For online consultation per the hour via email and DIY land surveying and related services you can pay in advance with the PayPal button at the bottom of this page:
Menu of Surveys:
General provisions for all menu items:
I have been drumming up business with my 50% discount to my regular hourly charges for invoices paid within 30 days and discounts of at least 30% for my time on prepaid surveys or quick payment of invoices within 14 days. Also my clients can pay by credit card using my PayPal option. It is working and I am having fun building my repeat clients and many more clients are realizing the quality and fair prices of my services. I am the only surveyor with a five out of five star rating at yellowpages.com for my local area near Tulsa, OK.
Ask about my "online consulting surveying services" to help you save time and money on your survey project. Email me at
or
for more details.
Extra discounts are given for payment within 14 days for invoice. I budgets are important to the client then arrangements can be made for special credit or budget account setups with the project spread out and broken up for the budget of time and amount phases. With PayPal, credit cards are being accepted more and more by more for survey payments to get the surveyor out of the financial business and concentrate more on the surveying. Normally progress on larger surveys is based on promptness of payment.
Mileage and travel time charge based on the departure point and round trip actual mileage logged to project and normally billed with in the invoice. Rates, etc., are subject to change. A proposal package can be sent with prices or estimates based on a menu items below or similar. As a survey progresses, it is normal for budget and task revisions based on the survey field investigation results. Clients will be billed for the expenses and limited additional time needed to provide the most affective site visits and office work.
Surveys are usually unique but have similar characteristics. The Survey Menu Samples are being revised at times. Just copy and paste what you think applies to your needs in an email to Gary Breisch (
) and note any special needs or provisions that are unique to your survey so that Gary can review offline and respond to your special needs.
Menu Item 1. - Preliminary Survey Opinion (resulting from field investigation):
This type of survey is performed by a Registered Professional Land Surveyor (RPLS).
It usually takes about of 3 to 5 hours of office time to setup files, research records, correspond with the client, and start the field preparation drawings and maps needed for the field visit or description exhibits. With more information available online or via email and faster field equipment with GPS, much more work is done remotely from the office and less time is taken for the field these days. The office and field time depends on field conditions and/or documentation available as a basis of survey.
If the sides of the lot or tract are curved or at odd angles, more time is required to construct the boundary to check for closure before the field visit can be scheduled. It is essential to visit the field with good information and to take the time to check it out thoroughly. Many times the client is surprised to find that his lot is more complicated than just 4 - 90 degree sides to discover that it has a curved side with other "points" that become more obvious with the plat or description check. Sometimes the description or plat has missing elements nearby the subject property that have to be calculated from distant boundaries. What may have appeared simple, once one gets their head into it, can become a challenging puzzle and take time to resolve or form a plan of approach for a survey scenario, considered before the field visit.
This survey normally does not involve a site visit to collect site information for the more complicated tracts outside of subdivision lots. All the information collected can be made available with a report or summary in the form of email correspondence and is useful for the client. The surveyor's opinion helps the client understand more about his property and what is needed if anything to make a decision, plan ahead or solve a mystery or problem. A picture or in this case a drawing is worth a thousand words. A drawing of a description with overlay of map features may be all that is needed. Such drawings or maps can be used to clear land or obstacles before the field visit or before construction of major improvements near boundaries that are revealed better in graphical format.
Smaller, established, and quality subdivision lots in Tulsa, for example normally involve a field visit, marking of pins found or set and/or a written report on the findings by a Professional Land Surveyor. Documents are usually collected and physical evidence on the ground is evaluated and flagged. Larger plots of land with many obstructions and very little physical evidence of any recent surveys in the area will take much more time to evaluate than the more simple lot in a subdivision survey.
Above pictures from long ago and recent. From the left is Sharon, my wife helping and learning a bit about surveying. From the right is my grandchildren and daughter, Elisabeth who used to help in the office with invoice related work and used to help in the field. Now, mostly, I do all the field and office work by myself or with the client. Most people have no idea of how hard it is to do the complicated office and field work necessary to produce the exhibits needed by the client.
A Surveyor’s opinion can be used for evidence as to the Survey condition of the Real Estate and how it relates to the land and existing structures.
This type of survey can be based on documents the client provided before the site visit and subsequent investigation of readily obtainable evidence from the County Assessor’s map base.
The extra cost of mileage and material expenses are normally billed on a weekly or monthly cycle and schedule.
For add-on value some clients will utilize other menu items or opt for adding services by the hour to serve specific needs.
