01
What if the neighbor's fence is over the property line?
The Form T-47 affidavit asks an owner to swear that boundary fences and boundary walls have not moved since the date of the survey. A fence that was rebuilt or shifted makes that statement untrue. The title company then has nothing clean to rely on. A moved fence is what breaks the reuse of an old drawing.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer explains the reuse rule. A title company may accept an existing survey, whatever its age, if it accepts evidence of the survey plus an affidavit verifying it. For residential property in Texas that affidavit is the Form T-47. The survey still has to be acceptable to the company.
Red flag
Treating a long standing fence as the boundary is the costly habit. The T-47 states plainly that it is not a warranty or guarantee of the location of improvements. A buyer who wants the line confirmed needs the surveyor's drawing.
02
What happens if a building crosses the property line?
Schedule B item 2 of a Texas title policy carries a printed exception. It excepts any discrepancies, conflicts, or shortages in area or boundary lines. It also excepts any encroachments or protrusions, or any overlapping of improvements. A garage sitting partly on the neighbor's land is an encroachment. A roof edge reaching over the line is a protrusion.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer says which word applies, because the three are different. An encroachment sits on ground it does not own. A protrusion reaches over the line from a structure that does not. An overlapping of improvements has two structures claiming the same ground. The survey shows which one is in play.
Red flag
Calling the exception small print is the costly move. That exception is the part of the policy that removes boundary problems from coverage. A boundary the neighbors already dispute is a question for a Texas attorney, not for the title company.
03
What if the lot is smaller than the listing said?
Amending the area and boundary exception narrows it to shortages in area only. A shortage in area is the one category still excluded after a buyer pays for the amendment. Acreage that comes in short of the listing stays the buyer's problem. The amendment is worth buying for the other categories, but it does not make up missing land.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer compares two numbers: the acreage on the surveyor's drawing and the acreage in the listing or the deed. Where they disagree, the drawing is the number to negotiate from. In Georgetown, Round Rock and Liberty Hill, where T. Kerr Property Group works, acreage homesites are a regular part of the market.
Red flag
An answer that sells the amendment as full boundary protection is wrong on the point that matters. Shortages in area stay excluded. A buyer told the endorsement covers everything should ask to read the amended wording.
04
Who owns the driveway if it is shared with a neighbor?
A Texas owner policy addresses two access problems. One is undisclosed or unrecorded easements that are not otherwise apparent on the land. The other is no right of access to and from the land. A shared drive can be either one. The survey shows where the pavement sits, and a recorded easement shows who may use it.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer is a document, not a handshake. A recorded easement appears in the exception documents and on the survey. Where no such document exists, the buyer should hear that plainly. An access right everyone assumes is not an access right a policy can locate.
Red flag
A seller who says the neighbors have always shared it is describing a habit, not a right. Habits are not recorded. An unrecorded arrangement already in dispute is a question for a Texas attorney before closing, not after.
05
What if an easement runs through the spot where I planned to build?
A survey draws the recorded easements across the lot, so a buyer can see what the back yard actually is. The Form T-47 adds the part a drawing cannot carry. An owner swears there have been no easement grants or easement dedications since the date of the survey. An easement granted after that date would not appear on the old drawing.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer pairs the drawing with the paperwork. Every easement on the survey should have a matching item among the exception documents delivered under Paragraph 6B of the Texas contract, TREC Form 20-19. A plan for a pool or a shop belongs on that drawing before the option period ends.
Red flag
An answer that treats the easement as a line on a map misses the cost. Policy coverage reaches undisclosed or unrecorded easements, not the recorded one printed on the drawing. A buyer planning to build needs the easement read early, not after closing.
06
Does work on the neighbor's property change my survey?
The Form T-47 affidavit reaches past the lot being sold. An owner swears there have been no construction projects on immediately adjoining property since the date of the survey. A wall, deck or garage built next door can cross the line. A Texas survey drawn before that work would show none of it.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer is specific about dates: the date on the survey, and what has gone up next door since. Fresh concrete, a new fence line or a recent addition on the adjoining lot is a reason to use Box 2 or Box 3 of Paragraph 6C and order a new survey.
Red flag
Skipping the question because the work sits on somebody else's land is the mistake. The affidavit asks about adjoining construction because adjoining construction is what moves onto the lot being bought. A seller who cannot answer it is a reason for a new drawing.
07
What if there is a deed restriction nobody mentioned?
Undisclosed restrictive covenants sit on the Texas Department of Insurance list of defects an owner policy addresses. A restrictive covenant limits what an owner may do with the land. A survey will not list those limits, because a survey draws boundaries and improvements. The restriction has to be read out of the recorded documents.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer ties the restriction to a deadline. Restrictions arrive with the exception documents under Paragraph 6B of TREC Form 20-19. Paragraph 6D then gives a buyer 5 days after the cure period ends to terminate and take the earnest money back, or to waive the objection.
Red flag
An answer that calls the restrictions standard for the area is a guess. Restrictions run with the recorded documents for one specific tract. A restriction already in dispute with a neighbor or an association is a question for a Texas attorney.
08
Why was this acreage tract never platted?
Georgetown requires a plat for the division or development of land inside the city limits and inside its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Chapter 3.08.020 of the Unified Development Code exempts parcels being subdivided that remain over 5 acres. A large acreage tract can pass down for years with no plat behind it. No plat means no drawn subdivision boundary.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer names the document that defines the lines. On a platted lot that is the recorded plat. On an unplatted tract it is the deed description and the surveyor's field work. Georgetown's ETJ has no zoning, but the City still reviews the subdivision of land, stormwater and driveway permits.
Red flag
Assuming an older in town lot or a big tract has a plat on file is a common miss. Property in the unincorporated parts of the county must comply with Williamson County regulations, including its subdivision regulations. The surveyor, not the listing, settles where the lines run.
09
What if somebody has been using part of the land for years?
Paying the tax on land somebody else owns produces a tax receipt, not a deed. Long use is a separate question in Texas. Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.025(a) requires peaceable and adverse possession. It also requires all three of cultivating, using or enjoying the property, paying applicable taxes on it, and claiming it under a duly registered deed.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer names the elements and stops there. The test has elements and a time period. The elements are the ones the statute names. The period is a question for a Texas attorney. The survey's job is narrower: show what is being used, and where the line sits.
Red flag
A claim that years of mowing created ownership skips most of the test, because Section 16.025(a) requires those three conditions together with possession. A use already in dispute belongs with a Texas attorney before the option period ends, not with the surveyor.
This article is general information about the Central Texas market and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Statutes, rates, deadlines and district rules change. Confirm anything that affects a decision with a licensed attorney, a tax professional, the Williamson County Tax Assessor Collector or the Williamson Central Appraisal District before acting on it.
