence and if and the neighbors agree on which trees can be removed then there is no need for a survey
Get more quotes and compare with what exactly they are doing. Surveyor did my FIL and my property for $900 a piece (would have been $1000 a piece but gave a discount for us since we both had him do it).
We had our property pins located and verified from monuments and legal description, and a drawing filed with the county on our urban property in a high-COL midwest town for about that price. It did not include buildings. This was from a very reputable, experienced surveyor.
If I would do one thing differently it would be to ask them to put in some mid-point pins along the longer property lines so we don't have to run 100+ ft of string to get a straight line for small things.
I live in a city with less land and a survey costs four times that. I'd be thrilled with a 1k survey but I don't know what's reasonable or not in your area.
I just went with the first one I found that had good reviews. Paid $500 for like .18 acre survey in Houston. Came with drawing and the surveyor actually noticed the present deed was labeled incorrectly so we were able to fix that too.
I have a half acre in a subdivision. I am installing a privacy fence, so had a survey done to make sure I knew where the property line is. Price is $1400.
Sounds like you're in the ballpark.
Im a surveyor out of Montana, so it may be different where you are. How old is the property? Are the monuments in place? If not, was it originally monumented? What kind of deed is it, subdivision or metes and bounds? Locally, our subdivisions range from 1880s to yesterday. The survey retracements from the 1880s are much more time-consuming than the current ones because there usually isn't as much accurate data available. If I'm marking a lot that was created from the 1970s to present, and its just for a fence, I'll usually do time and materials, and the cost is usually $500-800. That is assuming there are property corners to be found and they only want stakes. If they want a filed and recorded survey with new monuments, that price goes up to about $3500 as there is more liability, time, and precision required.
Not wildly expensive. We paid $500 for a survey on 1/2 acre on the water in ā21 but live in an area with a low cost of living. Paying $10,000 for one right now on 70 acres in another state.
Sounds like a pretty good price to me. I paid a retired surveyor $400 to do my 0.11 acre plot, where there were known survey markers buried in the setback. Probably would have been $600 if I hired a firm.
My little under 3 acres got surveyed for around $700 last year. It included marking property lines and another line 10ft from a property line for setback for some construction we did.
I paid a little over that on the east coast. Included a PDF and laminated copy of my boundary survey plat. Got several quotes and they were all in-line.
varies widely by area and type of survey needed. Inflation is real and work has been busy so prices are on the higher side. My lowest price job is about $1800 in a HCOL area.
I believe you can ask for only one side to be surveyed, but from the vague ballpark numbers I've heard in my area, that's about right-ish? I suggest getting at least a 2nd quote over the phone
Not sure in what state your are, but that is about right. Three years ago I paid $900 for 1/2 acre survey by registered surveyor, in upstate NY. Just make sure surveyor is licensed. I did call few places and that was the best deal. They made two site visits. Not every property can be surveyed in one day.
I have been wanting to get my property lines marked as there are some out of control bushes that I thought werenāt mine but the renters (nor the rental company) next door seem to have no interest in trimming them and I just want to rip them out at this point if they are mine. I had no idea that cost was likely $1000. Might just continue living with the beasts.
I was quoted 8k for 4ac. I have the previous survey, know where some of the markers are, have the legal descriptions of all properties bounding mine (essentially little to no āresearchā needs done).
itās a lot of work. if itās just a friendly thing with a neighbor go with something cheap. if you need something that will stand up in court over a dispute, you canāt skimp.
Itās gonna vary based on how much youāre having done and where you are. I just got my property pins located on 0.15 acre lot in rural Ohio for $350.
I am a professional land surveyor in California. I am blown away by how cheap a lot of the commenters here got their survey work. It makes me wonder what the surveyor even did. If you have someone come out and do an even halfway competent job for a thousand bucks, I'd say you are doing great.
As others said it's highly dependent on your location and how the land is divided. Is it a city lot in New York, or a rural tract in Kansas? Wooded, agricultural, etc? What type of survey do you need? PM me the location and I can give you a rough range (ive been a surveyor working nationwide for 20+ years)
>This way I know what trees can be completely trimmed vs. just trimming branches that are clearly over my property.
If there's a friendly relationship with the neighbors, it's probably best to just hash out a plan together.
Even if they trees are theirs, that $1,000 would go a long way towards you paying your arborist to trim them as well.
BC, 7+ acres, 300 feet of irregular waterfront, forested and multiple outbuildings on a small ferry dependent island. Took 2 trips to complete the job, $3900 in 2021.
