How accurate are land surveys for fences?

I’m in Park Slope and replacing a fence that I share with my neighbor on 1 side. We’re doing a survey to make sure we’re staying true to the property line before removing and replacing the fence. This neighbor is…picky…to say the least…and she’s already saying she thinks the current fence is 2-3 inches over the line onto her property. Moving the line back 2 inches into my property will cause all sorts of headaches (knocking out 2 inches of concrete slab patio, moving fixtures attached to the wall, etc…).
A) How accurate are these things? A stakeout survey, to be exact.
B) Why is my neighbor so anal?

elisasolomon

in General Discussion 4 years and 5 months ago

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mozeeatupu | 4 years and 5 months ago

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+1 for Boro Land.

andriywww1990 | 4 years and 5 months ago

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yes, see what mdr says. my neighbor put theirs an inch or two into their line and i think they were wise to do that as they have control over it. in other words, it is theirs.

MDR | 4 years and 5 months ago

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If you are replacing a fence and you have a picky neighbor, yes, get a survey so you can be sure the work is not on their property. The surveyor will be 100% accurate. Boro Land Surveying is a good one. NEVER “share” a fence, always put it on your property, on your side of the property line.

mozeeatupu | 4 years and 5 months ago

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Tell neighbor it they have an issue to get a their own survey done.

hkapstein | 4 years and 5 months ago

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The surveyor is liable if their survey results in a trespass on the neighbors property, so they will usually stakeout a few inches or more inside of where they think the property line actually is. A trick might be if you could induce the neighbor to perform the survey, maybe pay for it, and mark their property line, you would probably get a better result, and they may not be clever enough to figure out what happened. Now alternatively, if the fence was there for 10 years prior to when the adverse property law changed(2008?), you technically would own the property up to the fence even if it was on her lot. If you actually believe the fence is on your property, you could also just rebuild it at that location let her hire a surveyor and figure out how to prove you did something wrong.

The actual property line does not always coincide with the center of the party wall, but if you and the neighbor wanted make an boundary line agreement to the effect I think it is possible to do so.

dorkofwindsor | 4 years and 5 months ago

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A quick tip if you are in an attached row house that both you and your neighbor can do: go up to roof, and from the middle of the parapet wall, hang a long string with a weight on the bottom . There is the start of your property line. Right in the middle of your party wall. Note that sometimes owners added chimneys in the past onto the back of brownstones, so going by visuals can be rather deceiving. Both of you should get up there with someone down below to mark. It won’t project a perfect line to the back of the yard, but its a start. You could possibly agree to extrapolate the side to side measurements based on both neighbors’ fences, or agree to hire a surveyor. I have a garage next to me, so I measured from that wall to my mark, and did it from the end of my yard assuming that the garage was correctly placed. YMMV.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 4 years and 5 months ago

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A) should be VERY accurate
B) probably has something to do with issues relating to toilet training as an infant