If you are looking at buying some property, you may be hesitant to have an environmental survey done. That is too bad because it can get you a lot of useful information about the land. Whether you have it done with aerial surveying or some other way, here are some of the benefits to bringing in an environmental consulting firm to complete the survey for you.

• You will get a better idea of the boundaries. They say that good fences make good neighbors, well knowing where to put the fence is the first step in that process. This can also be important if you are going to make changes to the house that is on the land. One thing that happens all the time is that people have the wrong idea of where their property begins and ends. A reputable environmental engineering company can give you more precise boundaries of the land. You can also learn if the boundary description you have been given is as accurate as it should be. This can be really important if the property in question borders on a road or highway.
• You can make sure the zoning classification is accurate. Most of the time, you will know how a piece of property has been classified by the zoning authorities but it can give you more peace of mind when you find out that this was done properly. You need to know that the property you are buying has been zoned for the way you plan to use it. One part of any good aerial surveying job will give you the most up to date classification of the land. You can take the results of the survey to your lawyer so you can make sure you are going to be able to use the land as you want to use it.
• You will get clarification on what your neighbor’s access to your property is. There are properties where one property actually blocks access to a road or highway. In these instances, easements may be a part of the property agreement. By having aerial surveying done can codify those agreements and make them more clear for everyone involved.
• You can find water that is underground. The surveys that are done on most properties generally only look at the water that is visible. That does not mean that the water you can see is the only water on the land. You may learn that there is water underground on the land when you have an environmental consulting firm do an environmental survey. Knowing the property has wetlands on it can make a bit difference.
• You can learn if you have any responsibilities to your neighbors. There are times when a property owner has a legal responsibility to maintain a joint driveway or other structure. This is something you can learn when you have an environmental survey.
• You can learn if you can legally make improvements to the property. When you buy land, you may want to make changes to it. You need to know that you can do what you want to do with the land and that it will be legal.
• You will find any drains, power lines and other buried items. Some of the time, the wires are visible and obvious but that is not always the case. If there are power, cable or telephone lines, you will need to know that before you start doing work on the property. If there are manhole covers, poles, drains and lines that are buried on the property, you need to know that and an environmental survey can tell you where they are and what you need to do to avoid hitting them when you dig on the land.
• You may find a cemetery. This is more of a rare issue but it is possible that the land you want to buy was used as a family cemetery. The chances are slim that there is an old burial ground on the land but that is something that shows up when environmental surveys are done.

Some people will balk when it comes to having an aerial surveying job done but there are a lot of good reasons to move forward with it. The information gathered is useful.