Please make sure all your contact and billing information is correct on the “Project Information Form” or just include it in your email correspondence as I do at the bottom of most of my emails. A retainer is usually required on all projects. This separates the shoppers from those that are serious about obtaining my quality services and working with me on the details and their needs. This makes for more hours aimed at progress on your survey and less hours wasting time on estimates. Provide a budget amount to get the survey going and work out the details based on the initial investigation is the best use of my professional services. Prompt payment will help establish credit with your surveyor and assure prompt delivery of your project and future projects.
A project number or file reference that may also include an account name or number is created for your project that is very important for you to note. The date code is uses for example 4/11/2010 is 20100411. Then your initials is added to that number for example 20100411-JD for John Doe as the client. This will aid in archive recovery of your project should you require additional survey related work related to the transfer or improvement of your property.
Surveys are usually unique but have similar characteristics. The Survey Menu Samples are being revised at times. Just copy and paste what you think applies to your needs in an email to Gary Breisch (
) and note any special needs or provisions that are unique to your survey so that Gary can review offline and respond to your special needs.
2. Preliminary Survey Research is performed by a Registered Professional Land Surveyor.
Legal documentation and previous survey information research is performed to bring the client’s files up to date with available information on a piece of real estate.
This may involve going to the courthouse to seek records or other sources to recover documentation on the legal status of the property. It is recommended that the client arrange for obtaining those records to for education and awareness the subject property records and the records of common boundary owners. The records found might reveal other nearby surveys of records or information that might tie the boundary to the nearest valid survey markers on the ground and verified by the records on file with the County Clerk and Assessor.
With this information, a Preliminary Survey can proceed or the client can use the information to gather site data to be used for other purposes.
Surveys are usually unique but have similar characteristics. The Survey Menu Samples are being revised at times. Just copy and paste what you think applies to your needs in an email to Gary Breisch (
) and note any special needs or provisions that are unique to your survey so that Gary can review offline and respond to your special needs.
Often companies will provide you with a “Standard Billing Rate Schedule” sheet or sheets – Each Category has an associated Hourly Rate. I just call my sheet "Rates, etc." The rates should be proportional to the skill level and speed of the crew members and the support staff. Also, some surveyors put a lot more time in your survey than they charge in the form of discounts to increase customer satisfaction or loyalty. Email me so I can send you my current rate sheet with discounts and extra discounts for good credit clients and those who pay within 14 days of the invoice.
The extra cost of mileage and material expenses are normally billed on a weekly or monthly schedule. If the client calls or writes in for additional work outside of the normal tasks or if extreme difficulty has been encountered, an hourly rate usually applies unless otherwise noted in writing by client.
This is the most economical choice because you pay for only what you need. The challenge is to specify exactly what you want. If you do not know what you want or what is required, it is wise to choose the preliminary survey route so that time is allowed to investigate the survey condition. Every survey point and document has great value and the goal is to provide the best value for your resources.
Turnaround and interest rates saved by a quality survey can pay for itself in savings now and then. Oftentimes the cost of a survey is requested on the phone without much information.
That is like going to the Doctor with a pain and wanting the doctor to tell you the cost of the fix. It costs you a visit, appointment, or session for the cost up front usually with a lot of time of your own to fill out forms to describe history and conditions to help the doctor start the process. Then comes the tests and examination. Next comes pills or an operation and followup to fix or provide you with a solution or plan of action. The Doctor runs tests to research your problem and so do most surveyors in the form of research and the elements of a preliminary survey.
Evidence, Evidence, Evidence, the three most important elements of a survey. Evidence in the form of documentation is very important for the time and money spent. Documentation that comes with the land and will go with the land forever is the focus of a survey. Please remember that a drawing is worth a thousand words, especially in a survey. That is why I have said many times that there are three most important things to consider with a survey:
1. EVIDENCE. 2. EVIDENCE. 3. EVIDENCE.
Whatever evidence can be provided by the client can be reviewed by the surveyor to render an opinion on what options the client may have to proceed with his project.
Additional menu items will be added as time and resources allow. Please email Gary for additional information that he can send via email in the meantime.
Did you know that most attorneys and surveyors do not know what a metes and bounds survey is all about? Ask one what the bounds part of metes and bounds mean and why it is so important and left out of most so called "legal" descriptions. There is no good reason it is left out other than ignorance and the education system more and more since the last 35 years or so. In the apprentice system of leaning, it was better known, practiced, and perpetuated.
Nowadays you cannot find the funding set aside for County Surveyors or programs to perpetuate the base grid that make up the survey system with original monuments. I hope to see this change for the better in the future as we promote the importance and awareness of this and correcting it.
