Boundary Lines When Purchasing a Property

Bottom Dollar on 06/06/2025 - 12:28

This is the first time purchasing a property so technicalities are all new to me. I'm trying to navigate through it all but still find it overwhelming.
I've had a contract reviewed for a property in Sydney South East and it had identified that there are no boundary lines defined. Legal advice and personal advice from those with knowledge are saying do not buy this property however the agent is saying it's not as big of a deal as I am making it out to be. We would like to do some redevelopment to the property down the track (build up).

Anyone have experience being in this position? Advice?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • jv on 06/06/2025 - 12:32
    +3

    do not buy this property

    • Bottom Dollar on 06/06/2025 - 12:33

      noted - why?

      • jv on 06/06/2025 - 12:34
        +5

        All privately owned property has boundaries.

        • tenpercent on 06/06/2025 - 13:47

          If "all privately owned property has boundaries" and this 'property' has "no boundary lines defined" then
          it is not a property and therefore cannot be bought as a property?

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 06/06/2025 - 12:34
    +9

    there are no boundary lines defined

    Do you mean on the actual site, that is no fences? The land title doc should show the surveyed boundaries, and a licensed surveyor would be able to mark these with pegs prior to any development/building work.

    • jv on 06/06/2025 - 12:35

      Do you mean on the actual site

      I read it as the boundaries of what you are buying are not defined on the contract…

    • Bottom Dollar on 06/06/2025 - 12:39

      There is a risk of boundary disputes or adverse possession claims, as the actual occupation on the
      ground may not match the title boundaries. This can affect the value of the land and may be a
      concern for lenders, who sometimes require the limitation to be removed as a condition of
      finance. We recommend you provide a copy of the Contract to your lender to make sure the
      limitation will not hinder your finance approval.

      • boomramada on 06/06/2025 - 13:37
        +1

        Ask your conveyancer to add a clause, purchase based on surveye boundaries by licensed surveyor? and pay someone to get that done?

    • Bottom Dollar on 06/06/2025 - 12:47

      it's a limited title. Lawyers are requesting a GIPA from council

  • Eddie10089 on 06/06/2025 - 12:37

    Is it an older home? Or recently developed?

    • Bottom Dollar on 06/06/2025 - 12:40

      older home - built in 1940 and has had 4 owners.

  • pharkurnell on 06/06/2025 - 12:38
    +12

    the agent is saying it's not as big of a deal as I am making it out to be.

    What a shock…. he sees his sale and commission going out the window..

    • Bottom Dollar on 06/06/2025 - 12:40

      agree - I have voiced this and there are other buyers…

      • jjjaar on 06/06/2025 - 18:30
        +2

        agree - I have voiced this and there are other buyers…

        Are there other buyers, or is this just what the agent is telling you to skip your due diligence and just put in an offer?

        • Bottom Dollar on 07/06/2025 - 19:52

          Appears there are other buyers as the agent is saying no one is making it a big deal like I am

          • aragornelessar on 07/06/2025 - 21:38
            +1

            @Bottom Dollar: There's the old saying - "How do you know when a real estate agent is lying?"

            "His lips are moving"

          • jjjaar on 08/06/2025 - 00:40

            @Bottom Dollar: Yeah because no one is making any deal… because there’s no buyers.

          • Muppet Detector on 08/06/2025 - 09:28

            @Bottom Dollar: If the others aren't concerned, more fool them. Just because they're acting like fools, doesn't mean you have to.

            Maybe it is a good deal, everything is perfect and it will all work out fine, but it seems like an awful lot of money to gamble on something with so many potential problems down the line.

            If you miss this one, there will always be others.

            IMO, it is essential to have stuff like exact boundaries and zoning nailed down before you commit to this dog and pony show.

            If you don't know your precise boundaries, how would you even know of any past, current or future easements there may be for your property?

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 06/06/2025 - 14:14
      +4

      scumbag REA i swear

  • Dollar General on 06/06/2025 - 12:48
    +1

    It’s not clear what is in dispute here

    Contract of sale will have details of the parcel of land being purchased.

    Is the issue a re-establishment survey has not been conducted for a long time?

