Determining the property lines on your home and your property can be a difficult process, but very important at the same time. It is vital that you know where your property lines are in order to stay within the law, so make sure you take the time and effort to really figure out where exactly your property starts and ends. Legal disputes can arise with neighbors and for other businesses that are in the general area, which is something you want to avoid at all costs if you can. Luckily, there are quite a few resources out there that should help you to definitely determine your property lines.
One major problem that often times leads to neighbors to a court battle is when one neighbor puts up a fence, or constructs some type of building that another neighbor claims is on their property. If something like this arises, or if you simply want to find out where your lines are, the first thing you should do is check with the assessors office in your area. Most of these assessors offices have detailed land surveys of each and every property in the given area, which should give you approximations of your property lines, although it is fairly tough to prove where they are exactly from these surveys. Sometimes they are old and outdated, based on the fact that they may have been used for decades, with full access from the general public, for the most part. You can use these maps to take measurements and you can use landmarks to gauge how large an area actually is on land. Having these figures may give you a ball park range, which may be all you need in some cases. Checking your deed is another thing you can do and generally involves using the same type of measuring techniques. You can also head over to the recorder’s office in your area, in order to get a map of your current area, which should also show property lines.
When you bought your property, you should have been given a property survey, which is a document that is transferred when a home is bought or sold, which is another reference point that you can use to determine where your property lines are. With all of these documents and paperwork, anyone should be able to determine where their property lines are, but if you can’t seem to figure it out, your best bet is to hire a surveyor. A professional surveyor is basically going to take the same documents and simply analyze them from a more official perspective and will let you know truly where your property lines are, which can be a huge deal in a court case.