Home Built on Neighbor’s Land: Why Surveys are Important When Building a House

Real life example of homeowner building part of their home onto neighbor’s land. There are many examples of people building their homes on land they don’t own including someone else’s lot. This particular incident is at Mt Charleston where many homes are built on neighboring lots.

Most homes are built well within the boundaries of the owner’s land, but there are times, especially in custom home areas, where the homeowner builds part of all of their home on another person’s land. Usually in tract homes, this is less common, especially since the advent of GPS. Older areas are known for having lots that don’t line up with county records. Especially mountain or forested areas that are remote where surveyors have to go out and find the lot boundaries using a landmark, which are not always correct.

When homes are built on other people’s property this is often known as an encroachment and can lead to numerous problems. Getting a proper survey from a licensed land surveyor is critical.

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