6 Ways to Find an Existing Survey on a Texas Property
Owner Guide · Texas

6 Ways to Find an Existing Survey on a Texas Property

The fastest way to find a survey of a Texas property is to look where the last sale left one. A title company may accept an existing survey rather than require a new one, whatever its age. That one acceptance can take a fresh survey bill off the table. Six places are worth checking, in the order most likely to work.

6 things to know T. Kerr Property Group

Here are the six places an existing survey is most likely to be sitting.

The short version, in order
01Start with the closing package from your purchase 02Often yes, it had to accept the survey 03A lender that required one still holds it 04Often yes, and an update may be possible 05Not the way a survey does, it shows the subdivision 06No, the district holds values and parcel records
01

Did I already get a survey when I bought the property?

A survey was part of the purchase. Paragraph 6C of the TREC contract handles it, and under box 1 the seller furnishes an existing survey plus a T-47 affidavit or T-47.1 declaration. Those documents go to the buyer during the transaction. So a Texas owner should open the closing package before calling anyone.

What a strong answer sounds like

A good hunt starts with the box or folder from closing. The title commitment comes before closing and the owner policy is issued after it, so both tend to be filed together. Look for a folded drawing made by a registered professional land surveyor, with a date on it. The closing package is the single most likely place and the one most people never open.

Red flag

Watch for a search that starts with a call to a surveyor. That order often ends in paid work the owner may not need. Checking documents already in hand costs nothing. A survey sitting in the file can carry the whole requirement, because a title company may accept an existing survey and not require a new one.

02

Would the title company still have a copy of my survey?

The title company had to approve the survey. Paragraph 6C of the TREC contract requires the survey to be made by a registered professional land surveyor acceptable to the title company and the buyer's lender. A company that accepted a survey once had the drawing in hand. That makes the closing title company a short call worth making early.

What a strong answer sounds like

A good request names the file. The owner gives the property address, the closing date and the name on the deed, then asks for the survey and the affidavit from that file. The title commitment and its Schedule B exceptions sit in the same place. Asking for all of it at once saves a second call.

Red flag

Watch for a brush off that the file is too old to pull. Age alone does not disqualify an existing survey. A title insurance company may accept one notwithstanding the age of the survey or the identity of the person it was prepared for. A request refused on vagueness is worth repeating with the exact address and date.

03

Does the mortgage lender keep a copy of the survey?

A lender sits inside the survey requirement. Paragraph 6C of the TREC contract says the surveyor must be acceptable to the buyer's lender. Under box 1 the buyer obtains a new survey when the title company or the lender will not accept the existing one. A lender that insisted on a survey received a copy of it.

What a strong answer sounds like

A good request goes to the loan servicer and asks for the closing file, naming the survey inside it. The loan number and the property address move it along. Paragraph 6C ties the survey to lender acceptance, so the lender file is a fair place to ask. One call either produces the drawing or rules the lender out.

Red flag

Watch for an assumption that every purchase has a lender copy waiting. No loan means no lender file. An owner who paid cash should spend that time on the title company and the surveyor instead. Naming the wrong holder wastes days at the start of a hunt.

04

Can the surveyor who drew the old survey send me another copy?

A survey is dated and attributed. The T-47 affidavit refers to the Date of the Survey, so the drawing carries a date and the name of the firm behind it. That firm is the one most likely to still hold the file. A call to the original surveyor is a request for a record, not an order for new field work.

What a strong answer sounds like

A good call opens with the address, the date printed on the drawing and the firm name. Many firms can reissue or update their own prior work. The owner should ask what a reissue of the existing drawing involves, then ask separately about an update. Those are two different requests and they deserve two separate answers.

Red flag

Watch for a drift from copy to new survey with nobody saying so out loud. A copy is also only half the job. Somebody still has to sign the T-47 or the T-47.1 honestly, and that signature covers changes since the survey date. An owner should hear which document is being quoted before agreeing to anything.