A good survey description will have calls of the actual monuments that are found or set. Monuments with their true State Plane Coordinates are the most important front line evidence in a court of law in land disputes.The metes or "dimensions" consisting of distances and bearings (relative angles to each line from monument to monument) are not as important, however they are extremely important in order to find the most important form of evidence, the monumentation or bounds part of the description best shown in a drawing as evidence.
Here is a recent email experience with a more common situation for a survey in a "bad subdivision" that most surveyors would avoid and have avoided like a plague. These types of surveys are the most challenging and take the most patience. I have done many others nearby that were extremely challenging out in the Counties of Pawnee and Osage County. Many of them were never checked for closure or accuracy and are seriously flawed. An old vet surveyor was called by clients in this Osage County subdivision and he refused to do the the survey for several reasons. Perhaps I will provide more information as to why but here is some of the emails:
Hi Mandy,
I understand your position and have a higher respect for your reasoning since you understand and agree on most of the tasks.
Since you do not want the expense and value of the Plat of Survey, then lets boil this down some more so we can plan ahead and do this for the least cost and work.
I have the latest greatest equipment for doing this. Perhaps if you understand the advantages to using Survey Accurate GPS we can all work together to expedite this and act as a team in the effort and tasks.
Try to visualize going to court and presenting your case to show evidence how set your corners. First you will show the judge what you used to base the survey. We call it a "base line" with one end the base point and the other a bearing point. The distance of the base line needs to agree, within reason, with the plat or a survey that has been certified or recorded even if we have to go back to the original section corners that I mentioned before. So we must find and then I must set up my GPS to see the sky over at least two good points to base my survey that tie to the rest of the lines that are documented.
You can help and save much time by finding those two points so that we can use them to get the base line set up and then prepare for setting only the critical pins you want.
I usually set or log the base line points and a bunch of other points that I set in open areas as near to where the final pins are estimated to be. Keep in mind that if I cannot see very far due to thick wooded areas, I must set at least two points in each clearing so we can come off of them to get where we want by more conventional method of tape or total station setups to set the desired pins.
There is much more to the story but this will get you thinking and help you prepare and save much money in the process. Once you understand this, we can work together and make some positive progress on what you need. While out there, it is a very good idea to make friends with and get information from the neighbors if they are available or show any interest.
I have a lot of projects going but I will plan to work yours in and accelerate it when you are ready. More later...............
Gbreisch.com
-----Original Message----- From: Mandy Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 1:03 PM To:
Cc: ELISABETH BREISCH;
Subject: RE: 20N10E14-20070529-VA.pdf - Adobe Reader
Gary,
The reason I don’t want a drawing is because we just want the pins
located. I know it will cost me more for a plat of survey, and I don’t
want to put the money into that right now, just locating the pins. If
and when I come to a point where I need this, I would rather it be while
I’m building my house and I can get a draw from the mortgage company.
Right now I don’t want to let go of anymore cash than what is necessary,
and right now, a plat is not necessary. I know that the plat is screwy.
I understand about getting the neighbors to agree and that is something
I would take seriously, and possibly have them and me do an Affidavit
and file it in the county.
I know the lot is difficult as my husband and I have gone out there with
a shonestead and 100ft measuring tape to try to find something. My
husband used to do surveying, for several years, and he also did the CAD
drawings for all sorts of maps, including topo maps.
Let me talk to my husband and see what he is thinking about all of this,
and get back with you next week. I will try to have a definite answer
for you then.
Thank you for the time you have taken so far,
Mandy
I have from time to time run across a phone call from what may seem to be a potential client that just does not want to take time to understand the reasons why maps are so important to a survey. It takes a lot of time to map a survey or survey evidence, however it agrees with the old saying that a picture (map in this case) is worth a thousand words.
Usually narrow minded shoppers for surveys do not call back which is just as well because of several reasons. My best clients are those who not only appreciate the work of a surveyor, but who will take the time it takes to listen, learn and benefit from the experience, process, and knowledge.
You are most likely going to be one of my better clients and develop a loyalty with me so we can both benefit from our relationship if you are reading this now. My best clients are intelligent and very easy to communicate with using this great system of email and internet. We who use this great resource know why and can save much time and resources that the old mail and fax systems never had. Plus we can get so much more done so we can spend more time being creative and building things instead of just talking about it. Actions speak much louder than words. Putting it in writing will have more impact that just words and can be very powerful for progress.
Thank you for reading this and I hope that we will will meet personally and enjoy the journey and experiences that land surveying can bring to both of us.
I have many experiences since 1965 regarding surveying and life to share with others to help other live life more abundantly as it was designed in the beginning.
For online consultation per the hour and DIY land surveying and related services you can pay with PayPal below button:
more to come - more to come - more to come - more to come
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