FAQ
How do I know if my property needs to be resurveyed in order to transfer?
There are a few factors that determine whether a property will need to be resurveyed in order to transfer. The first is who are the grantors and grantees for the transfer? Monroe County does not require property to be surveyed if transferred to immediate family members. This is regardless of how prior deeds were marked. For more information on what constitutes an immediate family transfer see our Requirements for Conveyance standards covering this. If the deed is not transferring between immediate family members, the next thing to look at is the most current deed for the property in question. This deed, if transferred after 1995 should have one of two stamps applied to it. One will say 'Approved', which means the description met the conveyance requirements for that time and will not need to be surveyed for at least the next transfer. And the other will state 'Survey Required for Future Transfer', this would indicate at least one of the descriptions on the deed did not meet the requirements for that time and will need to be surveyed in order to transfer. Our office can be contacted with further questions on this.
How much do property surveys cost?
This is a very broad question and depends on many factors. The main one being who is performing the survey. Each surveying company will charge different rates depending on multiple factors of their own including location, time, acreage, etc... We suggest contacting multiple companies and determining which you find would be the best choice for you and your situation. Another factor is the difficulty inherent in determining the boundaries of the property. Was the property surveyed before? Were adjoining property's surveyed that would make it easier to determine where your lines would be? Understandably, the easier or more difficult it is for the surveyor to make their findings, the cheaper or more expensive it may be.
I just had my property surveyed, when can I expect my taxed acreage to change?
Having a survey done provides the owner of said property a very good idea of the boundaries of a piece of land according to the findings of the surveyor that performed it. While the acreage that the surveyor found for the tract may differ compared to what the deed states, this does not change the legal description of that property and what is assessed as until it replaces the existing deed description. In order for the Auditor's Office and Map Office to reflect any changes that were found during a survey, this survey and its description need to be used in a deed so that the legal description of the property reflects the survey. Monroe County is not affiliated with any surveying companies and are not made aware of ongoing surveys done by these companies. So many times, we don't know a property is being surveyed until we are provided a copy of it by the surveyor themselves.
What can be done about a property line dispute?
The only thing our office can do in regards to disputes between neighbors is provide evidence of where the line should be. This is done through our mapping and deed records which may provide rough details as to where a line or corner SHOULD be. Whether there is physical evidence of this location in reality is a different story. If further evidence is needed, we can only suggest that the area in question be surveyed by a professional that can give a getter idea of location.
What does GIS mean?
GIS in mapping stands for Geographic Information Systems and is a term usually synonymous with digital mapping. The term is further defined as computer-based tools used to store, visualize, analyze, and interpret geographic data. Geographic data (also called spatial, or geospatial data) identifies the geographic location of features.