Videos

Choosing An Excellent Land Surveyor

• Finding A Great Fit Between Client And Real Estate Consultant
• Five Questions A Land Surveyor Should Ask Before Starting Work On Your Boundary Survey
• The Reasons You Need Excellent Communication From Your Land Surveyor
• Four Ways A Land Surveyor Provides Excellent Communication
• Five Questions To Help You Choose The Right Size Land Surveyor
• Choosing The Right Sized Land Surveying Company
• Four Ways To Get Great Client Services On Your Commercial Real Estate Project
• Why Can Barracuda Size Land Surveying And Land Planning Firms Provide You With Great Client Service?
• Should Your Design Team Have A Land Surveyor = Three Stories That Answer The Questions
• Don’t Tell Your Land Surveyor What You Need – Tell Them What You Are Trying To Accomplish
• The $10,000 Land Development Checklist
• Should You Get A Boundary Survey When Buying A Parcel For Your Business?
• Should Boundary Surveyors Understand Real Estate Law?
• What Does It Take To Get A Building Permit In Central California?
• What Happens When You Only Look At The Price Tag Of A Boundary Survey?
• What Does Great Client Service From A Land Surveyor Look Like?
• We Just Walked Away From $130K Of Surveys – Why Would We Do That?
• Walking A Client Around Tot Their Property Corners – Why Do It?
• Don’t Waste Money On A Boundary Survey That Will Be Rejected
• Why Your Boundary Survey Needs To Be Tied To Your Topographic Survey With Good Survey Control
• What Is The Value Of An Illegal Boundary Survey?
• Five Ways Bad Boundary Surveyors Cut Corners
• Most Surveyors Are Bad Boundary Surveyors
• What Does A Real Boundary Surveyor Look Like? (Part 1 of 2)
• What Does a Real Boundary Surveyor Look Like (Part 2 of 2)
• The 85 Acre Agricultural Parcel With The neighbors Well- But No Easement
• Finding Vernal Pools For A Nut Tree Farmer – People Need More Than Just A Survey
• Can We Provide You A Rock-Solid Exact Cost For A Land Subdivision Ahead Of Time?
• What To Do When The Giant Engineering Firm You Hired For Your Project Stops Returning Phone Calls
• Why We Won’t Sign The Contract You Use For Construction Companies
• Three Reasons Incompetent Professional Service Providers Survive (or Why Bad Surveyors Don’t Die)
• Give Your Land Surveyor More Than 45 Seconds (Pulling The Tesla Dealership Out Of The Floodplain)
• Why We Don’t Work For Homeowners
• Two Things That Make You A Horrible Client For A Good Land Surveyor
• Why Isn’t There An Amazon Dot Com For Boundary Surveys?
• What Are The Differences Between A Bid And A Fee Estimate For Professional Services
• Vizaline And The Practice Of Land Surveying
• Solving Problems With Real Estate Parcels To Unlock Opportunities Most People Miss
• The Fuzzy Road Abandonment In Orinda
• Did You Just Hire A Boundary Survey With A Criminal Record?
• How Many Questions Will I Answer For Free About Your Land Development Project?
• What Happens When You Pay For A Boundary Survey – But That Isn’t what You Actually Get?
• Don’t Get Ghosted On A $500 Site Plan
• You Have A 30 Foot Fence Encroachment – Now Don’t Ever Call Me Again
• Involve A Good Boundary Surveyor And Private Land Planner In Your Site Selection
• How Clients Cheat Themselves Out of the Benefits of Qualifications Based Selection
• Why Isn’t There An Amazon Dot Com For Boundary Surveys?
• Work With A Boundary Surveyor That Fixes Problems (Not One Who Finds Problems And Then Walks Away)

Land Subdivisions

• The Parcel Map With No Monuments
• Neighborhood Character And Zoning Regulations
• Dirt, Drains, Trees And Pyramids – Land Development In California Is Hard To Do!
• How much should a simple land subdivision in Central California cost?

