As you are aware the Colorado Real Estate Commission has approved
new contract forms. Specifically, the
form now brings to the forefront the issue of a land survey.
Please review the contract language pertaining to surveys
and the information below concerning the same.
For your convenience we have linked the Colorado Real
Estate Commission / Department of Regulatory Agency site and links to the
contracts.
Contract to Buy
& Sell Real Estate (Commercial)
http://www.dora.state.co.us/real-estate/contracts/0604/CBS2-05-04.pdf
Item #7 c. (Residential
Contract to Buy & Sell Real Estate)
Survey. On or before Survey Deadline ( 2c ) Seller Buyer shall
cause Buyer and the issuer of the Title Commitment or the provider of the
opinion of title if an abstract, to receive a current
Improvement Survey Plat Improvement Location
Certificate
__________________________ (the
description check is known as Survey). An amount not to exceed $
______________ for Survey shall be paid by
Buyer Seller. If the cost exceeds this amount, Buyer
shall pay the excess on or before Closing unless Buyer delivers to Seller
before Survey is ordered, Buyer’s written notice allowing the exception for
survey matters.
Improvement Survey Plat (ISP)
By definition: Colorado
Revised Statutes 38-51-102(9)
"Improvement survey plat" means a land survey plat as defined in
subsection (12) of this section resulting from a monumented land survey
showing the location of all structures, visible utilities, fences, hedges, or
walls situated on the described parcel and within five feet of all boundaries
of such parcel, any conflicting boundary evidence or visible encroachments,
and all easements, underground utilities, and tunnels for which properly
recorded evidence is available from the county clerk and recorder, a title insurance
company, or other sources as specified on the improvement survey plat.
Improvement Location Certificate (ILC)
The majority of land
transactions in the state of Colorado close with a document known as an
Improvement Location Certificates (aka ILC or Mortgage Survey, Mortgage Loan
Inspection). An ILC is of fundamental importance, to disclose existing facts
about a parcel of ground. An ILC is an inspection of a property conducted by
a Colorado Professional Land Surveyor, to locate improvements in relation to
boundary/deed lines. This is usually done to meet some requirements of either
a title insurance company, lender, investor, property buyer or as stipulated
in a contract to buy and sell real estate.
Its' sole purpose and
intention IS NOT to determine the exact legal limits of the property, but to
serve as an inspection of the property to disclose any adverse matters from a
land surveying perspective, such as encroachments onto or off of the
property. The ILC is relatively inexpensive and provides all interested
parties invaluable information about the property.
·
Please refer to the 2003 Colorado Real
Estate Commission - Real Estate Manual - Chapter 7 - Pages 7 and 8 - “What an ILC is /
What an ILC is not”
·
http://www.dora.state.co.us/real-estate/manual/manual2003-3170/chapters-pdf/CH7final3154.pdf
Survey Fees and Costs
The
fees associated with professional land surveying are predicated upon the
amount of time a surveyor spends measuring, locating, researching,
establishing property corners and preparing the drawing/plat map.
- Generally speaking;
an ILC in Metro Denver (Lot & Block) will cost $125 - $250
- Generally speaking;
an ISP in Metro Denver (Lot & Block) will cost approx 0.25% -
0.33%
(0.0025 to 0.0033) of the
property value.
Of
course these figures should only be used as a guideline, as the actual fee will
most times be less than and occasionally more than the figures given above.
Please call our office for an exact quote.
If, at any time Colorado Engineering & Surveying
Inc. conducts an ILC, we will credit the ILC cost back towards the fee of an
Improvement Survey Plat. – Many clients opt for this option, because the
turnaround time for an ILC is only a few days, as compared to several weeks
for a Survey Plat.
COPLS.COM
- Colorado Professional Land Surveyors dot Com / Colorado Engineering & Surveying currently has conducted over 250,000
individual surveys. Occasionally a client my desire a historical survey or
document in the process of their Due Diligence.
Call
our office to determine if copls.com has conducted a survey on the property
in the past.
Colorado
Engineering & Surveying (copls.com) conducts a full range of professional
land surveying; Residential, Commercial, Municipality, Construction and ALTA
/ American Land Title Association –
Land
Title Surveys.
