Whether you need a new survey when buying a house in Texas usually depends on what the seller already has. Under the current TREC resale contract, a San Antonio seller can hand over an existing survey with a T-47 affidavit or T-47.1 declaration. If your title company or lender rejects it, a new survey typically costs $400 to $700.
Updated November 3, 2026 by The Howell Group, a San Antonio real estate team with Keller Williams Legacy.
What Does a Survey Show When You Buy a Home?
A survey is a drawing of the lot that shows its boundary lines, recorded easements, and where the house, fences, driveway, and other improvements sit in relation to those lines. The TREC contract requires that it be made by a registered professional land surveyor acceptable to the title company and your lender.
Why does that drawing matter? A standard Texas owner’s title policy carries a printed exception for discrepancies, conflicts, shortages in area or boundary lines, encroachments, protrusions, and overlapping improvements, as paragraph 6A(8) of the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale) spells out. The policy does not cover the very problems a survey is designed to catch. Our older guide to what a property survey includes covers the basics, and our post on utility easement rights in Texas explains the lines you will often see drawn across a back yard.
Can I Use the Seller’s Existing Survey in Texas?
Often, yes. Paragraph 6C(1) of the TREC resale contract lets the seller deliver an existing survey to you and the title company within an agreed number of days, along with a Texas Department of Insurance form: the T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit or the newer T-47.1 Declaration.
The T-47.1 option was added to TREC contract forms that became mandatory January 3, 2025, and unlike the T-47 it does not need to be notarized, according to Republic Title. On either form, the seller states whether anything has changed on the property since the survey date. A clean statement is what lets the title company consider reusing an older survey.
Acceptance is never automatic. A September 2025 article in Texas Realtor put it simply: “Each title/insurance underwriter determines what is acceptable.” The same article recommends getting the survey to the title company and lender for review early, because a rejection late in the contract shortens your runway.
Here is what the contract says happens if things go sideways:
- The seller never delivers the survey and affidavit. You obtain a new survey at the seller’s expense no later than 3 days before closing.
- The title company or lender rejects the old survey or the affidavit. You obtain a new survey no later than 3 days before closing, paid by whichever party the contract names in its checkbox.
Who Pays for a Survey When Buying a House in Texas?
Whoever the contract says pays. Paragraph 6C gives three choices: the seller provides an existing survey (6C(1)), you order and pay for a new one (6C(2)), or the seller orders and pays for a new one (6C(3)). Like most of the contract, it is negotiable, so asking the seller to cover a new survey is a fair request to put in your offer.
Texas lender Herring Bank lists a survey at about $400 to $700 when a current one is not available, and notes that reusing a seller’s survey with no boundary changes can save you most of that. Our breakdown of what buyers pay at closing in San Antonio shows where the survey fits among your other costs, and our older post on who pays for the survey walks through the negotiation side.
One 2025 change matters if you choose 6C(2). Since then, the contract says the buyer “may” obtain a new survey rather than “shall.” That gives you the choice to skip it, but if you do not get one, you cannot use that as a reason to terminate under the Third Party Financing Addendum, and your lender’s own survey requirements still apply.
Do I Need a Survey to Get Boundary Coverage on My Title Policy?
Yes. If you want the title policy to cover boundary and encroachment problems, the title company needs a survey it accepts. Paragraph 6A(8) of the TREC contract lets you choose whether that printed exception stays as is or is amended to read only “shortages in area,” and it names who pays for the change.
On a residential owner’s policy, the amendment costs 5% of the basic premium, according to a March 2026 guide from Republic Title. On a $300,000 home, the basic owner’s premium is $1,768, so the amendment adds $88.40. Republic Title describes that coverage as protection against claims by neighboring owners about boundaries or encroachments not shown on the survey. For a fence that may sit a foot off the line, that is inexpensive peace of mind. Our explainer on how a title search works covers what else the title company reviews before closing.
What Happens If the Survey Shows a Problem?
You can object in writing, and the contract sets the clock. Under paragraph 6D, you must object by the earlier of the closing date or the number of days the contract states after you receive the title commitment, exception documents, and survey. If you miss that window, you generally waive the objection.
Once you object, the seller has 15 days to cure the issue, though the contract does not obligate the seller to spend money to do it. If the problem is not cured, you have 5 days after that cure period ends to either terminate the contract with your earnest money refunded or waive the objection.
This survey objection right runs separately from your option period, so it can still protect you after the option period ends. Our post on what to do when a property survey is wrong covers what to look for and what to do next.
When Is a New Survey Worth Ordering?
A new survey when buying a house in Texas is worth the cost whenever the old one cannot do its job. Ask about a fresh survey when:
- The seller cannot sign the T-47 or T-47.1 without listing changes since the survey date
- The title company or your lender will not accept the existing survey
- You want the area and boundary amendment and the old survey will not support it
- The seller has no survey at all, or cannot find it before the contract deadline
More Questions About a Survey When Buying a House in Texas
What is a T-47 affidavit in Texas?
A T-47 is a Texas Department of Insurance form, the Residential Real Property Affidavit, that a seller signs when providing an existing survey in a Texas home sale. The seller states whether anything has changed since the survey date. Since 2025, TREC contracts also accept the T-47.1 Declaration, which does the same job and does not need to be notarized.
How much does a property survey cost in Texas?
A new residential survey in Texas typically costs about $400 to $700, according to Herring Bank’s guide to Texas closing costs. Buyers in San Antonio can sometimes avoid that cost when the seller provides an existing survey and a T-47 affidavit or T-47.1 declaration that the title company and lender accept.
Can a buyer skip the survey when buying a house in Texas?
A Texas buyer can sometimes skip a new survey. Since 2025, paragraph 6C(2) of the TREC resale contract says the buyer may obtain a survey rather than must. Skipping it means the buyer cannot terminate under the financing addendum for lack of a survey, the lender may still require one, and boundary coverage on the title policy usually requires an accepted survey.
What does “shortages in area” mean on a Texas title policy?
“Shortages in area” is the narrowed wording a Texas owner’s title policy uses when the buyer pays to amend the standard survey exception. After the amendment, the policy can cover claims by neighboring owners about boundaries or encroachments not shown on the survey, while still excluding a shortage in the lot’s area. On residential policies, the amendment costs 5% of the basic premium, or $88.40 on a $300,000 home.
How long does a buyer have to object to a survey in Texas?
Under paragraph 6D of the TREC resale contract, a Texas buyer must object by the earlier of the closing date or the number of days written into the contract after receiving the title commitment, exception documents, and survey. The seller then has 15 days to cure. If the issue is not cured, the buyer has 5 days to terminate with the earnest money refunded or waive the objection.
Sources
- Texas Real Estate Commission, One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), TREC No. 20-19, 2026
- Republic Title, Survey Deletion Coverage Q&A, March 2026
- Republic Title, 2025 TREC Contract Changes, December 16, 2024
- Texas Realtor, “Will that survey work?”, September 18, 2025
- Herring Bank, Typical Closing Costs in Texas for Buyers and Sellers, updated May 2026
Your Next Step
Questions about a survey when buying a house in Texas are easiest to settle before you sign, when you can still choose the 6C option and the 6A(8) box that fit the house. If you are getting ready to make an offer, talk with our San Antonio buying team, and we will help you read the seller’s survey, ask the title company the right questions early, and decide whether a new one is worth it on that lot.