About Redefined Horizons

• Finding A Great Fit Between Client And Real Estate Consultant
• Why Redefined Horizons Was Started As A Business – Part 1
• Why Redefined Horizons Was Started As A Business – Part 2
• A Bit About Landon Blakes’s Family
• Landon Blake’s Work History
• Helping People Make The Best Use Of Their Land
• Excellent Land Surveyors Provide Transparent Billing
• Nine Things We Can Help With Long Before You Need A Survey – Part 1
• When Will I Sign And Seal A Survey Work Product Prepared By Civil Engineer?
• About Redefined Horizons Boundary Surveying Services
• About Redefined Horizons Flood Management Services
• Free Boundary Surveying Services From Redefined Horizons
• 7 Ways Redefined Horizons Provides Value
• How Many Questions Will I Answer for Free About Your Land Development Project?
• How Much Advice Can We Give You Before We are Under Contract?
• If I Have to Help Your Attorney – There is No Coupon Deal
• Redefined Horizons – Cool Stuff With Datasets – SoCal Golf Course
• RH Monument Preservation Services
• The Lot that was Too Narrow to Build (Why We Don’t Submit Survey Bids)
• Why Our Land Survey Fees Are More Than Our Cost Of Labor
• Lessons From A 10,000 Arce Ranch – When A Bad Map Is Worse Than No Map At All

About Land Surveying and Land Title

• Risks Of Government Actions In Real Estate Investment And Land Development
• The English And Roman Roots Of The US Land Title System
• Why Do We Have A Recording System For Real Property
• Do You Need To Locate Wetlands? (Table – Item 18)
• What Do You Need To Know To Properly Order A Land Title Survey (ALTA Survey) Proposal?
• Fix Boundary And Land Title Problems Before The Sale Closes
• Who Should Care? Why Should They Care?
• Choose A Good Land Title Company
• Lessons From A 10,000 Arce Ranch – When A Bad Map Is Worse Than No Map At All
• The Problem With Graphical Easements
• The Lot That Was Too Narrow To Built (Why We Don’t Submit Survey Bids)
• Part Of The Value In Large Land Holdings Is Knowing What You Own
• What Happens When Legal Access To A Parcel Doesn’t Match The Physical Access
• The Purchase Price Of Large Landholdings Should Be Reduced By The Cost Of A Good Boundary Survey
• How Should You Handle A Large Fence Encroachment
• What Is A Lot-Line-Adjustment? Why Would You Need One?
• The Survey Case Files: The Problems With Willow Glen Parcel C
• The Survey Case Files: The Problems With The Highway 4 Agricultural Parcel
• Lessons From The Wandering Driveway Of 117 Highway 395
• Most Land In California Hasn’t Ever Been Surveyed
• What Is The Difference Between A Legal Parcel And A Buildable Parcel?
• From The Case Files: Three Simple Ways A Simple Land Subdivision Can Go Sideways – An Example From Vallejo
• How Do You Fix An Illegal Parcel In California?
• A Boundary Survey Is A Diagnostic Tool – Not A Land Title Fix
• What Happens When The Boundary Survey Doesn’t Match The Tax Assessor Map?
• When Should You Have To Pay For A Land Title Survey ( ALTA Survey) Update?
• The 2 Million Dollar Custom Home You Want To Buy Was Built Over A Giant Underground Water Pipeline
• The Commercial Real Estate Due Diligence Gap – And Why It Matters
• The RH Standard Table A For Land Title Surveys – Why We Check The Boxes We Check
• What Three Things Should Your Real Estate Brokers ( or Agent) Be Checking In The Land Title Report?
• Three Myths Real Estate Professional Believe About Boundary Surveys (In The United States)
• What Is A Right-Of-Way Take, Remainder Parcel and Excess Parcel?
• Should You Get a Land Survey Before You Buy An Investment Parcel?
• What Is A Boundary Encroachment? Why Do They Cause Problems In Commercial Real Estate?
• Survey Case Files: The Florida City That Accidentally Sold Its Water Tower
• What Type Of Utilities Does A Land Surveyor Have To show In An ALTA Survey (Land Title Survey)
• The 40-Year Old Survey Won’t Get You A Permit (Don’t Believe Your Real Estate Agent)
• Is Providing A Land Title Report Sufficient Notice Of An Easement That Burdens A Real Estate Parcel?
• Three Things Your Boundary Surveyor Should Note About Each Boundary Encroachment
• The Building Location On Your Survey May Not Provide The Building Area you Need
• Can A Good Boundary Survey Cost More Than The Value Of A Lot (Real Estate Parcel)?
• Two More Reasons Boundary Encroachments Cause Problems In Commercial Real Estate Transactions
• The Differences And Similarities In The Four Types Of Boundary Encroachments
• What To Do When Your Land Title Company Throws your Boundary Surveyor Under The Bus?
• Extracting Breaklines and Surface Boundaries in Virtual Surveyor
• How Do You Perform a Land Title Survey of a Parcel That Doesn’t Exist Yet?
• How to Order a Boundary and Land Title Quick Check for Commercial Real Estate
• Most Land in California Hasn’t Ever Been Surveyed
• Why We Won’t Sign The Contract You Use For Construction Companies
• Why Your Boundary Survey Needs To Be Tied To Your Topographic Survey With Good Survey Control
• What Building Information Should Be Included In The Typical Topographic Survey?

