By Amanda Galbraith | July 8, 2026

Here's a line that should get every buyer's attention. The Arkansas Real Estate Commission puts it plainly: "By far one of the biggest mistakes buyers make when purchasing real estate is choosing not to have a new survey completed."

That's not a surveyor trying to sell you something. That's the state agency that regulates real estate agents, telling you where buyers go wrong.

So let's walk through it — what a survey is, what it catches, when you actually need one in Central Arkansas, and what it costs. This is one of the questions I get most from buyers who are trying to decide where to spend their money before closing, and it's an easy one to get wrong.

What a survey actually shows you

A survey is a professional map of your property. A licensed surveyor locates the corners, measures the lines against the recorded legal description, and marks what's really there versus what people assume is there.

A good boundary survey tells you four things:

• Where your property lines actually run — measured from the legal description and physical markers, not from where a fence happens to sit.
• Easements — the legal right someone else has to use part of your land, like a utility company's line or a right-of-way that lets a neighbor cross your lot.
• Encroachments — anything crossing a boundary. A neighbor's fence three feet onto your side. A shed that straddles the line. A shared driveway that isn't split the way everyone believes.
• Setbacks — how far structures have to sit from your lines, which decides whether you can add a pool, a shop, a fence, or put a manufactured home on the lot.

The Real Estate Commission shared a couple of real cases that make this concrete. In one, a seller genuinely believed a strip of land was hers and had maintained it for years — the buyer found out after closing that she never owned it. In another, a buyer was satisfied to have the seller just "mark the corners." That didn't end well either. In both, the buyer was left holding the bag, because once you close, there's usually no one else to hold responsible for what a survey would have caught.

A survey is not the same as your other protections

This is where a lot of Central Arkansas buyers get a false sense of security. You're already paying for a home inspection, an appraisal, and title insurance — so surely the boundaries are covered somewhere in there, right?

Not really. Each of those professionals has a specific job, and none of them is establishing your property lines:

• Title insurance protects you against recorded problems with ownership — undisclosed liens, unknown heirs, a forged deed. But the title company does not go out and measure where your lines run. In fact, standard owner's policies carry a "survey exception," meaning boundary and encroachment problems a survey would have revealed generally aren't covered unless you provide a survey. (For more on how these policies work, see who pays for title insurance in Arkansas.)
• The appraisal uses the legal description to value the home, but it won't tell you whether the neighbor's carport is over your line or whether an easement limits what you can build.
• The home inspection is about the house — roof, HVAC, plumbing, electrical. It stops at the walls. It's not looking at the land. (Here's what a home inspection in Central Arkansas actually covers.)
• Your lender doesn't establish boundaries either — unless it specifically requires a survey as a condition of the loan.

As the Commission puts it, the only professional truly capable of establishing property lines, rights, and access is a surveyor. Everyone else is working from the paperwork.

Is a survey required in Arkansas?

Legally, no. Arkansas doesn't require a buyer to get a new survey to close on a home.

But "not required by law" and "not required for your deal" are two different things. In practice, a survey often gets required by one of the gatekeepers:

• Your lender may require one, especially on rural or acreage properties.
• The title company may require a survey (or an improvement location certificate) to issue full coverage — particularly on a flip, a property with unclear setbacks, or a parcel where the improvements might cross a building line.
• The rule of thumb many title companies use is that roughly 5 acres or more triggers a survey requirement. Hilly, wooded, or waterfront parcels — where natural features have been used as boundaries and can shift over time — often trigger one too.

One thing that is not a safe substitute: relying on the previous owner's old survey. The Commission specifically warns against this. Fences move, structures get added, and lines can be affected by all kinds of events since that older survey was done. An out-of-date survey can give you confidence in exactly the wrong information.

What a survey costs in Central Arkansas

The good news is that for most buyers, this is one of the cheaper line items in the whole transaction.

• A basic residential boundary survey on a standard platted lot under an acre typically runs about $400 to $900 in Arkansas.
• Larger or more complex lots generally fall in the $500 to $2,000 range, with rural acreage on the higher end because there's more ground to cover and fewer existing markers.
• A full ALTA/NSPS survey — the detailed commercial-grade version some transactions call for — runs $2,400 to $6,400.
• A FEMA elevation certificate, if you need one for flood insurance, is a separate $200 to $700.

