Due diligence is a word often used in the real estate sector to describe the process of gathering data, and discoveries, and disclosing it in connection with the purchase or investment of a property. ALTA Land Title Surveys are essential for various parties in commercial real estate transactions. The comprehensive requirements for doing an ALTA land survey distinguish it from a standard boundary, border, or simple location study.
ALTA surveys are the gold standard in the field of land surveying. ALTA Land Title Surveys are used by legal, title, development, finance, and design professionals. Many lenders are mandating ALTA land surveys before providing funding for commercial property acquisitions and new development.
What is an ALTA Survey?
ALTA survey is a very common term used in Civil Engineering & Real Estate domain which stands for “American Land Title Association”. It’s a set of principles that has classified and standardized the survey methods, processes, and actions of surveys, helping property surveyors meet the standard requirements of recognized Government and Private entities. The basic objective of the ALTA survey is to establish common and acceptable principles and expectations in the U.S. It provides a common standard for all the parties in the transaction to follow – especially the professional land surveyors.
The ALTA survey typically provides detailed information about:
- Property boundaries
- Easement and encumbrances
- Encroachments
- Evidence of use by other parties
- Names of neighboring property owners
- Land improvements
- Roads and property features
- Access and legal routes to the property
- Zoning classification
- Flood zone classification
- Water Boundaries
- Existence of cemeteries
- Legal property description
Why ALTA Survey is required?
Mostly the Lending institutes, Banks, Title companies, and Insurance companies order the ALTA surveys to be performed to make sure the property in question is free and clear of all the survey matters except those already disclosed. Basis these clearances, the property title, and mortgage insurance are issued. ALTA surveys determine exact property lines, water boundaries, improvements, existing easements, encroachments, and other land-ownership elements, providing not just probable title conflicts but also the property elements.
Since these surveys, performed mostly for commercial properties, are costly and complicated, a title commitment is required before ordering an ALTA survey. Land surveyors work closely with title companies to ensure that all information is accurate and provides the most comprehensive view of the property in question.
Steps in ALTA Survey
An ALTA land survey aims to collect and record data from property records as well as physical surveying, to fulfill the needs of title companies during insurance dealings. Following are the steps and processes required to perform during the ALTA survey:
- The property is researched for both public and private land records
- A physical analysis of the property and boundary lines is conducted by the surveyors’ field crew
- Both the physical analysis and the research are used to conduct a property analysis
- With his or her analysis, the surveyor prepares a map of the survey
- Once the map is finished, it is reviewed by the title company and other parties
- The surveyor signs and seals the map once the client accepts it
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When Do You Need an ALTA Survey?
An ALTA Survey entails a complete examination prepared by a registered licensed surveyor as per the standards established by the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping (ACSM). An ALTA Survey depicts the property’s borders, as well as the position of any improvements, such as structures, fences, utility lines, roads, and easements, on the subject property.
While an ALTA survey isn’t required for every property acquisition, it is one of the most complete surveys available at a higher cost than other survey types. While it isn’t required for every land purchase, there are situations when you should consider spending the extra money for an ALTA survey. This type of survey is either needed or suggested in the situations listed below.
1. Buying Or Selling Commercial Real Estate
When a piece of commercial property is mortgaged or transferred, title insurance companies and/or lenders often demand an ALTA survey to be completed. This is because commercial purchases frequently come with “survey risks,” such as boundary line disputes, encroachments, or other conditions and/or circumstances, such as easements or easement claims not found in public records.
This information may often make or break a deal, or at the very least make things a lot more complicated. An ALTA survey reveals any issues that need to be addressed and assists in ensuring that the property is risk-free before purchase. Similarly, if you’re selling a commercial property, it’s a good idea to have an ALTA survey done just to have a record to compare to the buyer’s survey.
2. Buying a piece of Vacant Land
If you’re purchasing vacant land, an ALTA survey may be advisable even if it’s not needed. While a simple border survey may be the bare minimum in this situation, vacant land is not frequently surveyed or surveyed in the past when technology was significantly less accurate. This means there may be boundary, ownership, or encroachment concerns that aren’t apparent at the time of purchase but could come back to bite you later. Before making a purchase, an ALTA survey gives the additional research needed to find and fix these difficulties.
3. Resolving Property Disputes
When buying or selling a piece of land, many circumstances come into play. If you’re in a rare or unusual circumstance, a more in-depth ALTA survey may be the best option. Simply said, the more complete a survey is, the greater the level of protection it offers.
Typically, ALTA/NSPS land title surveys are employed for commercial properties because they might take weeks to complete and cost thousands of dollars. ALTA/NSPS land title surveys are extremely detailed, encompassing property lines, boundaries, real property, easements, encroachments, liens, and land ownership information. The ALTA/NSPS land title surveys are designed to give the title industry stability and standardization.
Outsourcing Land Survey Drafting Services can prove to be extremely beneficial with a significant reduction in cost, access to skilled and experienced resources equipped with the latest tools, and competition with quick TAT (Turnaround time).
Lately, several Land Surveying Firms are exploring new ways to maximize profit by reducing their CAD overheads by Outsourcing their survey drafting needs to a specialized CAD partner. As Land Survey is mostly seasonal, companies are looking to make more ROI by outsourcing the services which are mostly repetitive and need to be done quickly. This also gives them ample time to focus on their core business activities.
INDOVANCE Inc delivers hassle-free Outsourcing Survey drafting services and aims at sincerely understanding how each and all survey drafts are a critical part of a client’s civil project development, and do it with precision and skill. We work on all sorts of surveys, be it boundary survey, topographic survey, ALTA survey, route survey, telecom survey, control survey or permit survey. If you are looking for point cloud modeling (LiDAR) for mapping/modeling terrestrial areas and corridors, we can definitely support you. A trusted experienced and specialized CAD partner who has been catering to the needs of the AEC industry since 2003 and delivering excellent service and value to its partners.
For more queries regarding any of the above-mentioned topics, feel free to connect with us on our website www.indovance.com or contact us on +1-919-238-4044
