You’d think brand-new construction would mean fewer problems, right? 🏡📐
Not always.
In this video, Shelly from Cardinal Surveying & Mapping shares a real story about friends who built a new home without a REALTOR® and without a final boundary survey. They ended up dealing with fence issues, missing sod, and costly corrections after a neighbor moved in.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this video:
✔ The difference between a plot plan and a final boundary survey
✔ Why builders’ plans don’t always match what gets built
✔ How missing a survey can lead to fence disputes and lost yard space
✔ Why new construction homeowners still need a survey after the build
A plot plan shows where a house is intended to go.
A boundary survey shows where it actually is.
Before installing fences, landscaping, or assuming everything was done correctly make sure you know exactly what you own.
📞 Have questions about your property or new construction?
Call Cardinal Surveying & Mapping at 636-922-1001
📧 Email inbox@cardinalsurveying.com
(Judy and Jasmine are happy to help!)
Make it known what you own.
Video Transcript:
Hi, I’m Shelly, and this is well, with Cardinal serving. I want to talk to you guys today about, some friends of ours who recently moved into some new construction. And even though we’re surveyors, even though they know clearly what we do. Apparently they ran into a situation where they had some questions that we thought you guys could potentially learn from.
So our friends bought brand new construction. Yeah. So they built a house and, brand new lot with the builder. They didn’t get a realtor to represent them in the deal, which, first of all, I would have gotten a realtor to represent me. Because you want somebody else who’s non-biased to be a part of this, right? To help balance what the builders telling you.
Making sure that the checks and balances are in place for sure. Yeah. No, that seemed smart to me. But they didn’t get the realtor, so the realtor didn’t recommend a survey. And, then we start getting a text. The neighbor moves in and the neighbor is going to put in a fence. And for whatever reason, he thinks that our friend’s fence is off a little bit.
So then we start getting texts and phone calls with questions, and we asked him if he got a survey, to which he goes, I don’t know. I need to look through my closing documents and see. So he got through his closing documents and called me the next day to say, well, I’ve got a plot plan. And I said, that’s great.
That’s where they intend to build the house, not where they build the house. So you need a final boundary survey after the construction’s done. So from there we go and we do a survey, and we find that the fence is close to the property line, but not on the property line. And not all the yard was started because the side guys didn’t know where the yard was when they were out there.
Oh, so they paid money for sod that they never got because they didn’t get the survey and there wasn’t a double check. Oh, I’m starting to hear some, you know, I should have done the survey. And then you have to move your fence so that the neighbor can put his fence on the property line. So just accommodation of of good events.
So the lesson learned is get a boundary survey even if it’s brand new construction. Obviously we hope that the builder has done the right things. We hope that they’ve built the house where it’s supposed to be. We hope that they have put your deck in an easement. We hope that they sod everything that you’ve paid for. But sometimes that doesn’t always happen.
So if you have a new construction property or any property and you want to know exactly where it is that you own to call us at Cardinal Surveying, we’re happy to help you. 636922 1001 or feel free to send an email to inbox at Cardinal surveying.com. And Jasmine and Judy will gladly take care of.