Eric D. Colburn, PLS

Professional Land Surveyor News

FEMA and NOAA Renew Partnership to Encourage Flood Safety

March 15, 2010

As one of the snowiest winter seasons in many years yields to warmer weather and the promise of rain and snowmelt, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s FloodSmart Campaign and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that they are again working together during Flood Safety Awareness Week (March 15-19) to raise awareness of the dangers associated with flooding and steps to protect against damage. Year in and year out, floods are the most common, costly and deadly severe weather related disaster in the U.S. NOAA will announce this year’s official spring flood outlook on March 16, and an unusually wet and snowy winter in many communities will likely increase the potential for spring flood events. Both agencies urge that important measures can–and should–be taken now to ensure safety and financial security, including obtaining flood insurance.

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Proposed Modernization Program to Net Additional $522 Million

Survey marks serve as permanent, accurate reference stations for precise positioning. High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

The NOAA-managed National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), the official U.S. government source for precise latitude, longitude and elevation measurements, provides more than $2.4 billion in potential annual benefits to the U.S. economy, according to a new independent study. Refining and modernizing the system for measuring elevation has the potential to net an additional $522 million in annual economic benefits.

Conducted by Leveson Consulting, Jackson, N.J., the study analyzed the total economic value of all revenue generated from private surveying and mapping as well as from related services in the government and nonprofit sectors. It also assessed the potential cost savings due to improved accuracy of position and elevation data.

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HUD

Announces eligibility for borrowers up to 125% underwater in Las Vegas with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Congresswoman Dina Titus
WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced an expansion of the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Refinance Program to include participation by borrowers who are current but up to 125 percent underwater on their mortgage. Under authorization provided by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, borrowers whose mortgages are currently owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will now be allowed to refinance those loans according to the terms of the Home Affordable Refinance program established earlier this year.

Secretary Donovan made the announcement while touring a neighborhood in Las Vegas with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Congresswoman Dina Titus. Las Vegas leads the nation in foreclosures and approximately 67 percent of the current mortgage holders have mortgages that are higher than the worth of their homes.

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A moderate price reduction but no risk of a property crash

The last market review published by the Fédération Nationale de l’Immobilier (FNAIM), which is the French National Federation of Real Estate Agents, confirmed the general trend with price reductions during the 1st quarter of 2009 but emphasise on the fact there is no risk of a property crash.

According to an internal survey carried out by the FNAIM (260 estate agents participated to it), their turnover for the 1st quarter of 2009 is down by an average 30% compared to the 1st quarter of 2008. An article published in the French newspaper “Le Monde” (mentioning the FNAIM market report and a report from the French notaires) indicates that the notaires activity in 2008 decreased by 20% compared to the previous year. The whole resale market decreased by 17%, from 802,000 in 2007 to 667,000 in 2008. New build sales dropped by 37.6% (79,400 in 2008 against 127,300 in 2007).

As a consequence, the major French property developers decided price reductions on most of their developments during the 4th quarter of 2008 and the 1st quarter of 2009 by 10 to 20%. Read the rest of this entry →

The many steps in performing a professional land survey each come together to complete a survey with many opportunities to achieve success, or suffer failure. Research, field reconnaissance, field surveying, office computations, boundary analysis and plan preparation each rely upon the successful completion of the other.

Sometimes there are obvious major missteps made during one process that result in seriously undermine the successful completion of future project tasks. More common, though, is the accumulation of often small inefficiencies and missed opportunities at each step in the surveying process that snowball causing lost profit, less time available for other work, and when these failures aren’t accounted for and fixed can result in a low quality, or incorrect survey.

Today I want to share a few ideas to improve the process of doing research for a professional land survey. The goal is to do the research task completely, efficiently, and not have to go back to do more research or make judgments without the benefit of missing deeds or maps. Hopefully, as research is often the first task which all the other tasks rely upon, if the research is done completely and efficiently, your project will be off to a good start.

5 Research Tips for Professional Land Surveyors:

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Survey Reveals Lack of Confidence in UK Property System (91% would use a “Buyers’ Agent”)
Written by Tim Hammond
Friday, 20 March 2009

A recent survey commissioned by the Association of Property Finders and Buyers Agents (APFBA) highlights a requirement for more clarity in the role of UK estate agents when dealing with both sellers and buyers to avoid conflicts of interest. It also suggests that the need for buyers to be represented properly has never been so apparent if confidence is to be restored. Over 2000 people were questioned between November 2008 and March 2009. Worryingly, two thirds of buyers questioned believe that estate agents work for both buyer and seller. On being reminded that estate agents are generally paid to represent the best interests of the seller, 89% of buyers accepted that a conflict of interest exists where an agent deals with both buyer and seller in the same transaction. Indeed, some 86% of those questioned said that they would get a fairer deal if they had a professional to represent Read the rest of this entry →

Buyer interest in UK property market increases for fourth month in a row.

Read this informative and interesting article about the UK housing market which indicates an improving housing market in the United Kingdom. Below is a small snippet of what would appear to be a sign of some economic recovery.

“Buyer interest in the property market in the UK is increasing across the country with London and the south of England leading the way, according to the latest survey to be published today.

Buyer enthusiasm which began growing in January continued to grow in February with interest in London at a high not seen for more than two years, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveryors’ UK housing market survey.”

Professional Land Surveyor Source: PropertyWire.com