Where are the Property Lines for Homes in Sacramento?

A buyer’s agent asked this Sacramento Realtor the million-dollar question yesterday. She wanted to know where are the property lines for a home in Sacramento. Yes, just go ahead and ask your seller, the agent requested. Well, I will advise the seller not to answer that kind of question. Even if he thinks he knows the answer to where are the property lines, he should not discuss it. Because he could be wrong. Little puts a person more at risk than being absolutely certain where the property lines are located.

Besides, there are tools available and better ways to answer where are the property lines. In the early 1970s, I worked for a few years as a title searcher at First American Title. That meant I was responsible for piecing together a chain of title from the U.S. Patent forward. Some of that information was already updated on punch cards, but we didn’t have computers. If we didn’t have a punch card, then it meant a trip to the county courthouse. Which involved Grantor and Grantee books. Manual entries from pens dipped into an ink well.

Anybody can draw out property lines from property descriptions. It’s not rocket science. Simply use a protractor and a ruler. It helps to read this piece about legal descriptions, which I also wrote.

To answer the agent’s question about where are the property lines in Sacramento, I emailed her the preliminary title report. In the prelim is the metes and bounds description. The thing to remember is there is always a POB, the point of beginning. You begin at the POB and end at the POB. If you can follow directions, you can do it.

Another solution is to walk the property itself and look for a “pin” which is a marker in the ground at the corners. A pin is more likely to be discovered for a much older home than a newer property.

An easy solution for those who really do not care one way or the other about an extra foot here or there is to ask your neighbor. Just agree on a property line. Bear in mind that there is no guarantee with this solution that the neighbor won’t sell to an individual who disagrees with your agreed-upon assessment.

The very best way to settle where are the property lines for homes in Sacramento is to hire a surveyor. That expense can set a person back $500 to $1,000 or more. Which is why nobody really knows where the property lines are located.