Lay of the Land

Who pays for the land survey and what does it tell me?

In the Northern Illinois area, the survey is paid for by the seller. The survey provided must be current, within six (6) months of the contract date. The survey must also be done by a professional Illinois land surveyor.

The survey is typically staked out at the four lot corners. There is also a survey on paper, that is given to you at the closing.

At the closing, your real estate attorney will look over the survey with you, to see if there are any issues with a neighbor's driveway or fence (for a few examples) encroaching onto your new yard. If there are any issues, they will be resolved at the closing.

The survey and the cost are written into our Northern Illinois real estate sales contract:

"PLAT OF SURVEY: Not less than one (1) Business Day prior to Closing, except where the Real Estate is a condominium (see Paragraph 14) Seller shall, at Seller’s expense, furnish to Buyer or Buyer’s attorney a Plat of Survey dated not more than six (6) months prior to the date of Closing, prepared by an Illinois Professional Land Surveyor, showing any encroachments, measurements of all lot lines, all easements of record, building set back lines of record, fences, all buildings and other improvements on the Real Estate and distances therefrom to the nearest two lot lines. In addition, the survey to be provided shall be a boundary survey conforming to the current requirements of the appropriate state regulatory authority. The survey shall show all corners staked, flagged, or otherwise monumented. The survey shall have the following statement prominently appearing near the professional land surveyor seal and signature: “This professional service conforms to the current Illinois minimum standards for a boundary survey”. A Mortgage Inspection, as defined, is not a boundary survey, and is not acceptable."

At the final walk through, we will look for the corner stakes in the yard from the surveyor. And a copy of the paper survey is given to you at the closing, to keep for your records.

Jim Starwalt

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Jim Starwalt, Broker Associate RE/MAX Center, Phone: 847-548-2625 Jim@StarHomeFinders.com