Set that against a median Little Rock home price around $280,000 as of June 2026, and a few hundred dollars to confirm exactly what you're buying starts to look like cheap insurance. Always get a written quote from two or three licensed surveyors before you book — pricing varies.

When it really pays off in Central Arkansas

Our market is a mix, and the survey decision changes depending on what you're buying.

Lean toward getting a survey when:

• You're buying acreage or a rural property in Faulkner, Lonoke, or the outer edges of Pulaski County — where fences, shared driveways, and well and septic setbacks all matter, and where a misplaced line can cost you real usable land.
• There are fences, outbuildings, sheds, or a driveway near the edges of the lot — anything that could be sitting over a line.
• You plan to add something after you close — a pool, a fence, a detached shop, an addition — where setbacks and easements decide what's even allowed.
• The home is in an older neighborhood where lines and improvements have had decades to drift from the original plat.
• No recent survey exists, or the only one available is years old.

You might reasonably skip a new survey when you're buying a recently platted lot in a newer subdivision, your lender and title company don't require one, and you understand you're accepting the risk on anything a survey would have shown. Even then, the Commission's point stands: if you skip it, you're choosing to "own" that decision and whatever comes with it.

Because earnest money is uncommon in Central Arkansas transactions, your due diligence before closing — inspection, title work, and yes, a survey when it's warranted — is doing the protective work that a big deposit does in other states. Use it. In a balanced 2026 market, with homes taking around 55 days to sell and 30-year rates near 6.4%, you generally have the time to do this right rather than rushing past it.

Frequently asked questions

Is a survey required to get a mortgage in Arkansas?

Not automatically. Many conventional loans on standard subdivision lots close without a new survey. But lenders frequently require one on rural or acreage properties, and your title company may require a survey or an improvement location certificate to issue full coverage. Ask your lender and closing agent early so it's not a surprise near closing.

Does title insurance cover boundary problems if I skip the survey?

Usually not. Standard owner's title policies include a survey exception, which means problems a survey would have revealed — like an encroaching fence or a boundary dispute — generally aren't covered unless you provide a survey. Title insurance protects your ownership rights, not the physical location of your lines.

Can I just use the seller's old survey?

It's risky. The Arkansas Real Estate Commission specifically advises against relying on a prior owner's survey, because the property may have changed since it was done — new fences, added structures, or shifting features. An old survey can be worse than none if it makes you confident about lines that have moved.

Who pays for the survey, the buyer or the seller?

In Central Arkansas it's typically the buyer, since the survey protects the buyer's interests — but like most costs, it's negotiable in the contract. If a survey is important to you, you can ask for it as a seller concession or build it into your offer.

How long does a survey take?

For a standard residential lot, a surveyor can often complete fieldwork and deliver the drawing within a week or two, depending on their schedule and the weather. Order it early in your inspection period so the results are back before your contingencies expire.

The bottom line

A survey is one of the smallest checks you'll write in a home purchase, and it's the only one that tells you exactly what you're buying — where your lines run, what crosses them, and what you're allowed to build. On the right property, especially acreage or an older lot, skipping it is a gamble the state itself warns buyers against.

Every property is different, and the only way to know whether a survey is worth it for the specific home you're eyeing is to look at the lot, the plat, and your plans together. That's exactly the kind of thing I walk buyers through before they ever get to the closing table.

If you're planning your next move in Central Arkansas, download our free Central Arkansas Home Sellers Guide or reach out anytime — I'm happy to help you figure out what due diligence actually matters for your purchase.

About Amanda Galbraith
Amanda Galbraith is a residential real estate agent and the Broker/Owner of Arkansas Property Management & Real Estate, serving the greater Little Rock area. She specializes in helping first-time sellers navigate the process from pricing to closing, as well as investors looking to grow their portfolios. Connect with Amanda at www.ar-property.com or www.amandagalbraith.ar-property.com.