LOS ANGELES, Calif. (CitizenWire) — According to Martin Engineering, you should not buy a residential or commercial property without first obtaining a professional opinion from an engineer/surveyor. "In recent years, I have seen many tragic situations resulting from property line assumptions that could be caught in minutes by a professional doing a simple review," says Peter Martin of Martin Engineering.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has recently completed a document scan of their entire survey records; placing them on-line and available at no cost to the public. This effort has resulted in a substantial reduction in the time and cost of completing a Land Survey.
Although boundary line issues occur in a small fraction of residential/commercial property transactions, the frequency of problems arising from certain types of boundary line issues makes it important to seek professional consultation when dealing with potential risk situations. In many cases property owners are aware of disputed boundaries but for reasons of their own fail to act. It is important to draw out the information that may reveal hidden problems.
Generally, problems related to improperly established property lines can be identified by investigating a few key issues. Just like cracks in a wall or concrete pad are indicators of potential problems, it takes a professional with experience to know when they are structural or simply cosmetic. In a free consultation a professional engineer/surveyor will generally spot potential problems from clues that may go unnoticed by the real estate agent. Often it is a matter of knowing where the information can be found, or simply just knowing the right questions to ask. The professional engineer/surveyor has the experience to make a value judgment as to the cost and risk associated with property line assumptions.
Professional consultation does not always equate to spending money, just as the evidence of boundary problems does not always necessitate the completion of a Land Survey. In any case a dollar spent on professional engineering services, will generally leverage itself one hundred to one on future legal services.
Should it be necessary to conduct a survey and have it filed in the county records, it is important to work it into the sales contract and complete it as a part of escrow. The owner may be induced to either support or share in the cost of the survey. In any case, the time and cost associated with boundary surveys has been greatly reduced by new technology like the previously mentioned on-line records research tools, but also advanced instrument technology. Global positioning equipment combined with traditional optical survey instruments offers greatly enhances accuracy. Robotic precision instruments eliminate the need for additional personnel in the field. Data gathered on hand held data collectors can be directly downloaded to computer drawing systems for fast and efficient document production.
About Martin Engineering:
Martin Engineering has been providing Los Angeles County with professional civil engineering and land surveying services for over three generations since 1906. From residential boundary surveys to large urban site development, we utilize the latest technology to complete our fieldwork including G.P.S. and robotic instrumentation which enables us to quickly and accurately complete any task that you may require.
For more information, go to http://zkey.net .
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