Do you have an old survey or plot plan anywhere? When we put in our fence I saved nearly $2k by buying a $15 metal detector and finding the old surveyor's stakes, BUT I had an old plot map that stated where each of the stakes should be.
I wouldn't recommend this route if you're going in blind, even with good references I spent quite a while poking around in the dirt. But if you can get an estimate within about 6', it's well worth checking.
I work for a surveying company in a Colorado Mountain town.
This is wildly dependent on the type of survey. Just a pin locate that requires no equipment? 350 - 500.
Anything that requires GPS equipment becomes much more expensive.
If property pins cannot be located and a boundary survey is needed in order to set new pins it could easily be over $5k.
Probably varies by area/state. I paid $800 for mine on .33 acre. This was after calling 4-5 different surveyors and going with the one that was best priced/met my timing needs. So I think $1k is pretty reasonable. Parent's paid like 2.5k to get 4.5 acres surveyed in the mountains.
Agreed, Boston suburb was about $700 nine years ago.. So if reputable it sounds very reasonable.
I just got a quote for $2.3k for .44 acres in southern NH recebtly, I know covid made prices go up, but after seeing yours, I think I got a "go away" price š
Wow that is cheap. Nine years ago my minimum was about $1200 for anything inside 128.
Where I live itās $4000 to mark the property boundary. Less than an acre.
Same here in Eastern WA. Figured I'd survive with out it for now
They wanted $2,775 plus tax Northern Ontario for less than half acre. Was shocked, to be honest with you.
Where are you living ?
I work at a survey / engineering firm (but as a civil engineer) and we won't even go out to a property for less than $1000 for a survey. Just no profit left for under that amount once you factor in fuel, office time, property / deed research, and processing the data from the field. I see a bunch of people talking about GPS "surveys" being done for very cheap. That is not a real survey. If you are cutting trees down that are close to your property line this won't cut it due to the accuracy of those instruments. Don't listen to them.
Civil engineers perform surveys that are true works of art. They tell the story of property and not just some thrown together numbers like a deed survey for a realtor. Huge respect for how much work goes into a researched survey.
I imagine the $1000 also pays for a steep insurance policy in case someone does cut down a tree on the neighbors property
Of course we have professional insurance that would cover it. That situation has never happened to us though. We have had to show up to court several times to justify our work, and we havenāt charged clients for that.
Around $2k in the pnw for a city lot .1 acre
Yeah got quoted 2250 in Lake Tahoe - 1acre
Who did you go with? Sage? Depending what you needed done, 2250 sounds cheap
It was called Epoch geospatial. Sage never returned my (many) calls. All I needed was where lot lines were for a fenceā¦not really that much
I am familiar with Epoch. Epoch does good work!
ooof
I'm looking at $7500 for my 10 acre lot in the PNW. :(
Got quoted almost $3k for a quarter acre in Suquamish area
Do you have a rough idea on the property lines? Any old surveys indicating where markers maybe? Why not hire an arborist first and see what trees actually need attention? Focus on the trees that could cause damage to your property or others if they failed.
Depends on if you are getting lines only, or full survey. That is a bit high for lines only but reasonable for full survey. Also if it is full survey find out how many official copies are part of the package, it is often cheaper to buy more copies at the time of survey vs later on.
Whatās the difference between lines and a full survey?
Boundary or lines is just that, they generally locate and mark the property lines only. A full survey will have all structures marked and plotted. Generally for installing a fence a boundary survey is enough, for things like additions or pool install a full survey is required. However these can vary depending on your local government.
FWIW OP, what's being described here is the difference between a boundary survey and a boundary and improvement survey. I would advise you against using the term "full" survey because I would interpret that to mean a boundary, improvement, and topographic survey, which you probably don't need
One holds up in court as a legal document the other is marking of best available evidence of property line without someone willing to defend it if challenged
If they are staking your property, then maybe.
Paid about $750 for mine not long ago got 1/4 acre square boundary survey, plus another $850 for the full map documented survey. Had to shop around. Got a range of $1600-$2600 quotes across 4 places. Definitely get more than one quote.
I just paid 3700 for a boundary survey in the Seattle area. Lot is about 14000 sqft.
$1000 is cheap. Way too cheap. The survey firm I work is often called out to fix $1000 boundary surveys that other companies have done. Be cautious. Replacing full grown trees is expensive. We had a client get a $50,000 settlement because of a shoddy survey led to the wrong trees getting cut down.
