How to find property lines

How to find property lines

You find property lines by working through four sources, from the least reliable to the most reliable.

1. The county GIS map.
2. The deed and the plat.
3. Existing survey pins.
4. A licensed surveyor.

The first three help you understand where the lines probably run. Only the fourth sets them. Online maps are approximate, and no public record replaces a survey.

Start with the county GIS map

The county GIS map shows where the county has drawn your parcel, and it is the fastest place to start. Search by address or parcel number. The map shows the parcel shape, the neighbors, and usually a link to the tax record and the deed reference.

The county draws those lines from deeds and plats for tax purposes. They can sit offset from the aerial image, sometimes by a wide margin, and they carry no legal weight. Use the map to identify the land and find its documents. Do not use it to place a fence. See why research starts with county tax records.

Read the deed and the plat

The deed and the plat describe the lines in the recorded language of the property. Get both from the register of deeds in the county where the land lies. The deed may describe each line by a bearing, a distance, and a monument, such as an iron pipe, a stone, or a named neighbor’s corner. The plat draws those lines and labels them.

These documents tell you what the lines are supposed to be. They do not tell you where those lines fall on the ground. Old descriptions cite trees, fences, and roads that are gone. A deed can also conflict with a neighbor’s deed, which leaves a gap or an overlap only a surveyor can resolve.

Look for existing survey pins

Survey pins are metal rods or pipes that a surveyor set at the corners, often topped with a cap stamped with a license number. Compare what you find with the plat. A metal detector helps with pins buried under leaves or soil.

A pin is strong evidence, not proof. Pins get pulled, bent, and moved by grading, fencing, and farm equipment. A pin you find may mark a neighbor’s corner or an old line. Leave every pin where it is, because a surveyor needs it. A fence, a hedge, or a tree line is weaker evidence than a pin.

Hire a licensed surveyor

A licensed surveyor is the only person who can set a property line. The surveyor researches your deeds and plats and your neighbors’ deeds and plats. The surveyor then finds monuments in the field, measures, and resolves conflicts between the records. Last, the surveyor sets missing corners and prepares a signed and sealed map.

Hire one before you build near a line, put up a fence, clear timber, sell part of a tract, or buy land. A dispute over where a line sits belongs with a surveyor first and a real estate attorney second.

What property lines mean for land

For a sale or a purchase, the lines decide what land is actually changing hands. The county map, the deed, and the survey often report different acreage. We read the county’s lines and the recorded documents, and we state what a survey still needs to settle. See parcel and boundary records and the land due diligence checklist.

Questions

Are property lines on online maps correct?

They are approximate. County GIS maps and consumer map apps draw lines for reference, and those lines can sit well off the true boundary. A licensed surveyor locates the real line.

Can I find my property lines for free?

You can read the county map, the deed, and the plat at no or low cost, and you can look for pins. Those steps show where the lines probably run. Only a survey sets them.

What if a neighbor’s fence sits on my land?

Get a survey first, so the conversation starts from a located line. If the survey confirms a problem, a real estate attorney can explain your options.