Should buyers get a new survey done if an older one exists?
Not usually. “If there’s an older one on file and there hasn’t been much change to the property, I wouldn’t normally suggest getting a new survey,” says Kim McCann, a broker with Century 21 in Grand Bend, Ont. Still, you should walk the property with the survey in hand to ensure there are no unexpected changes or surprises. “And, just to be safe, I always suggest getting title insurance,” says McCann. Title insurance protects your title—or ownership—against losses incurred because of title defects that were unknown to the purchaser or not detected during the title search, which could include unpaid liens, costs arising from building code violations, and other issues.
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