Understanding how to mark the property lines of your land is a useful skill for any property owner. How else will you know where your piece of earth ends and the rest of the world begins? While most properties come with a registered survey defining property lines, this does little to show you the physical boundaries when you’re actually standing on your land. Check out LandCentral’s guide for How to Mark the Property Lines of Your Land:
Step 1: Map it Out
Before you can mark the physical property lines of your land, you first have to map it out. There are five ways to find the map of your property lines:
SURVEY – A survey is a drawing which defines the property lines of a piece of land. Typically, these are drawn up by a professional surveyor and will show the exact dimensions of the land including structures, bodies of water and adjacent roads.
HIRE A SURVEYOR – If your land survey is old and outdated, hire a surveyor to develop a new survey describing exactly where your property lines run. NOTE: Don’t forget to put your new survey on file with the Land Registry Office where you live.
DEED – Your deed will contain a description of your property’s measurements. You should be able to measure from the landmarks in the description to your property lines. This may feel like an old fashioned way of doing things, but it sure beats having your neighbor park their boat on the corner of your lot.
ASSESSOR’S OFFICE – Head on down to your local Assessor’s Office and grab a copy of any maps that show dimensions of your property lines or the neighborhood where you live.
ASSESSOR’S WEBSITE – Don’t feel like a physical visit? Jump on the official website for the assessor’s office in your municipality and use their mapping tools for the real estate in your area. Based on fixed landmarks, you should be able to determine where your property lines reside.
TIP: Google Earth and MapQuest will often have clearly defined boundary lines. But these aren’t always accurate. So don’t get into a land dispute based on Google Maps, okay?
Step 2: Drive a Stake in It
Here comes the fun part. Once you’ve figured out exactly where your lines are on a map, set about marking the property lines with a few stakes. These can be simple long wooden stakes with neon tape wrapped around the top, or they can be fancy metal posts purchased specifically for this purpose. Use landmarks from your map to keep you on track and set the markers at all four corners of your land, and then every twenty-five feet or so, depending on the size of your lot.
TIP: Don’t want to DIY? Have a surveyor spray your property lines with orange spray paint when they’re conducting your new survey. Fun fact, it’s against the law to tamper with an official survey marker, so if you ever get into a dispute with your neighbor, a land marker from a professional surveyor is your best bet.
Check out these fun property line markers.
And it’s that simple. LandCentral’s How to Mark the Property Lines of Your Land will have your boundaries clearly defined in no time. If you don’t want to do the leg work, check out one of our properties. They come with their own property lines.