The costs to close on a Spring Texas house are significant easily totaling several thousand dollars. Due to the magnitude of the closing costs, it is easy to understand why buyers are looking at every way possible to save money. One way you can save money is by using the sellers existing survey. How much can you save? Around $300 to $500 which is how much it will cost if you have to get a new survey for the house.
Both your lender and the title company have to agree to accept the sellers existing survey and the majority of time they will. But the majority of the time is not all of the time. Thus there are instances in which you will not be able to use the existing survey the seller has of his Spring Texas house.
The sellers existing survey may not be accepted if:
- after the date of the survey, permanent structures were added to the property such as a pool, gazebo, or a room addition.
- the survey contains an inaccurate description of the property such as the lot and block of the property is wrong.
- the survey doesn’t have a seal.
- the survey is over 10 years old. This time frame of 10 years is not a hard and fast rule as surveys do not have a specified expiration date. In fact I have seen lenders and title companies accept surveys that were 30+ years old. But the lender or in this case the lender’s attorney has the power to reject a 10 year old survey and require you spend money on a new survey.
Bottom line – don’t get excited when you hear the sellers have an existing survey for the house because it doesn’t always work out that you will get to use it.
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