DIGGING INTO PROPERTY EASEMENTS—ANYONE ELSE FIND ONLINE TOOLS CONFUSING?
Honestly, I wish the city made it clearer—feels like a guessing game sometimes.
Totally get where you’re coming from. I remember when we put in our rain garden, I thought the city’s online map would be enough. Turns out, it was missing a whole utility easement that only showed up on the paper survey. It’s wild how much legwork you have to do just to avoid headaches later. Double-checking everything is a pain, but it really does save you from bigger problems down the road.
- Ran into the same thing when I was checking our lot lines.
- Online maps looked fine, but the surveyor found a drainage easement that wasn’t even marked.
- Kinda wish there was a “plain English” version of these tools...
- Feels like you need a decoder ring just to figure out where you can plant a tree.
Feels like you need a decoder ring just to figure out where you can plant a tree.
Totally get this. I spent hours comparing the county GIS map with my deed and still felt lost. Here’s what helped me: I printed out the survey, highlighted anything labeled “easement,” and then literally walked the yard with it. Not high-tech, but it made things clearer. It’s wild how much isn’t obvious online—sometimes you just have to go old-school. Don’t feel bad for being confused, these tools aren’t exactly user-friendly... especially if you’re trying to avoid paying for another survey.
Title: Digging into property easements—anyone else find online tools confusing?
I hear you on the confusion. When we bought our place, I thought the plat map would make everything obvious, but nope—half the lines didn’t match up with what I saw in the yard. I ended up calling the county office and even they seemed a bit unsure about some of the boundaries. Ever notice how those “utility easements” are never marked anywhere physically? Makes me wonder how anyone manages without just guessing sometimes... Did you run into any weird overlaps between your deed and what’s on the GIS map?
Definitely been there. Here’s what I’ve run into:
- Even with county GIS, the layers don’t always line up—sometimes the “easement” lines are off by a few feet compared to what’s physically there.
- Had one project where the plat showed an easement running along the back fence, but on-site, there was no sign of it. The utility company shrugged and said “it’s probably under there somewhere.”
- Deeds can be super vague—“along the north 20 feet,” but then you check the survey and it’s more like 18.3 feet… not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Honestly, I’ve learned to expect some weird overlap or mismatch every time. It’s almost like a rite of passage in this business.
