How to Find a Land Survey

Check with your local government., Try a public or land record search site., Put in the information you have., Search through the results., Contact the office., Contact a previous surveyor.

6 Steps 2 min read Medium

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Step 1: Check with your local government.

    Mostly, land surveys are created and kept by your local government.

    Often, they are kept at the city or county level, but they are also kept at the state level.

    The easiest way to find out who keeps them is to look at the websites for these entities, which should tell you if they keep surveys or not.Some states do not keep records of land boundaries, though sometimes the more local governments do when the state does not.
  2. Step 2: Try a public or land record search site.

    Some websites, such as Public Records, groups government websites that keep these records by state.

    Other websites have a general search directory.

    If you can find your state, you can look at the list of websites to find land surveys in your area., Unfortunately, you'll usually need some very specific information when searching for a land survey.

    For instance, with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, you need information such as the township, the surveyor, the document name, the land range, or the county to find what you are looking for.

    Use what information you have; if you don't have much, you'll need to dig through more results than if you have all of the information you need., Unless the survey search is performed by address, you will likely have more than one survey returned.

    Find the one that best matches your property. , Sometimes, records are not available online.

    In that case, you need to contact the government office with the record.

    You will need to provide information for the land survey, such as the address.

    You will likely be required to pay a fee to receive the document., Sometimes, the only way to get a land survey of your property from a previous period is to find the land surveyor who made it, as it legally belongs to him or her.

    To find the surveyor, you can look through the legal history of the property on local government websites or where city or county records are kept near you.

    You will most likely have to pay a fee to get a copy.
  3. Step 3: Put in the information you have.

  4. Step 4: Search through the results.

  5. Step 5: Contact the office.

  6. Step 6: Contact a previous surveyor.

Detailed Guide

Mostly, land surveys are created and kept by your local government.

Often, they are kept at the city or county level, but they are also kept at the state level.

The easiest way to find out who keeps them is to look at the websites for these entities, which should tell you if they keep surveys or not.Some states do not keep records of land boundaries, though sometimes the more local governments do when the state does not.

Some websites, such as Public Records, groups government websites that keep these records by state.

Other websites have a general search directory.

If you can find your state, you can look at the list of websites to find land surveys in your area., Unfortunately, you'll usually need some very specific information when searching for a land survey.

For instance, with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, you need information such as the township, the surveyor, the document name, the land range, or the county to find what you are looking for.

Use what information you have; if you don't have much, you'll need to dig through more results than if you have all of the information you need., Unless the survey search is performed by address, you will likely have more than one survey returned.

Find the one that best matches your property. , Sometimes, records are not available online.

In that case, you need to contact the government office with the record.

You will need to provide information for the land survey, such as the address.

You will likely be required to pay a fee to receive the document., Sometimes, the only way to get a land survey of your property from a previous period is to find the land surveyor who made it, as it legally belongs to him or her.

To find the surveyor, you can look through the legal history of the property on local government websites or where city or county records are kept near you.

You will most likely have to pay a fee to get a copy.

About the Author

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Larry Rogers

Enthusiastic about teaching lifestyle techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.

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