05

Does the recorded plat at the county show my property lines?

A plat and a survey answer different questions. A plat is required for the division or development of land inside the Georgetown city limits or in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. It shows the lot layout and the easements for a subdivision. A survey shows what actually sits on one lot, so a plat is useful but it is not a substitute.

What a strong answer sounds like

A good check starts with whether a plat exists at all. Parcels being subdivided that remain over 5 acres do not need a plat under Chapter 3.08.020 of the Unified Development Code. So acreage that was never platted may have no plat behind it. T. Kerr Property Group works across Georgetown, Round Rock and Liberty Hill, with a focus on relocation buyers, luxury sales and acreage homesites.

Red flag

Watch for a plat offered in place of a survey. A plat will not show where a shed, a pool or a boundary fence sits on one lot. An owner who sends a plat when a survey was asked for has not answered the request. The work then comes back around later.

06

Can I get a survey from the Williamson Central Appraisal District?

An appraisal district is a valuation record, not a survey archive. The Williamson Central Appraisal District appraises property and administers exemptions for Williamson County, publishes its own forms and deadlines, and offers a property search. It will not hand over a survey of a private lot. It will confirm the parcel and the legal description.

What a strong answer sounds like

A good use of the WCAD property search is confirmation, not discovery. The owner pulls up the parcel and copies the legal description exactly as it reads. That wording is what a surveyor or a title company needs in order to open a file. The WCAD office sits at 625 FM 1460 in Georgetown for an owner who would rather ask in person.

Red flag

Watch for a hunt that stops at the parcel map because the map looks official. A parcel map is drawn for valuation work. It is not a boundary document and it carries no surveyor's certification. An owner who measures a setback off it is working from the wrong paper.

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.

Common Questions

Frequently asked questions.

Where can I get a copy of my property survey?

Ask by document name rather than by description. The request is for the survey and the T-47 affidavit or T-47.1 declaration from the file, with the property address and the closing date attached. Paragraph 6C of the TREC contract pairs those two documents, so a file holding one often holds the other.

How to get a survey of my property for free?

Nothing public hands out a survey of a private lot. The copies worth chasing cost nothing to request: the closing package, the title company, the lender and the surveyor who drew it. A new survey is paid professional work. Free means finding the old drawing, not getting a new one made.

How long is a property survey good for in Texas?

On a purchase there is no expiry date. Procedural Rule P-2 lets a title insurance company accept an existing survey and not require a new one for area and boundary coverage, notwithstanding the age of the survey or who it was prepared for. The company has to be willing to accept evidence of the survey and an affidavit verifying it, and the survey must be acceptable to the company, and the company may not require an indemnity from a seller, buyer, borrower or lender to provide it. The seven year limit people repeat sits in Procedural Rule P-2.b and covers residential refinance transactions only.

What is a T-47 affidavit for?

The T-47 is how an existing survey gets used again. The affiant swears that since the date of the survey there have been no new structures, buildings, rooms, garages, swimming pools, deckings or other permanent improvements, no changes in the location of boundary fences or walls, no construction on immediately adjoining property, and no conveyances, replattings or easement grants. The T-47.1 is the unsworn declaration version and needs no notary. Both took effect 1 November 2024.

Who pays for a new survey if the title company rejects the old one?

It is negotiated, not fixed by custom. Paragraph 6C of the TREC contract is a set of boxes and the parties check one. Under box 1, if the title company or the buyer's lender will not accept the existing survey or the affidavit, the buyer obtains a new survey at whichever party's expense is checked. Box 2 puts a new survey at the buyer's expense and box 3 puts it on the seller.

Talk It Through

Find the old survey before paying for a new one

T. Kerr Property Group works with owners in Georgetown, Round Rock and Liberty Hill, and Tanya Kerr was named an expert source on the Central Texas market. An owner who cannot turn up an existing survey can walk the closing file through with a top real estate agent in Georgetown and start on the website.

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