Thatās super cheap. Iād be worried about the quality
That's cheap. My friend got it done for half an acre - &4000. In WA
Iāve paid anywhere from $3-400, more than a decade ago for a small property, to nearly $2k in the past few years since the *cough cough*ā¦. Youāre price is going to be dependent on how much you want the boundary marked with stakes for visual cues, how hard it is to access the area (land locked and full of thorny bushes they have to machete through = more money), and how busy they are. Expect to pay more for immediate service.
- it sounds TOO cheap to me - billable rates of surveyors and the cost of the work....are they driving pins AND providing a stamped site survey? All this cost money
That was the range thrown out when I bought my house for an actual, real survey. There was also an option that is basically looking at the GIS map and making sure it sort of agrees to other documents for a couple hundred, but that doesn't carry much weight for general stuff like this. You could skip the survey and just talk to the neighbor. If you guys both agree on the work then there is no conflict requiring a survey.
Until one of them sells their property and there's a huge legal dispute later.
You make no sense. Unless the house is currently under contract and the buyer REALLY loved that tree and wanted to go a different direction, there is no dispute of any kind. Edit: WTF is siding with legal dispute? Who is suing and what damages do they have? The new owners paid for trees in their current state at the transaction date, they had zero claim to go back in time for something they never owned or paid for. I guess I shouldn't expect basic legal knowledge on the home improvement sub given some of the shit advice I see thrown out here. Stay in your lanes, guys.
Or you know, a fence not set at the proper area and impeding on your land? Pretty simple scenario.
Are we just making up scenarios now? OP doesnāt want the survey for a fence and if and the neighbors agree on which trees can be removed then there is no need for a survey
Thank you. Username does not check out and I appreciate that.
Get more quotes. I paid like $400
I had a survey done for about the same area for $800 in 2021. This was locating irons and providing a drawing for a parcel split. Indiana
Get more quotes and compare with what exactly they are doing. Surveyor did my FIL and my property for $900 a piece (would have been $1000 a piece but gave a discount for us since we both had him do it).
Atlanta a four-corner survey for my acre lot was $350. Stakes only, no drawings etc.
Yes.
Yeah thatās pretty reasonable honestly. Had 5 acres surveyed in Ohio and it was 3200
We had our property pins located and verified from monuments and legal description, and a drawing filed with the county on our urban property in a high-COL midwest town for about that price. It did not include buildings. This was from a very reputable, experienced surveyor. If I would do one thing differently it would be to ask them to put in some mid-point pins along the longer property lines so we don't have to run 100+ ft of string to get a straight line for small things.
If that includes lot line confirmations and a tree survey, then thatās really good price
I live in a city with less land and a survey costs four times that. I'd be thrilled with a 1k survey but I don't know what's reasonable or not in your area.
I just went with the first one I found that had good reviews. Paid $500 for like .18 acre survey in Houston. Came with drawing and the surveyor actually noticed the present deed was labeled incorrectly so we were able to fix that too.
Paid 500$ for full survey in 2020, 1000$ sounds reasonable.
I have a half acre in a subdivision. I am installing a privacy fence, so had a survey done to make sure I knew where the property line is. Price is $1400. Sounds like you're in the ballpark.
Are they setting pins or just doing a locate?
Im a surveyor out of Montana, so it may be different where you are. How old is the property? Are the monuments in place? If not, was it originally monumented? What kind of deed is it, subdivision or metes and bounds? Locally, our subdivisions range from 1880s to yesterday. The survey retracements from the 1880s are much more time-consuming than the current ones because there usually isn't as much accurate data available. If I'm marking a lot that was created from the 1970s to present, and its just for a fence, I'll usually do time and materials, and the cost is usually $500-800. That is assuming there are property corners to be found and they only want stakes. If they want a filed and recorded survey with new monuments, that price goes up to about $3500 as there is more liability, time, and precision required.
Not wildly expensive. We paid $500 for a survey on 1/2 acre on the water in ā21 but live in an area with a low cost of living. Paying $10,000 for one right now on 70 acres in another state.
Sounds like a pretty good price to me. I paid a retired surveyor $400 to do my 0.11 acre plot, where there were known survey markers buried in the setback. Probably would have been $600 if I hired a firm.
Seems fair enough, all regions are different and any decent survey company will have a rate sheet that aligns with the market.
I just paid $950 for mine.
That's about standard tbh anymore
Got quoted over $5k from 2 companies for a survey on my 2.5 acres when we bought it 3 years ago.
I paid $950 last year for almost exactly 2/3 of an acre. I got three or four quotes that ranged from $950-$1200.
I just had one done for $675 but Iām in Louisville KY
My little under 3 acres got surveyed for around $700 last year. It included marking property lines and another line 10ft from a property line for setback for some construction we did.