    If you have paid for legal advice, go with that advice

  • Protractor on 06/06/2025 - 12:49
    +1

    Surely the seller should show you survey pegs or other legally defined delineations?
    Did you even ask for boundary information?
    You could pay a state planning dept to produce the plan on a print out, at a cost, but it will take time. Or negotiate surveyor fees and get it surveyed. Personally if the seller has not already done that , I can only assume they are not fussed to sell, ergo you approached them to buy.
    Local govt may have street plan info somewhere, but again, more time and dealing with lazy fwits

  • MrThing on 06/06/2025 - 13:49

    aint no time for that until a surveyor does a mark out of the legal boundaries of the property

  • Bargainitis on 06/06/2025 - 13:59
    +2

    Sounds like a Limited Title.

    A few things to consider:

    • banks don't like financing limited title properties and often won't lend you the 80-90% LVR so you may need to come up with additional equity
    • Check if the neighbours are also limited titles or not. Some may have have removed the limited title which will give you a sense of where your boundary line might be
    • to get a limited title removed, you need to engage a surveyor and have them put in the paperwork to define a title. Cost is $5-6K

    You can use the above to negotiate price with the vendor / agent.

    Thank me later

    • Bottom Dollar on 06/06/2025 - 14:28

      This is really helpful. Thank you so much.
      Yes, it is a Limited Title. Do you know how I check the what the neighbours are on?

      • Bargainitis on 06/06/2025 - 15:27
        +1

        You'll have to run a search - your conveyancer should be able to (it'll cost money though). The issue is if they have title, it might still be hard to figure out exactly where your line is as the plans won't show it unless you had a surveyor do it on your land. My suggestion is more if there are neighbours that are happy to share the title lines and boundaries, you can get a sense of rough risk that you are taking on.

        For example, I had a property (I had title to) but my neighbour who was selling had limit title to theirs. The survey show that their boundary fence had slightly encroached on to mine (we are talking about 0.7 sqm). Legally I could ask them to remove and fix but commercially it didn't make a real difference in our day to day (it was also torwards the back where the shed was). However, the next buyer may take a different view on that risk.

        Now for extreme case, imagine if your current block is actually encroaching 20% of one of your neighbours (and hence the advertised block of land is 20% larger than it should be), thats a big problem to you and your lender as cost to remediate plus loss of land may make the asking price untenable.

        You should definitely approach this with caution. Dare I say the above case is a rarity, usually we are talking about 1-5% give or take.

  • stuffandthat on 06/06/2025 - 14:03
    +3

    Have you seen the Section-32? It's usually all defined in their. If not, I would be avoiding it. The last thing you need is a dispute from potentially 3 neighbours all claiming your land as theirs.

    • elgrande on 06/06/2025 - 18:50

      Section 32… you're so Victorian 🤣

  • cordsplace on 06/06/2025 - 15:32

    I have seen these issues before. Do not buy any property if you do not know the boundary lines. My poor neighbour built a back brick wall that adjoined my back wall. On inspection by the council she found out our side fence, which had been installed a couple of years earlier, had not been aligned correctly and had moved over a few centimetres into my property. I told my neighbour of 20+ years that it was not an issue to me but she told me it was one to the council and she had to remove those few centimetres from her wall. When building a fence around a newly constructed holiday home many years ago I found one boundary peg missing. i paid a surveyor to come up from Perth to reset the boundary lines. That turned out to be a smart move when a boundary dispute arose some years later.

  • lew380 on 07/06/2025 - 12:30

    What are we talking about here? 1 or more boundaries are unfenced and the pegs are gone, unsurprisingly? Then it's not a big deal, can get a surveyor to put the peg back in. If your talking about dwellings or infrastructure built over an ambiguous boundary and possible in error. The definitely need it surveyed.

    Im a surveyor, not in cadastral surveys ATM tho. Most of the time people argue over centimetres on a new fence install, eave encroachment or a leaning fence. In that case, no need to stress. Need more info of what this undefined boundary means.

  • Euphemistic on 07/06/2025 - 13:54
    +1

    If you still really want it, you need to work out how to establish the boundaries. That is a probably a combination of getting a survey and working it out with council or the titles office (or whqtever that is called)

    • Bottom Dollar on 07/06/2025 - 19:55

      I kinda do but I'm scared to buy it at auction as you're locked in straight away basically.
      I've put in the contract that the vendors cover the cost for me to get it done or they get it done but they're not going to go for it though, they're going to take the easiest contract but worth a shot when you have to pay for the revision anyway

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