Step 23: The Land Survey

Watch us walk you through Step 23 — the land survey — in our 30-part Hawaii Home Buying Guide.

More in this series: Full 30-Step Playlist All Steps

Why Property Boundaries Matter More Than You Might Expect

When you purchase a single-family home in Hawaii, you're acquiring a legally defined parcel of land — not just a building. A land survey is the document that confirms exactly where that parcel begins and ends. In older neighborhoods where fences, walls, and landscaping have been installed and modified over decades without formal survey verification, the actual legal property lines may be meaningfully different from where common sense or visible features suggest they are.

Land surveys in Hawaii are typically ordered and paid for by the seller, and completed during the second half of the transaction. Reviewing the survey findings before closing gives you an opportunity to identify and resolve any boundary issues before they become your problem as the new owner.

What a Survey Can Reveal

  1. 1Encroachments — A fence, wall, driveway, or structure that crosses the legal property line — either yours extending onto a neighbor's parcel, or theirs onto yours. Encroachments can affect property value, create potential liability, and may need to be addressed before title insurance can be issued without exception.
  2. 2Easements — Legal rights held by third parties to use a designated portion of the property for a specific purpose — utility lines, shared driveways, beach or water access paths, or drainage corridors. Easements run with the land: they survive ownership transfers and directly constrain how you can use or develop affected areas.
  3. 3Actual lot dimensions and area — The precise size and shape of what you're buying. This matters particularly if you're considering future improvements, additional structures, or any development that requires setback compliance or minimum lot area thresholds.

If a survey surfaces an encroachment or other concern, don't treat it as an automatic dealbreaker. Your Realtor and the title company have tools for addressing these situations — encroachment agreements, negotiated price adjustments, or seller-funded resolution before closing. The key is identifying the issue while you still have the leverage and time to deal with it.