Land Surveying and Forestry Related
Frequently Asked Questions
"When dealing with property and timber issues,
it pays to consult professional."
Here are a few questions often asked about land surveys.
Q:
How much would it cost to survey my property?
A:
There are many variables in every project, regardless of the size or complexity. It is seldom feasible and sometimes outright impossible to apply a finite cost to each work element of a project. A few of the issues related to survey time and costs are: Number of corners, Lenth of line, Vegetation or developement on the site, Existance of monumentation, Quality of Deed description, Number of Adjoiners, Agreement of deed with Adjoiners deeds.
Please contact Land & Mapping Services for a quote on your surveying job.
Q:
I have found nails and markers where a surveyor was working on my/my neighbors property. But these nails do not follow the property line.
A:
These nails are most likely the traverse stations used by the surveyor while in the process of surveying the property boundaries. These traverse stations are required to complete the survey and should never be moved or tampered with. When completed, the surveyor should have placed permanent monuments (pipe, rebar, t-bar, cement or other monumentation) at the corners of the property. On long lines, they may place monuments between corners. These monuments should never be moved and should be protected from damage by plows, mowers or construction equipment.
Q:
I don't need my entire property surveyed, just one line.
A:
It is normally impossible to survey a single line. However, if there are monuments which define the ends of a line, surveyors can re-establish that line.
Q:
The length of my property lines are stated in rods/perches/chains on my deed.
A:
- A perch or rod is 16.5 feet long.
- A chain is 66 feet long. A chain is divided into 100 links each 0.66ft or 7.92 inches long.
- A mile is 5280 feet long. This is 80 chains or 320 rods.
- An acre is 43,560 sq ft. This is defined as 10 square chains 10 * ( 66 * 66) = 43,560
Q:
Can you take a photo from the air or my home/farm/business?
A:
Since our air photography work is normally done for engineering scale mapping, this photography is rather expensive. For simpler photographs, you may be able to locate a person at a local general aviation airport to take a photograph for you.
Here are a few questions often asked about timber sales.
Q:
My Brother -OR- Neighbor -OR- Friend -OR- Co-Worker sold 100 Acres of Timber for $50,000. I have 100 Acres of Timber of simular sized timber. Can I get $50,000 for my timber?
A:
The Value of your timber is dependent on Location or your property, site conditions on the property, Prevailing market conditions, Volume, Quality and Species.
Q:
What's involved in a timber sale?
A:
Timber sales start with a look to determine if there is potential for a sale. If we feel that your woodlot could support a sale, we'll have you sign a contract that defines what work we will perform and how you will pay for the services. Fees for timber sales are a percentage of the bid you accept for the sale. We mail out timber prospectus to 30-40 buyers in the area. When bids are recieved, you (the landowner) has the right to accept your choice of the bids or reject any and all bids. Buyers are required to sign the sale contract and pay for the timber within 2 weeks of the bid due date. Buyers are required to post a 10% performance bond and have insurance. Buyers are generally allowed 9-12 months to perform the harvesting.
Q:
What are the fees? What is the percentage?
A:
For smaller sales, under $30,000; 15% of the successful bid. For sales $30,000 and above, the fee is 12% of the sale bid. For sales $100,000 and above, the fee is 10% of the sale bid.This is not a "Finder's Fee." We work for the landowner to protect their interests. We are not employed by timber buyers and are not their agents.
Q:
Do you mark every tree to be taken or do you use some kind of sampling method?
A:
For management purposes, we often use sampling to get a picture of the entire stand. For sales however, we cruise (measure, tally, and mark) each tree to be sold. We paint at eye level and below stump level. From the cruise results, we can estimate the volume by species and diameter for all those trees being sold.
Q:
Is cleanup part of the deal or is that extra? Who does the cleanup?
A:
As part of sale administration, we have a contract between the seller (yourself) and the buyer. The contract specifies what cleanup the buyer will perform as part of the purchase. The buyer, or their contractor must perform the cleanup. We often customize contracts to match landowners desires for their woodlot. The contract can call for grading of skid trails, seeding of trails, downing of all tops, hauling tops out of trails and stream courses. Since this costs the buyer, it has some effect on bid prices. However, quality operators do this type of work as a matter of business.
Q:
What kind of time frame does the process take?
A:
From start to reciept of bids, often takes a month. 2 weeks for the sale contract and payment. At that time, the wood though still living on your land is the property of the buyer. That's why they call it 'Selling Stumpage.' The buyer generally has 9-12 months to complete the harvest.
Q:
If I don't accept any bid, are there charges for the work you had already done?
A:
You, the landowner have the right to reject any and all bids, for whatever reason. For the work we completed so far, we would bill for hours invested in the cruising and marking. If you would like, we could put the sale out for bid at a later time and subtract the hourly fees from the percentage rate fee for the sale.
