Diy property survey?

[pikeandchester]

Bought a small piece of land (60'x135') on the west side of Mille Lacs , Mille Lacs county Katio township, last fall. Just want to punch in a driveway and use it for a campsite on the weekends. County GIS mapping shows great footage marking for both individual properties as well as corner to corner streets but I have no idea how to find the points where the footage starts.  I highly doubt the property has pins at the corners, it is not developed in any way . I called the county land services and they told me the area was surveyed back in the 1960s so they can't help. Got estimates to have it surveyed between $700 to $1700, may have to go that route but would rather buy a new fish finder!  have been reading on line but not sure i'm getting anywhere. Anybody think I would find pins with a metal detector? or any suggested reading about surveying ? On a side note, sure am looking forward to fishing a new area this summer!   

[delcecchi]

Normally the surveyors put in metal stakes so borrowing or renting a metal detector might work.   

If you have any neighboring property owners they might have information about the location of markers on the corners.  Or you can measure from their markers to find where yours are supposed to be.   

The abstract of title gives a legal description that might be helpful depending on where the markers for reference are.  

But my question is, you bought this without any clear survey or definition of where the property boundaries actually are?   Isn't that sort of taking a chance?   What does the guy who sold it to you have to say about where the corners are?   

[pikeandchester]

Bought it from the county at auction. tax forfeited. The reference markers are what I'm trying to figure out.  The GIS map gives clear property boundaries of the whole development which is little more than gravel roads and woods. To be clear I figured this would be an issue when I purchased it but for the price I paid for the property even if I have to pay for the survey it will be worth it. Just trying to save a buck 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I bought the Garmin hunt/view map for my hand held GPS. It shows the property lines and property owners.

It seems to be fairly accurate in the areas that I have used it on.

You will have to check to see what area you will need to get it for.

Personally, I paid the $700 to have one of my property corner pins surveyed. You then have a legitimate and legal starting point to start from. 

Cliff

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, Cliff Wagenbach said:

I bought the Garmin hunt/view map for my hand held GPS. It shows the property lines and property owners.

It seems to be fairly accurate in the areas that I have used it on.

Cliff

Cliff, where did you get that and what was the cost? That would come in pretty handy for hunting spots and talking with land owners.

[grundy]

If you have a smartphone you can download the OnX  hunting app. Gives all landowner names and land boundries. Also gives all state land, wildlife refuges etc. There is also a Navonics  app for downloading to a smartphone. It gives all the lake contours for fishing. These apps cost a little but you don't need to buy a gps or a chip for the gps. A lot cheaper IMO and you don't have to carry around another gadget.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Grundy,

I have the Navionics  lake app on my phone and it works great! I have also seen the OnX  phone app in action and it is very helpful!

I ordered the chip for my hand held G.P.S. from Garmin on line. Not sure what the cost was.

Cliff

[pikeandchester]

The GPS ideas are great. Garmin Huntview for Minnesota is $79.99 and OnX has 7 day free trial. The plan is to have the property surveyed. I believe Cliff makes a good point, do it right from the start. More time for fishing less time messing around looking for markers and  buying equipment just to possibly end up having the survey done in the end. Thank you for your responses they have been very helpful!

[Wanderer]

None of the GPS mapping or GIS can be used as legal documents.  The best thing would’ve been to spend the $350 or so for Title Insurance when the land was purchased.  With the insurance the lines are checked and any discrepancies are corrected.

After that, yup, it’s up to getting a new survey.

best of luck to ya.

 

[CigarGuy]

My neighbor at my cabin recently bought several acres adjoining his property and another neighbor had posted part of it-thinking he owned it.  My neighbor was planning on having it surveyed, so for the heck of it, I downloaded the trial OnX hunt map.  Only one pin on my property is visible in the winter, it was right on the pin.  We went and checked his property lines out and the neighbor that posted it, didn't own as much property as he thought he did. The OnX map property lines were fairly close to the actual lines, which were verified when surveyed.  If there are indeed pins or some kind of stakes in the ground, this should get you close enough to use a metal detector. 

[pikeandchester]

Got the property surveyed today. Originally plotted back in 1968 and sure enough there where metal pipes marking 3 of the corners but who knows how long it would have taken me to find them. They placed a monument on the missing corner. Hopefully this warm weather sticks around, need to remove some trees and get the wheel house moved in. Thanks everyone for your responses!

[pikeandchester]

uGot the driveway put in , late June. Only got a couple short trips in this summer, been a busy summer at work. Son (6) and daughter (3) both love with camping, 

[Surface Tension]

 You got a great little helper there.

[jbell1981]

On 4/21/2018 at 7:54 PM, pikeandchester said:

Got the property surveyed today. Originally plotted back in 1968 and sure enough there where metal pipes marking 3 of the corners but who knows how long it would have taken me to find them. They placed a monument on the missing corner. Hopefully this warm weather sticks around, need to remove some trees and get the wheel house moved in. Thanks everyone for your responses!

 

Curious what that cost to have it surveyed if you don't mind sharing.

[pikeandchester]

$696.00 which included marker pins

[pikeandchester]

Two Properties next door came up for auction recently. Up to 3/4 of an acre now . Added another fishing buddy as well.

 

[Wanderer]

Pics aren’t loading for me...

 

Congrats on the expansion though!

[Mike89]

2nd that