Ended up walking around with a tape measure and my phone... probably looked like a lost surveyor.
Been there. I tried lining up GIS maps with my own sketches once—total mess. I get why surveyors charge what they do, but it’s wild how hard it is to just see a clear property line online. Honestly, I trust the old metal stakes more than those digital layers. If your neighbor’s still arguing, maybe time for some orange spray paint and a reality check.
DIGGING INTO PROPERTY EASEMENTS—ANYONE ELSE FIND ONLINE TOOLS CONFUSING?
Funny, I actually had the opposite experience with the digital maps. The county GIS site was a pain to figure out at first, but once I got the hang of it, it lined up pretty close to the old plat map. The metal stakes in my yard were so buried and rusted I couldn’t even find half of them. Maybe it depends on how updated your local data is? I still double-check everything, but I kinda like having both options, even if neither feels 100% foolproof.
The county GIS site was a pain to figure out at first, but once I got the hang of it, it lined up pretty close to the old plat map.
Interesting—my experience has been almost the reverse. The GIS maps here are often outdated or missing details, especially for older neighborhoods. I’ve found myself relying more on physical markers and even old survey docs from previous owners. Maybe it’s just our county’s tech lagging behind, but I still don’t trust those online lines to be 100% accurate. Anyone else run into property lines that just don’t match up between digital and real-world?
DIGGING INTO PROPERTY EASEMENTS—ANYONE ELSE FIND ONLINE TOOLS CONFUSING?
I know what you mean about not trusting those online boundaries. I’ve actually had a surveyor out twice now because the GIS lines for my place were way off—like, by several feet in some spots. The county site here is decent for a rough idea, but if you’re dealing with anything older than the 90s, it’s almost like playing a game of telephone; something always gets lost along the way.
One time I was trying to figure out where my back fence should go, and the GIS map showed my property line running right through the neighbor’s shed. Turns out, their shed was built before anyone bothered updating the records—or maybe they just eyeballed it and hoped for the best. Either way, I ended up digging through a stack of yellowed survey notes from a previous owner just to get clarity. Honestly, half the time, those old documents are more reliable than anything digital.
I get that these tools are supposed to make things easier, but when you’re dealing with easements or old right-of-ways, it’s hard to put much faith in a colored line on a screen. I sometimes wonder how many folks have unknowingly built over an easement just because they trusted what they saw online.
Has anyone ever had issues with utilities or neighbors because of these discrepancies? It feels like there’s always some hidden catch when you rely on tech alone for this stuff...
DIGGING INTO PROPERTY EASEMENTS—ANYONE ELSE FIND ONLINE TOOLS CONFUSING?
I totally get the frustration. When we bought our place last year, I thought those online maps would make things simple, but nope. The GIS map had our driveway half on the neighbor’s lot, which made me panic for a second. Ended up calling the county and they just shrugged, saying the digital maps are “approximate.” Not super reassuring.
We almost put in a fence based on what we saw online, but my partner insisted we wait for the official survey. Good thing, too—the actual line was off by about four feet from what the website showed. It’s wild how much can get lost or misrecorded over time.
I wish there was a way to make these tools more reliable, but for now I just treat them as a rough sketch. Paper surveys might be old-school, but at least they’re usually right... or at least closer than the tech.
