Employment Opportunity - Professional Land Surveyor

Position: Professional Land Surveyor

Company: Manzie & Drake Land Surveying is located in Northeast Florida on beautiful Amelia Island. We offer to our clients a full range of Land Surveying services. We offer a comprehensive benefit package which includes: Simple IRA with matching contributions, paid medical insurance, paid vacation, holidays, professional dues, disability leave, and tuition reimbursement.

Description: Must be licensed (or easily attainable) in Florida … Georgia registration a plus. Responsibilities would include project management, day-to-day work direction and feedback for crews, organizing workloads & schedules, supervision of construction stakeout, ALTA surveys, boundary and topographic surveys. The candidate must also be proficient in Autodesk Civil 3D, data collection systems, GPS and robotic procedures. F.D.O.T. experience would be a big plus.

Salary will be based on education and experience. Please send your resume to mikemanzie@gmail.com. Mailing address is 117 South 9th Street, Fernandina Beach, Florida. For more information, please go to our website at www.manzieanddrake.com.

Revamped Online Order Form

We have recently revamped our online order form to make it less confusing and more user friendly. Please have a look and let us know what you think! Better yet... why not give it a try? :)

Owner Survey Affidavit Information

OWNER SURVEY AFFIDAVITS
Owner Survey Affidavits are used to reduce closing costs by using an older, outdated survey. The owner signs an affidavit declaring that there have been no changes since the last survey and thus avoids the cost of a new survey. IMPROPER USE OF OLDER OUTDATED SURVEYS MAY BE A VIOLATION OF COPYRIGHT LAWS!


SHOULD AN OWNER SIGN A SURVEY AFFIDAVIT?
An owner should not sign an Owner Survey Affidavit. By signing an incorrect Owner Survey Affidavit the owner increases his/her liability which may result in costly litigation and, if knowingly signing a false affidavit, possible criminal prosecution. An incorrect Owner Survey Affidavit could be the result of a defective survey or changes made to the property since the date of the last survey. These changes could be improvements made by the owner, adjacent owners or utility companies. In most transactions the buyer is responsible for the survey costs and by signing an Owner Survey Affidavit the owner unnecessarily increases his/her liability without compensation. Please note that an owner may need to sign other affidavits that are not survey related. These should not be confused with Owner Survey Affidavits.


SHOULD A BUYER ACCEPT A SURVEY AFFIDAVIT?
A buyer should never accept an Owner Survey Affidavit. Because the survey was not certified to the buyer, the buyer does not have a contractual relationship with the surveyor. Therefore, if there are problems with the survey, the only legal recourse for the buyer would be to initiate litigation with the previous owner. The seller (owner) has a conflict of interest in the transaction since the disclosure of a title or boundary defect may lower the sale price. The buyer loses the protections and peace of mind afforded by a new survey that would depict these defects. When the owner is responsible for the cost of a new survey, an Owner Survey Affidavit may increase the likelihood of fraud or deceit.

New Survey Border

Manzie & Drake are pleased to present an example of our new legal-sized survey border (8 1/2" x 14"). We've gone to a 2-sheet format which will contain images showing the vicinity of the property and a photograph of the structure. We've also made space to allow for logos of the realtor that is involved with the sale of the property as well as the closing agent and financial institution.

We have attached a sample below. We hope you enjoy our new design and we look forward fulfilling all your land surveying needs.

For a closer look, we have provided a PDF for download.

http://www.manzieanddrake.com/examples/sample-legal-border.pdf

FEMA Seminar

We were recently asked to attend the local Century 21 "Lunch and Learn" seminar to speak on the recent FEMA changes in flood zone lines and elevation datum changes. These two conflicting changes have been the source of much confusion and error. The seminar was attend by 12 employees from the Yulee and Fernandina offices and also tele-conferenced to the Jacksonville office.

Helping Those In Need

Manzie & Drake Land Surveying staff donated their time helping the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society with a recent civic project. The project was held at the City Rescue Mission (New Life Inn) in Jacksonville, FL. Over 300 people in need were given a hot meal and a place to eat out of the cold. We donated time and money towards the purchase, preparation, serving and cleanup.

Donation to Nassau County

Nassau County Growth Management Department and River Branch Foundation are working together on a Preservation Site of approximately 39 acres on the St. Marys River. Manzie & Drake Land Surveying has donated the boundary survey of the subject parcel.