Property lines are definite boundaries that outline the space you own after a home or land purchase agreement. Current homeowners must consider their property lines when building new additions, expanding the garden, or using their home. Prospective buyers may wonder how much their purchase yields them in terms of square feet or acreage.
Property lines may not affect a homeowner’s day-to-day life, but disputes with neighborhoods and unclear boundaries can become tedious. Those purchasing a home should consider the property lines to avoid future misunderstandings.
What is Your Property Line?
A property line describes the legal boundary that separates your property from the surrounding areas, sometimes referred to as plats or parcels. Your boundary line defines precisely where your property begins and exactly where it ends. Homeowners should avoid encroaching on their neighbor’s land by determining their property boundaries and staying within them. Plants, expansions, and personal property can all encroach on a neighbor’s designated space.
Natural and constructed boundaries may serve as a suggestive property line but cannot be taken at face value. Fences, the start of the woods behind your home, or a driveway can imply where the property begins, but these structures may not follow definite property lines.
Why Does Your Property Line Matter?
Your property lines determine where you can build and exist within your area. They also help ensure your neighbors do not encroach upon your purchased property. Even if you currently get along with your neighbors, it is easy to see how ambiguous or undefined property lines can become problematic. A clearly defined property line can address various potential disputes and answer critical legal questions:
- Where can you use, develop, and otherwise enjoy your property?
- Where are you allowed to drive your car? Where are you allowed to park?
- If you wanted to, where could you legally install a fence?
- Who owns which plants? (For example, even if a sycamore tree appears in your yard, your neighbors might still claim it theirs if a substantial portion of the root structure is on their property.)
- If you wanted to, could you build a pool, add a second unit, or make other significant changes to your property?
Neighbors and Property Lines
There are also a lot of legal modifications that can be made to your property. For example, if your neighbor needs to cut through your driveway to reach their home, they might want to establish an easement that gives them the legal right to do so.
Having an “informal agreement” with your amicable neighbors might suffice, but legally speaking, will not hold up in the case of an escalated dispute. If your neighbors sell their property, the new neighbors may not find satisfaction in a friendly verbal agreement. Property lines help resolve past, current, and future legal issues and make it easy to know your current exact rights and responsibilities.
Prospective Buyers
Those looking to purchase a home can determine the property line before moving forward with the buying process. While suggestive boundaries provide a rough idea of the area, the exact property line will determine the land you receive in exchange for the purchase. Additionally, a homeowner’s insurance provider will likely require you to determine your exact property lines.
4 Ways to Find Your Current Property Line
Finding your property line does not have to be an intrusive and time-consuming process. There are various ways to determine the boundaries and move forward with your home purchase. Some options are more cost-effective than others, and your best option may depend on how much information is easily available.
Check the Deed to Your Property
The deed to your property should indicate where your property lines currently lie, as well as other essential details about the property itself. A valid property deed must contain this description or reference where you could find it (such as an older deed). Remember that if you use an older deed, some parts of the property description, such as landmarks, might be hard to identify.
Look at the Plat Map
A plat map is a detailed illustration that outlines the exact location of your property. It might also include information about where neighboring properties reside, as well as the location of important landmarks, such as hills, rivers, and roads.
You will acquire a plat map during the home purchase process. However, if you need one ahead of time, you can usually obtain a plat map from the local assessor’s office or online. The general public should have access to plat maps in most counties.
Look Online
Newly constructed homes and those in more popular areas may likely have their information available online. Buyers can use Google Maps, or various apps to input their addresses. When looking at Google Maps, you can zoom in far enough and eventually find light gray lines, which are the property lines. If lines do not appear when you zoom into the property, it likely means this information is not available in your area.
Conduct a Property Land Survey
A land survey is the most precise way to determine your property lines. Older homes may need a property land survey if there is not enough information online to determine a boundary. Additionally, if you run into disputes down the road with a neighbor where you both believe you have rights to an area of the property, you can acquire a land survey to settle who owns the property.
Homeowners and buyers can commission a property line survey, typically costing between $300 and $600. The cost can be higher if the property has complicated boundaries or divisions. When rolled into the budget for closing costs, a survey is a smaller expense in the homebuying process.
Surveyors will review the legal description of your property from the deed. Then, they’ll use appropriate strategies, such as geospatial triangulation, to clearly outline where your property lies.
What Should I Do if There is a Problem with My Property Line?
Property line disputes can always occur, even if you have a clear understanding of your boundaries. Neighbors can disagree about walls, fences, landscaping, access, and adverse possession. Property line disputes can prove frustrating, but there are ways to resolve conflict without escalating the matter to the courts.
Try speaking directly with your neighbors to resolve the conflict. While this may be uncomfortable, a face-to-face conversation may alleviate tension and help both parties come to an understanding.
When conversations do not work, you can hire a real estate attorney or legal representative. You’ll then have several options to remedy the dispute, like having the court determine the property line, prohibiting the neighbor from trespassing, or even requesting payment for damages.
Conclusion
Property lines help neighbors understand where their real estate property begins and ends. Those looking to purchase property should get a copy of the boundaries before purchasing or work with local government entities to acquire the plat map. Homeowners can use their property lines to determine if they can add an extension, develop the backyard garden a foot further out, or let their guests lounge in the backyard. When neighbors disagree about property lines, they may need to escalate the matter and involve the courts.