Land Title

• What Is A Benefited Parcels Land Description? When Do You Need One?
• Lessons From The Wandering Driveway Of 117 Highway 395
• 3 Reasons Why Land Title Companies Miss Burdens In The Record
• Three Problems I Might Find In The Land Description Of Your Deed
• Three Questions your Real Estate Broker Should Be Helping You Answer About The Land Title Report
• From The Case Files: The Landlocked Parcel In Roseville – California
• What Is The Difference Between An Owner’s Policy And A Lender’s Policy In Land Title Insurance?
• What Is Land Title Insurance – A Simple Definition
• Why do You Need Land Title Insurance if You are Purchansing Real Estate with a Grant Deed?
• Are Physical Conditions Covered By Your Land Title Insurance?
• What Should Your Land Attorney Explain About Land Title Insurance?
• “We Need You To Update And Sign This ALTA Survey!”
• Negotiating The Addition Of Notes To An ALTA Survey (Land Title Survey)
• Land Title Companies Do Dumb Stuff – Part 1
• Land Title Companies Do Dumb Stuff – Part 2
• A Boundary Survey Is A Diagnostic Tool- Not A Land Title Fix
• Is Providing a Land Title Report Sufficient Notice of an Easement that Burdens a Real Estate Parcel?
• The English and Roman Roots of the US Land Title System
• Why Should You Always Hire A Good Land Attorney To Submit Your Land Title Insurance Claim?

Infrastructure

• So You Want To Build A Short Energy Transmission Line
• Can You Know What Infrastructure Your Organization Owns Without A Good Survey?
• Scan-To-BIM Done Right – Part 1
• Does The California Building Code Require A Boundary Survey For A Building Permit?

Flood Hazards

• What Is LOMA? When Do You Need One?
• Do Flood Insurance Rate Maps Lie?
• What Is The Difference Between A LOMA And An Elevation Certificate?
• Is It In Our Out Of The Flood Zone?
• When Does A Land Surveyor Need To Calculate A Base Flood Elevation?
• The Half Of Building That Was Sort Of In The Floodplain
• No – I Won’t Do Your Flood Vent Calculations

How Much Should A Land Survey Cost?

• How Much Should A Boundary Survey Cost (The Work That Goes Into A Boundary Survey)
• How Much Should A Boundary Survey Cost (10 Things That Impact The Cost Of A Boundary Survey)
• Can A Good Boundary Survey Cost A Few Hundred Dollars?
• Can You Update A Boundary Survey For A Few Hundred Dollars?
• Why Are You Being Asked To Pay For A Record-Of-Survey Map?
• Ten Things That Impact The Cost Of A Boundary Survey
• Part Of The Value In Large Land Holdings Is Knowing What You Own
• What Is A LOMA? When Do You Need One?
• What is the Difference Between a LOMA and an Elevation Certificate?
• The Purchase Price Of Large Landholding Should Be Reduced By The Cost Of A Good Boundary Survey
• When Should A Land Surveyor Bill You On A Time-And-Materials Basis?
• We Just Walked Away From $130K Of Surveys – Why Would We Do That?
• If I Have To Help Your Attorney – There Is No Coupon Deal
• Why Our Land Survey Fees Are More Than Our Cost Of Labor
• Forecasting Land Development Costs
• What Happens When A Real Estate Buyer Is Smarter Than A Real Seller? (Don’t Get Angry)
• Most Surveyors Are Bad Boundary Surveyors
• Can I Survey Just One Line Of Your Parcel?
• You Don’t Want To Pay For Professional Advice – And Then Ask Your Consultant To Lie To You
• Ask The $4,000 Survey Company That Question
• Being A Wise Steward Of Client Funds – Lesson From Utility Dips And Traffic Control
• Do Two $900 Boundary Surveys Equal on $1800 Boundary Survey?
• Don’t Waste Money On A Boundary Survey That Will Be Rejected
• Excellent Land Surveyors Provide Transparent Billing
• Five Ways Bad Surveyors Take Short Cuts On Boundary Survey
• The Impact Of Land Use Types On Boundary Survey Costs

Land Title Surveys (ALTA Surveys)

