Boundary survey due diligence for Michigan self-directed IRA property

A fence can look like a boundary without sitting on the boundary. A driveway can serve a property every day without being fully inside the parcel. A garage, retaining wall, shed, sign, or parking row may be only a few feet from the line, and those few feet can affect access, maintenance, insurance, future work, and the way the property is used.

A boundary survey gives those questions a measured place on the ground. For a self-directed IRA buyer, it also creates work for the title company, attorney, custodian, lender when one is involved, and property professionals. The goal is not to collect another drawing for the closing file. It is to find out whether the land being purchased supports the building and use the buyer has been reviewing.

Start with the property the contract actually describes

Begin with the legal description in the purchase agreement and title commitment. Compare it with the deed, tax parcel record, listing materials, seller disclosure when one applies, and any prior survey or site plan. A street address helps people find the property. A parcel number helps an assessor organize records. Neither replaces the legal description that the title and survey professionals must review.

Watch for more than one parcel, a split parcel, a metes-and-bounds description, a platted lot with vacated or dedicated areas, or improvements that appear to cross onto adjoining land. A property may be marketed and operated as one site while the contract covers only part of it. Confirm that parking, access, outbuildings, drainage features, signs, wells, septic components, shoreline access, and other material improvements are connected to the land the IRA would acquire.

• Purchase agreement and every exhibit containing a legal description
• Current title commitment and copies of the recorded documents listed as exceptions
• Current and prior deeds, parcel records, plats, surveys, site plans, and approved drawings
• Seller records for fences, shared drives, access agreements, encroachments, boundary work, or neighbor disputes
• Plans for the buyer's proposed use, repairs, parking, additions, signs, utilities, or site work

Order a scope that answers the buyer's questions

The word survey can describe different products. A buyer should not assume that a low-cost drawing, mortgage report, old plot plan, staking visit, and full boundary survey answer the same questions. Tell the professional surveyor what decision the buyer needs to make and which features matter. The written scope should identify the parcel, standards used, field work, record research, improvements to be located, deliverables, timing, and limits.

Ask whether the survey will locate buildings, roof overhangs, decks, steps, fences, walls, drives, parking areas, curb cuts, visible utilities, wells, septic features, waterways, docks, signs, and other improvements relevant to the site. The right list depends on the property. A small rental house does not need the same work as a wooded tract, industrial parcel, waterfront property, or mixed-use building with shared parking.

Coordinate the scope with the buyer's Michigan attorney, title professional, lender, and insurer before field work begins. They may need a certification, specific parties named, recorded easements plotted, or additional items shown. The self-directed IRA custodian may also have ownership and document requirements. It is better to settle those details before the surveyor finishes than to order a second visit during the closing week.

Verify the surveyor and the exact assignment

Michigan LARA says Article 20 of the Occupational Code licenses and regulates land surveying in the state. Use the current MiPLUS license search to verify the professional surveyor, then confirm who will be responsible for the work and sign the finished survey. The public search is useful, but LARA tells users to determine whether the information remains accurate, current, and complete.

Ask for the engagement terms in writing. They should state the property, client, purpose, fee, expected schedule, records supplied by the buyer, access needs, field limitations, and form of the final deliverable. If the property is occupied or access crosses neighboring land, settle permission and notice before the crew arrives. The surveyor should not be expected to solve a title conflict, design a repair, or give tax advice outside the assignment.

Read the title commitment beside the survey

The title commitment and survey answer different parts of the same property question. The commitment lists requirements and exceptions to the proposed policy. The survey can help place some recorded rights and visible conditions on the ground. One document does not replace the other, and the surveyor should receive the current commitment plus the recorded documents the title company wants considered.

Trace each plotted easement or restriction to its source document. Ask what it allows, who benefits, who maintains the area, whether it can be relocated, and whether the proposed use would interfere with it. A utility easement may affect an addition. An access easement may serve another parcel. A shared driveway agreement may divide repair duties. Those are document and legal questions for the buyer's attorney, not conclusions to draw from the line style on the survey alone.

Also ask the title professional how the survey affects proposed coverage and exceptions. Do not assume that delivering a survey removes every survey-related exception or insures every condition shown. The title company decides what policy it will issue, and the buyer's attorney should review the proposed policy and any unresolved item before closing.

Walk the measured lines against the visible site

A survey becomes more useful when someone compares it with the site. Locate the corners and lines the surveyor identified, then look at the features that organize daily use: fences, mowing lines, pavement edges, gates, retaining walls, tree rows, utility boxes, drainage swales, shore paths, and places where occupants or neighbors regularly cross. Do not move markers or decide a boundary dispute during the walk-through.

Photograph material conditions from positions another reviewer can understand and connect each image to the survey. If a feature is missing from the drawing, ask whether it fell outside the agreed scope, was concealed, was added later, or needs supplemental field work. An old survey may still help with history, but it cannot show a fence moved last year or a new parking area built after its field date.

West Michigan conditions can make access and visibility uneven. Snow cover, leaf growth, high water, soft ground, stored materials, active construction, and occupied areas may limit field work. Record those limits. If a critical corner or improvement could not be located, give the surveyor time to return or explain what additional work is needed before the buyer treats the question as settled.

Treat an encroachment as a fact to investigate

An encroachment can range from an overhanging eave to a driveway, wall, building corner, septic component, or parking space across a line. The survey should show the measured condition within its scope. It does not decide ownership rights, write an agreement, predict a lawsuit, or tell the buyer whether the condition is acceptable.

