Need a survey for a home in toronto, can anyone help

[torontochris]

Hey there,

I'm wondering if anyone does surveys for a living maybe for a company and could do one for me on the side. Looking at a large piece of land in Toronto (1+acre) and would like a survey before finalizing the offer.

Please PM if you can help.

Thank you,
TC

 

[Cassini]

You want the survey company that has already surveyed the area, or has done most of the surveys in the area. All the surveyor's reports need to agree, and they are based on old surveyor's notes. The surveyor who has done the most survey's in the area generally has the lowest price, and spends the least time looking up the old surveyor's notes.

Your lawyer should be able to tell you who has done the surveys previously.

Incidentally, most people simply purchase Title Insurance and not bother with the survey. Even if you have a survey, it may still be a good idea to purchase Title Insurance.

 

[torontochris]

thanks cass, yah i know the drill fraud and all that plus covers and infringements.

i want the survey because the property is huge, and i don't want to pay surveyor fees (2500 ish). i want an informal one done, the one at my cottage only took a couple hours, i'm sure there must be someone here who does them and could make me a cash deal.

 

[fmahovalich]

Your offer should include the seller providing a survey of the property!

 

[Prof. Plum]

You should try the land registry office. They should have a copy of the lot survey (just property lines, no structures). May not be exactly what you are looking for but it's a start.

 

[muckin]

Your offer should include the seller providing a survey of the property!

Thats right, Any offer should be requesting a survey from the seller, it is their responsibity to provide one. Quite often the adjacent properties survey would include the property beside them. Get the current owner to ask his neighbours if they have surveys that show his property and make a photo copy. good luck

 

[Cassini]

i want an informal one done

Walk around the property, and your neighbours, and see if anyone has planted survey stakes. Grab the MLS reports for the street (free from your realtor), and find out what the lot widths are for the property. Alternatively, the land registry office and/or city hall should have a lot plan (survey) from when the neighbourhood was built, detailing the size of each lot. You can then use a measuring tape, and figure out roughly where the lot lines are.

You may also discover that the MLS reports have the wrong lot widths. At that point, you are paying a surveyor. They have access to the notes on the old surveys.

Note: Sometimes, MPAC/MLS has bad lot information. Some of the MLS data comes from MPAC. Often you don't want to fix the MPAC information. Firstly, MPAC is never wrong about anything, and was happy to inform me of this. Secondly, if MPAC is wrong, they may use the information to increase your property taxes.

 

[james t kirk]

Your offer should include the seller providing a survey of the property!

All the Seller has to do is say no. The seller is under no legal obligation to provide a survey.

A survey is preferable to title insurance.

As previously stated by others, find out whilch OLS does surveys in the area and pay the man. It's money well spent.

 

[james t kirk]

Walk around the property, and your neighbours, and see if anyone has planted survey stakes. Grab the MLS reports for the street (free from your realtor), and find out what the lot widths are for the property. Alternatively, the land registry office and/or city hall should have a lot plan (survey) from when the neighbourhood was built, detailing the size of each lot. You can then use a measuring tape, and figure out roughly where the lot lines are.

You may also discover that the MLS reports have the wrong lot widths. At that point, you are paying a surveyor. They have access to the notes on the old surveys.

Note: Sometimes, MPAC/MLS has bad lot information. Some of the MLS data comes from MPAC. Often you don't want to fix the MPAC information. Firstly, MPAC is never wrong about anything, and was happy to inform me of this. Secondly, if MPAC is wrong, they may use the information to increase your property taxes.

You need to find the iron bars, not survey stakes.

There are square iron bars and round iron bars. Often they are missing, or buried well below the surface. A good Surveyor will have a metal detector to find them.

 

[oldjones]

And, as always, it's in the wording. What do you mean by "…an informal" survey: a Boy Scout counting paces around what he hopes is the edge of your property? Markers installed that you'll trust to build a fence? Markers your neighbours will trust to let you? Seems obvious you want more than you and the seller, or you and the neighbours walking the bounds—which are informal sorta surveys—but what?

Trying to find an earlier formal one and having it updated—which is part of what surveyors do—or springing for a whole new one would seem to be the most useful for most conceivable purposes. But what are your purposes?

Here are a couple of things no one who just looks at the land itself will be able to see: the line between your property and the city's road allowance that usually is somewhere in the front lawn, any easements, access rights or rights of way across your land, as for Bell, Hydro, cable-TV, a shared drive. They limit what you are allowed to do with the land there.