• Do You Need To Locate Wetlands On Your Land Title Survey?
• Why Does Your Land Surveyor Need A Zoning Report To Complete A Land Title Survey?
• What Do You Need To Properly Order A Land Title Survey?
• Land Title Survey Quality – Who Should Care And Why?
• The Problem With Zoning Reports
• Why Building Setbacks Are A Challenge
• When Should You Map Sub-Surface Features On A Land Title Survey (ALTA Survey)
• How Do You Perform A Land Title Survey Of A Parcel That Doesn’t Exist Yet?
• The RH Standard Table A For Land Title Surveys – Why We Check The Boxes We Check
• How do You Add Specific Requirements To A Land Title Survey (ALTA Survey)?
• You Check Table A Item 1 On An ALTA Survey – Or You Don’t – There Isn’t An In-Between Option
• Land Title Survey (ALTA Survey) Table A Explainer: Item 2 – Addresses
• What Should Land Surveyors Do With Easements On A Land Title Survey?
• How Should Your Boundary Surveyor Handle Non-Survey Matters On A Land Title Survey (ALTA Survey)
• ALTA Surveys (Land Title Surveys) – Table A – Item 18
• ALTA Surveys (Land Title Surveys) Table A – Item 8
• ALTA Surveys – Three Table A Items You Don’t Need To Check – And Two Table A Items You Do
• ALTA Surveys – Table A: Item 6 (Zoning and Building Setbacks)
• ALTA Surveys – Table A: Item 1 (Monument Placement)
• 5 Things the ALTA Survey Specification Doesn’t Tell You.
• ALTA Survey (Land Title Survey) Table A – Item 4: Gross Land Area
• ALTA Survey Table A – Item 5: Vertical Relief
• ALTA Surveys: Table A: Item 9 Explainer (Parking)
• Can You Get Accurate And Reliable Commercial Real Estate Appraisal Without A Recent ALTA Survey?
• Land Title Survey (ALTA Survey) Table A Explainer: Item 3 – Flood Zones
• Negotiating the Addition of Notes to an ALTA Survey (Land Title Survey)

Frequently Asked Questions

• Should Civil Engineers Prepare Tentative Subdivision Maps
• Why Aren’t My Property Corner Monuments Set
• How Do I Subdivide My Parcel In California?
• When Do You Need A Survey For A Site Plan?
• When Should A Land Surveyor Map Easements?
• How Should You Handle A Large Fence Encroachment
• Do Flood Insurance Rate Maps Lie?
• When Do You Eliminate A Parcel In California?
• When Should A Boundary Surveyor Set Monuments On A Boundary Line With An Encroachment?
• What Is A Lot-Line-Adjustment? Why Would You Need One?
• What Is A Benefited Parcels Land Description? When Do You Need One?
• When Should You Sell Your Land Subdivision?
• What Is The Difference Between A Legal Parcel And A Buildable Parcel?
• What Is A Land Development Feasibility Study? When Do You Need One?
• What Is “Land Use Planning”?
• What Is A Private Land Planer? What Do They Do For Land Owners?
• What Is A Land Use Zone?
• How Do You Fix An Illegal Parcel In California?
• What Problems Happen When The Boundary Survey Doesn’t Match The Tax Assessor Map?
• When Should The Buyer Of A Real Estate Parcel Kick The Can Down The Road On A Problem?
• Why Do You Need A Quality Zoning Report? What Important Questions Should It Answer?
• What Three Things Should Your Real Estate Broker (or Agent) Be Checking In The Land Title Report?
• What Is A Tentative Land Subdivision Map (Tentative Map)?
• How Do You Fix An Unbuildable Parcel?
• Why Won’t The Boundary Surveyor You Hired For $800 Call You Back?
• What Type Of Negotiation Is Acceptable When Hiring A Professional Consultant?
• Can you just stake the overlap between the parcels?
• How many trees will I locate on your topographic survey?0
• Does the California Building Code require a boundary survey for a building permit?
• Can You Us811 (Call Before You Dig) For ALTA Surveys (Land Title Surveys) Table A – Item 11?
• How Do You Fix a Non-Conforming Real Estate Parcel
• How Do You Know if a Real Estate Parcel is a ‘Legal Parcel’?
• How Should You Handle a Large Fence Encroachment?
• Nine Things We Can Help with Long Before You Need a Survey – Part 1
• Part of the Value in Large Land Holdings is knowing What You Own
• Should Design Plans be Required for Land Subdivision Approval?
• Should You Get a Land Survey Before You Buy an Investment Parcel?
• What Does it Take to get a Building Permit in Central California?
• What is a “Good Boundary Survey”?
• What is a “Project” Under CEQA?
• What is a Boundary Encroachment? Why do They Cause Problems in Commercial Real Estate?
• What Is CEQA? Why Should You Care?
• What To Do When The Giant Engineering Firm You Hired For Your Project Stops Returning Phone Calls
• When Can An Architect Show Bearings and Distance For A Parcel Boundary On A Site Plan?
• Why Do You Need To Choose A Good Land Title Company For Your Next Alta Survey (Land Title Survey)?
• Don’t Ask Your Facilities Manager To Be The Real Estate Manager Without Proper Training

