Ludlow Engineering and Land Survey

Land Title Survey

As land surveyors we work with land title companies to offer a quality ALTA Land Title Survey, which gives boundary, occupation, access, utility and other land features which describe the subject property.  Often people ask the question, “What is the difference between an ALTA survey and a boundary survey?”  The easy and simple answer is this:  An ALTA survey is much more complex and adds land features which a normal boundary survey does not.  An ALTA includes a boundary survey within it, but is much more involved.

Below is more information regarding ALTA Land Title Surveys.

Title Insurance and ALTA Land Title Surveys

When you are buying real estate, title insurance is an insurance policy purchased from the title company. The company researches the history of the title, ensuring that the real estate in question is legally clear to sell. The title insurance means that the title company is willing to back their research and correct any mistakes if it is later found that the land should not have changed hands in the first place.

Title insurance may be required to obtain a mortgage, because it protects the lender in case of a title issue. This is lender’s title insurance; you’ll also want an owner’s policy, which provides you protection as the buyer. Be sure that you know exactly what title insurance covers and what it does not cover. It does not cover liens that do not show on public records. It does not cover easements or other disclosed title issues, or some other situations. Despite this, without this insurance you are assuming quite a bit more risk when purchasing a home or other piece of real estate.

When would title insurance cover you? For one example, you purchase a newly constructed home that is part of a subdivision. The title is clean, and the purchase goes through smoothly. Down the line, let’s say the sub-contractor never got paid for his work on your home, or the builder never paid off his mortgage. The sub-contractor or lender could conceivably place a lien on your property, and you would be responsible for these costs. Or, you purchase a home that is being sold because the previous homeowner passed away. Years down the line, a long-lost child of the homeowner could knock on your door and claim to have inherited your house from the previous owner. There are all sorts of situations like these that you simply can’t foresee when buying real estate. Title insurance would cover these issues; in many cases they will negotiate with these claimants so that you can keep your property.

Title insurance is only available after a land survey is conducted on the land in question. ALTA and ACSM land surveys cover not only the boundaries of the property, but also additional information that may go against the purchaser’s interests, such as evidences of possession. The land surveyor you choose for an ALTA land survey has your best interest in mind as they search to discover any information that would show purchasing the land is not in your best interests.

The ALTA and ACSM land surveys are conducted within a strict set of land surveying standards developed to promote uniformity within surveying. These surveys show buildings and other improvements, as well as easements, rights-of-way, and other claims to the land. They can be performed on both commercial and residential lands. This type of land survey goes above and beyond marking the boundaries on the land itself. It also includes records research to ensure that the title is clear. This can help catch problems even before the land changes hands and title insurance is needed.

We at Point to Point Land Surveyors pride ourselves on accuracy, customer service and quality work delivered on time, guaranteed. Residential land surveys are a specialty.

Several Aspects of SurveyingSurveying is the process of taking measurements of feature on and occasionally above and below the earth’s surface to determine their relative positions. It is a science of accurately determining the terrestrial position of points and the distances and angles between them. The practice may be more precisely described as land surveying to distinguish it from other forms of surveying like building surveying or quantity surveying.

The process of land and site survey, survey restricted typically to smaller areas of lands in comparison to land surveying, is important for purposes like:

Mapping, to establish land maps from knowledge of geographical features of the land,

Ownership issues, to establish boundaries and establish ownership over land masses,

Resolving disputes and encroachment issues over land,

New construction like buildings, marking off building areas,

Assess the archaeological sites in a landscape,

Mapping features of the bed of a water body,

Determining the soil types and properties of the soil cover,

Governmental purposes

Of the divisions within land surveys, engineering surveying and topographic surveying (representation of land features) are typically relevant to site survey while geodetic surveying (accounting for the Earth’s curvature) is relevant to survey of huge chunks of land masses.

The several methods involved in land surveys are described below:

1.For determining distances: Measuring of the areas with iron chains, steel and invar tapes taking into consideration horizontal and slope areas.

2.For determining angles: Use of compasses bearing magnets, scribed discs, telescopes with reticles.

3.For measuring heights: Use of altimeter or barometer using air pressure as indication of height

4.Global Positioning System (GPS): Advent of the technology has given rise to estimation of elevation derived with sophisticated satellite receivers.

5.Triangulation: With the method, which has outdated GPS, distances, elevations and directions between objects at great distance from one another can be determined with reasonable accuracy.

The set of tools or instruments needed for land surveys have not changed much over the years. Only they has evolved to provide greater accuracy. Apart from the tapes, chains and compasses, some of the equipments that are used in the survey of lands are: theodolite, tripod, electronic distance measurement device (EDM), set up for satellite positioning system for working of GPS, total robotic stations (in conjunction with theodolite), etc.

The land surveyors, who are typically engineering consultants, use elements of geometry, engineering, trigonometry, mathematics, physics and law in their work of surveys. Engineering, especially civil engineering, depends heavily on surveyors. The consultants establish the boundaries of legal descriptions whenever roads, railways, bridges, reservoirs, sustaining wall, buildings are to be built. They also provide advice and data for geographical information systems (GIS) which are computer databases that contain data on land features and boundaries marked in the land.

Though it may seem to be the work of a meticulous engineer who puts together the two and two to make a four, the work in land surveys involve a great amount of art. Some land masses may have problem like improper boundaries and miscalculations, while some may have been created from multiple divisions. The art in the matter lies in the fact that the surveyor has to put together the bits and pieces in solving a puzzle that remains hidden to naked eyes.

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