How to Survey the Boundaries of a Property

Do It Yourself Property Survey

• 1

  Obtain a copy of your property tax map from your local assessor's office.

• 2

  Locate the existing physical corner markers for your property. Use the tax map to approximate their locations. Existing markers come in various forms, including above-ground wooden stakes, metal stakes with colored tips and sunken stakes with colored plastic caps. You may have to dig a little to find an existing property corner marker.

• 3

  Measure the distance between the existing corner markers with a tape measure or distance measuring wheel. The distances should equal the measurements on the property tax map.

Corner Finder Survey

• 4

  Hire a corner finder to locate one or more hidden corner markers or to establish if existing visible corner markers are correctly placed. If you are only in doubt about one corner marker, you do not need to pay for a finding on all existing corner markers.

• 5

  Download a property tax map from your local property assessor's website.

• 6

  Use the findings of the hired corner finder to measure the distances between corner markers with a tape measure or distance measuring wheel and compare the measured distances to the property tax map's measurements. If they match, you can be fairly certain the survey is correct.

Professional Land Survey

• 7

  Hire a professional land surveyor to physically delineate the layout of your property. Determine the level of service required: corner-finding with border delineation or structure mapping.

• 8

  Request a corner-finding service and border delineation from the land surveyor if there is a property line dispute that requires a legal surveyor's report. If there are no existing corner markers, the surveyor will place new ones to establish the legal boundaries of your property.

• 9

  Request additional physical structure mapping service when you need to determine whether a structure, such as a house, is located according to code on your property.