Build a record before choosing a response. Ask when the feature was built, who uses and maintains it, whether any written or recorded permission exists, whether permits or approved plans address it, and whether the title insurer will except it from coverage. Have the buyer's Michigan attorney review possible title, access, use, and contract consequences. If physical work is proposed, use qualified contractors and the applicable local authority to define permits, access, restoration, and cost.

Avoid a handshake fix that disappears after closing. A seller's statement that a neighbor has never objected does not create a recorded right. A neighbor's willingness to talk does not establish that one particular agreement will bind later owners or satisfy the title company. The buyer's professionals should put any accepted resolution in the right form and complete the required recording, policy, or closing steps.

Check access, parking, and maintenance as operating issues

Legal access and practical access are related but separate. Confirm how the parcel reaches a public road, where the approved curb cut sits, which drives are shared, who controls gates, and whether the route shown in the documents matches the route people use. For commercial or multi-unit property, compare parking spaces, loading areas, refuse access, fire lanes, snow storage, and service routes with the survey, leases, local approvals, and proposed operation.

Do not turn a boundary survey into an accessibility, zoning, engineering, or code opinion. If the proposed use depends on parking count, accessible routes, vehicle circulation, drainage, or emergency access, give the survey to the relevant local authority and qualified design or legal professionals. Ask them to apply the current requirements to the exact property and project.

Maintenance rights deserve the same attention. A shared lane may need grading and snow removal. A retaining wall may sit on one parcel while supporting soil on another. Trees, fences, drains, and signs can require access across a line. Put the documents, physical condition, work history, and expected expense together instead of assuming customary use will continue without cost or disagreement.

Keep occupied-property review focused on the real estate

Survey work at an occupied rental should follow lawful notice, entry, privacy, and safety procedures. Coordinate with the seller, property manager, attorney, and surveyor before entering yards, units, gated areas, or tenant-controlled spaces. Limit photographs and notes to the property questions that need to be documented.

HUD states that the Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Boundary, access, parking, repair, and property-management decisions should follow documents, measured conditions, lease rights, qualified recommendations, and applicable law rather than protected characteristics of occupants or neighbors. Michigan and local protections may also apply.

Fit the survey into the IRA process

Ask the self-directed IRA custodian how survey invoices, deposits, supplemental work, title endorsements, recording charges, legal fees, and later site work must be approved and paid. Confirm the purchaser name, authorized signer, invoice wording, funding lead time, and process for refunds or changed scopes. Do not assume the IRA owner can pay personally and reimburse the account later.

Current IRS guidance says there is no list of approved retirement-plan investments. It also identifies sales, exchanges, leases, extensions of credit, furnishing goods or services, and improper use involving disqualified persons among prohibited-transaction concerns. A survey, clean title commitment, custodian administration, or completed closing is not IRS approval of a property or strategy.

Do not plan for the IRA owner or another disqualified person to clear brush for the crew, set markers, move a fence, grade a drive, install a drain, repair a wall, supply materials, or perform site work without transaction-specific review. Have the custodian, CPA, and attorney review the people, work, contracts, signatures, and money flow before anyone acts. Put accepted survey issues into the property budget without assuming appreciation, rent, occupancy, financing, savings, eligibility, or any other outcome.

Put survey deadlines early in the offer calendar

Survey work can take longer when records conflict, corners are missing, the site is large, access is limited, or the title commitment arrives late. Leave time for field work, drafting, title review, attorney questions, a site walk, supplemental measurements, estimates, custodian approval, and any negotiated resolution before the applicable contingency expires. A rushed survey delivered the day before closing may identify a problem without leaving time to understand it.

• Confirm the legal description and all parcels before ordering work
• Send the current title commitment and recorded exception documents to the surveyor
• Define the improvements, access points, easements, and site features that must be located
• Assign each conflict to the attorney, title professional, surveyor, contractor, custodian, or local authority responsible for the next answer
• Record the accepted resolution, remaining exception, cost, responsible party, and closing deadline

This article is educational, not legal, tax, financial, surveying, title, engineering, zoning, construction, fair-housing, retirement-plan, or investment advice. No property, survey, title policy, easement, boundary resolution, ownership structure, or strategy is approved or endorsed by the IRS. Have your own self-directed IRA custodian, CPA, Michigan attorney, professional surveyor, title and insurance professionals, lender when applicable, qualified contractors, local authorities, property manager, and other advisors review the account, land, records, occupants' rights, proposed use, and transaction before taking action.

Leave closing with a survey file that can guide the property

Keep the signed survey, field-date information, engagement scope, prior surveys, legal descriptions, title commitment, recorded exceptions, deeds, plats, site plans, corner and condition photographs, attorney and title correspondence, permits, agreements, estimates, custodian instructions, and final policy together. Mark unresolved or accepted conditions clearly. The property manager and future professionals should be able to see where the key lines and rights are without rebuilding the review from scattered emails.

Primary sources for the public-rule portions of this review include Michigan LARA's Professional Surveyors page and MiPLUS license search, HUD's Fair Housing Act overview, and the IRS retirement-plan investment FAQs and prohibited-transaction guidance. The IRS pages were last reviewed or updated April 8 and June 27, 2026, when checked. These sources provide a general framework. The answer for one parcel, survey, title policy, occupied property, or IRA transaction comes from current documents, field work, and the buyer's own qualified professionals.

Rennie can help identify West Michigan property and coordinate the real estate documents, survey access, professional questions, and offer deadlines needed for this review. Boundary opinions, title conclusions, legal rights, engineering, local approvals, account administration, tax treatment, and investment decisions stay with the buyer's own surveyor, attorney, title professional, custodian, CPA, and other advisors.