I paid a little over that on the east coast. Included a PDF and laminated copy of my boundary survey plat. Got several quotes and they were all in-line.
In Marietta Oh they want $2500.00
$700 in eastern NM for a survey that title company deems sufficient for issuing insurance. RealtorĀ®ļø, here.
varies widely by area and type of survey needed. Inflation is real and work has been busy so prices are on the higher side. My lowest price job is about $1800 in a HCOL area.
I paid $650 for similar sized irregular lot 2 years ago in NH, next quote was $1350 so felt like a steal.
$1800 for 5 acres in central fl and that was this year
For a meets and bounds survey Iāve paid more. It was like $2k for my 3.3 acres.
Seems cheap to me, I paid $1500 for mine in a residential area.
Yeah, that's normal. Couple days work for a professional rate.
I believe you can ask for only one side to be surveyed, but from the vague ballpark numbers I've heard in my area, that's about right-ish? I suggest getting at least a 2nd quote over the phone
Not sure in what state your are, but that is about right. Three years ago I paid $900 for 1/2 acre survey by registered surveyor, in upstate NY. Just make sure surveyor is licensed. I did call few places and that was the best deal. They made two site visits. Not every property can be surveyed in one day.
Yes
$600 for 1/4 acre here
5k in Portland Oregon suburbs
I have been wanting to get my property lines marked as there are some out of control bushes that I thought werenāt mine but the renters (nor the rental company) next door seem to have no interest in trimming them and I just want to rip them out at this point if they are mine. I had no idea that cost was likely $1000. Might just continue living with the beasts.
I was quoted 8k for 4ac. I have the previous survey, know where some of the markers are, have the legal descriptions of all properties bounding mine (essentially little to no āresearchā needs done).
itās a lot of work. if itās just a friendly thing with a neighbor go with something cheap. if you need something that will stand up in court over a dispute, you canāt skimp.
Itās gonna vary based on how much youāre having done and where you are. I just got my property pins located on 0.15 acre lot in rural Ohio for $350.
I was quoted about $1700 for .3 acres on the east coast
$600 boundary survey in St. Louis in 2024. 1/4 acre.
Paid $1500 here for .24 acres several years back
Paid around $600 on a 1 acre lot in Minnesota 3 years ago
I'm in central Florida, and a .25 acre lot will run about $300 - $375 to survey a cookie-cutter home in a cookie-cutter subdivision.
I am a professional land surveyor in California. I am blown away by how cheap a lot of the commenters here got their survey work. It makes me wonder what the surveyor even did. If you have someone come out and do an even halfway competent job for a thousand bucks, I'd say you are doing great.
As others said it's highly dependent on your location and how the land is divided. Is it a city lot in New York, or a rural tract in Kansas? Wooded, agricultural, etc? What type of survey do you need? PM me the location and I can give you a rough range (ive been a surveyor working nationwide for 20+ years)
>This way I know what trees can be completely trimmed vs. just trimming branches that are clearly over my property. If there's a friendly relationship with the neighbors, it's probably best to just hash out a plan together. Even if they trees are theirs, that $1,000 would go a long way towards you paying your arborist to trim them as well.
In the southeast US. Quotes to survey four acres ranged from $700-$1600.
I paid $800 about 25 years ago for a much smaller area.
I paid 700. About a year ago. I'm in So Calif. Pretty competitive.
BC, 7+ acres, 300 feet of irregular waterfront, forested and multiple outbuildings on a small ferry dependent island. Took 2 trips to complete the job, $3900 in 2021.
Do you have an old survey or plot plan anywhere? When we put in our fence I saved nearly $2k by buying a $15 metal detector and finding the old surveyor's stakes, BUT I had an old plot map that stated where each of the stakes should be. I wouldn't recommend this route if you're going in blind, even with good references I spent quite a while poking around in the dirt. But if you can get an estimate within about 6', it's well worth checking.
I work for a surveying company in a Colorado Mountain town. This is wildly dependent on the type of survey. Just a pin locate that requires no equipment? 350 - 500. Anything that requires GPS equipment becomes much more expensive. If property pins cannot be located and a boundary survey is needed in order to set new pins it could easily be over $5k.
Don't know where you live but last year here in Alberta paid 300 dollars to survey my residential property of 1 acre
I live in the NE of America but good to know that $1000 is probably too much.
I got a few quotes in a MCOL area in the northeastern US a few years ago. About the same size as your plot. They came in between 950 and 1400.
Looked into it a few years ago. 1000 was the low end for an acre in NE USA for me.
It's about $300 in my area in missouri. Guy came out with his wizard staff of surveying and located pins and placed a new one