Land Development

• 3 Things You Should Get From A Land Surveyor On Your Next Set Of Civil Engineering Plans
• Why Do You Need Land Title Insurance If You Are Purchasing Real Estate With A Grant Deed?
• 3 Problems With Land Use Regulations Based On Slope
• How Mixed Use Can Add Value To Residential Subdivisions
• How Smart Lot Layout Can Increase The Value Of Your Land Subdivisions
• Transaction Costs In Commercial Real Estate – Part 1
• The Half Of Building That Was Sort Of In The Floodplain
• “My Structural Engineer Said Your Boundary Survey Doesn’t Fit His Building Design”
• Four Things You Should Include On Your Commercial Real Estate Due Diligence Survey
• How Many Questions Will I Answer For Free About Your Land Development Project?
• When Can An Architect Show Bearings And Distance For A Parcel Boundary On A Site Plan?
• The Insanity Of California Land Use Regulations
• So You Want To build A Short Energy Transmission Line
• No – I Won’t Do Your Flood Vent Calculations
• Land Title Companies Do Dumb Stuff – Part 2
• Overlap Between Land Use Regulations And Land Development Standards- Why It Happens
• What Should The Role Of The Attorney Be On Your Next Land Development Project?
• The Boundary Survey As A Risk Management Tool In Commercial Real Estate Investing
• Does The California Building Code Require A Boundary Survey For A Building Permit?
• Involve A Good Boundary Surveyor And Private Land Planner In Your Selection
• Hal’s 40 Acre Parcel Bought At Tax Auction – What Does It Teach Us?
• Helping People Make The Best Use Of Their Land
• Are Topography Surveys For Site Plans The Same As Topography Surveys For Design Purposes?
• Logic and Common Sense Should Determine The Timing Of Land Development Conditions
• Logic and Common Sense Should Determine The Timing Of Land Development Conditions
• The Difference In The Value Of Productive Land And The Value Of Building Site Parcels
• Don’t Leave Wiggle Room in Your Land Development Regulations
• Forecasting Land Development Costs
• Involve a Good Boundary Surveyor and Private Land Planner in Your Site Selection
• Land Development Costs are Hard to Forecast – Use Phasing to Reduce Upfront Costs and Risk
• Risks Of Government Actions In Real Estate Investment And Land Development
• The $10,000 Land Development Checklist
• The 2 Million Dollar Custom Home You Want To Buy Was Built Over a Giant Underground Water Pipeline
• The Economic Development Team Should Participate in Government Land Use & Land Development Decisions
• Vacancy and Neglect Can Erode the Value of Downtown Redevelopment – Lessons from Stockton
• What is a Land Development Feasibility Study? When Do You Need One?
• Why Did Sidewalk Labs Fail At Land Development In Toronto?
• Do We Still Need To Mark Property Corners With Physical Monuments? Or Can We Just Use Coordinates?

Real Estate Brokers

• Three Questions About Parcel Boundaries Your Real Estate Broker Should Be Helping You Answer
• Three Questions About Land Use Regulation Your Real Estate Agent Should Be Helping You Answer
• Three More Questions About Access Your Real Estate Broker Should Help You Answer
• California Laws Governing Your Relationship With A Real Estate Broker (Or Real Estate Agent)
• What Types Of Questions Should Your Real Estate Broker (or Agent) Be Helping You Answer?
• The Duties Of A Real Estate Broker (or Real Estate Agent)Under California Law
• Real Estate Broker (and Real Estate Agent) Liability Under California Law
• The 8 Ways To Terminate An Agency Relationship With A Real Estate Broker Under California Law
• Can You Be Held Liable For Your Real Estate Broker’s Mistakes Under California Law?
• How Boundary And Land Title Issues Impact The Value Of Commercial Real Estate Parcels
• An Introduction To Good Real Estate Broker Dot.Com
• Recessions Change Relationships in Real Estate – Make Smart Decisions to Protect Yourself

Zoning

• The Problem With Zoning Reports
• Dirt, Drains, Tress And Pyramids – Land Development In California Is Hard To Do!
• When Do You Eliminate A Parcel In California?
• Why Did The Sidewalk Labs Fail AT Land Development In Toronto?
• What Is “Land Use Planning”?
• What Is A Private Land Planer? What Do They Do For Land Owners?
• What Is Land Use Zone?
• Why Do You Need A Quality Zoning Report? What Important Questions Should I Answer?
• Can You Rezone to Create More Lots or Add Building Units to Your Land Development Project?