LAST UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 7, 2026 | BY CHRISTOPHER BEAL, U.S. ARMY VETERAN & REALTOR

Do I Need a New Survey to Sell My San Antonio Home? T-47 and T-47.1 Explained (2026)

Selling a San Antonio home: if Paragraph 6C(1) is checked, you owe the buyer your existing survey plus a T-47 affidavit or T-47.1 declaration by the deadline, or you pay for a new survey. Texas title companies may accept a survey of any age in a sale, so the old one in your closing folder is usually worth finding before you sign anything.

I am Christopher Beal, a U.S. Army veteran, REALTOR, TREC #723559, and Owner of Veteran Real Estate San Antonio, brokered by eXp Realty. You can read my full credentials here.

What does Paragraph 6C actually require from the seller?

The survey paragraph sits inside Paragraph 6, Title Policy and Survey, of the One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale) promulgated by the Texas Real Estate Commission. The version on TREC's forms page when I checked on September 7, 2026 is Form 20-18, effective January 3, 2025. It has three boxes and exactly one gets checked:

Source: TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), Form 20-18, effective 01/03/2025, Paragraph 6C. Form and effective date confirmed on TREC's published contracts list, checked September 7, 2026. TREC revises these forms; verify the current version at trec.texas.gov before you rely on the box numbers.

Two details inside 6C(1) do most of the damage in real transactions. The first is the word "and." The existing survey by itself is not compliance. The affidavit or declaration by itself is not compliance. The second is what happens on rejection: if the title company or the buyer's lender will not accept the existing survey, or will not accept the affidavit or declaration, the buyer obtains a new survey at whichever party's expense is checked in that sentence. That box is negotiable, and it is negotiated at offer time, not after the title company says no.

T-47 affidavit or T-47.1 declaration: which do I sign?

The document tells the title company that nothing has changed on the ground since the survey was drawn. Same footprint, same fences, same easements, no new pool, no new room, no replat. That statement is what lets the title company insure the boundary lines from an old drawing instead of sending a surveyor back out.

Both forms carry the same weight. The T-47.1 removed a logistics problem, not a legal one. A seller who is out of state, deployed, or moving on orders no longer has to find a notary in another time zone to keep a San Antonio closing on schedule.

Why does the title company want a survey at all?

Texas title policies start with a printed exception covering boundary problems. Paragraph 6A(8) of the contract is where the parties decide whether that exception stays or gets amended to read only "shortages in area," and at whose expense. Amending it is what buyers and lenders mean when they say survey deletion or area and boundary coverage.

Texas Procedural Rule P-2 is the rule that lets an old survey do the job. It says a title company may accept an existing real property survey plus an affidavit verifying it, rather than requiring a new survey, when it is willing to do so. Two seller-relevant protections sit in the same rule: a title company may not require an indemnity from the seller, buyer, borrower, or lender in exchange for area and boundary coverage, and it may not refuse that coverage on residential property solely because the land is unplatted.

Source: Texas Department of Insurance, Basic Manual of Title Insurance, Section IV, Procedural Rule P-2, Amendment of Exception to Area and Boundaries. TDI page last updated 10/2/2024, read September 7, 2026.

Is my old survey too old to use?

This is the single most common piece of bad information San Antonio sellers get, and it costs money because it makes people order a survey they did not need. Here is the actual split in the rule:

Source: TDI Basic Manual of Title Insurance, Section IV, P-2.a and P-2.b, read September 7, 2026. P-2.a still gives the title company discretion. "No age limit in the rule" is not the same as "your title company must accept it."

So the honest answer to a seller with a 1998 survey in a filing cabinet is: bring it. It may work. What decides the outcome is whether the property still matches the drawing and whether the title company handling your file is willing, not the date in the corner.

When does an existing survey get rejected?

Run this list against your own property before you list. Anything you answer yes to is a likely new survey:

• New structure since the survey date: room addition, garage conversion with a footprint change, casita, workshop, carport, or a covered patio on a slab.
• A pool, spa, or decking that did not exist when the survey was drawn. This one shows up constantly on Northeast and Northwest San Antonio resales.
• A boundary fence or wall that moved, including a neighbor's fence that moved onto your line.
• Construction on the adjoining property near your boundary.
• Any conveyance, replat, easement grant, or easement dedication you made after the survey date.
• The survey shows a different tract than what the policy will describe, for example a lot that was split or combined.
• Your buyer is using a lender with a stricter survey overlay than the title company's own standard.

The first five items track the certification points listed in TDI Procedural Rule P-2.b. The last two are practical, not rule based.

Who pays for a new survey?

Source: TREC Form 20-18, Paragraph 6C(1). Read your own executed contract; the blanks and boxes are filled in per transaction.

The practical lesson: the rejection box is worth reading before you sign, because it is the only part of this paragraph you get to negotiate. On a deal where the property has visibly changed since the last survey, expect the buyer to push that expense to you, and price it in rather than argue about it three days before closing.

What does this cost me, in dollars?

Two of those three numbers are fixed by the State of Texas, not by your title company. Rate Rule R-16 sets the premium for amending the area and boundary exception:

Source: TDI Basic Manual of Title Insurance, Section III, Rate Rule R-16, Amendment of Exception as to Area, Boundaries, etc., effective November 1, 2024 (Order 2024-8851). TDI page last updated 12/12/2024, read September 7, 2026. The basic premium itself comes from the promulgated Texas rate table for your policy amount; your title company can quote the exact dollar figure.

Illustrative comparison

This is an illustrative worked example, not a quoted market rate. The survey figure below is an assumption you should replace with a written quote from a Texas registered professional land surveyor for your own lot, because price moves with acreage, terrain, and how much of the original monumentation still exists. The percentages are not assumptions; they are the state rule above.

The gap between line A and line C is the entire point of this article, and it is decided by a filing cabinet, not by negotiation. The survey was almost certainly delivered to you at your own closing. Sellers who bought with a lender usually have a scanned copy in the closing package their title company emailed them.

What should I do before my home goes on the market?

1. Pull your closing package. Search your email for the title company that closed your purchase. The survey is usually a PDF in that package.
2. Check the date and the legal description. It must describe the same lot, block, and addition that will appear on the new policy.
3. Walk the drawing against the property. Pool, patio cover, shed, addition, fence lines. Anything on the ground that is not on the paper is a flag.
4. Decide which document you will sign. T-47.1 if you want to skip the notary, T-47 if a notary is easy or the title company asks for it.
5. If nothing turns up, price a new survey now. Getting a quote in hand before you list means you can negotiate the 6C(1) rejection box from a position of knowing the number.
6. Put the answer in your listing file. When an offer arrives, the survey question should already be settled rather than becoming a three-day scramble before closing.

For sellers moving on military orders, this matters more than it looks. A survey problem discovered late is the kind of thing that pushes a closing past a report date. If you are selling on a PCS timeline, see how I handle military relocation sales and get the survey settled during listing prep.

Questions San Antonio sellers ask

Can I refuse to sign the T-47 or T-47.1?

You can, but read what happens next. Under 6C(1) the buyer then obtains a new survey at your expense, because the affidavit or declaration is half of what you agreed to furnish. Refusing does not remove the cost, it moves it onto you.

What if I honestly do not remember whether the fence moved?

Then do not certify that it did not. Tell your agent and the title company what you actually know. The cost of a new survey is a known, bounded number. A false certification about your own property is not.

If my affidavit turns out to be wrong, does the buyer lose their coverage?

No. TDI Procedural Rule P-2 states that if an affidavit provided under that rule is incorrect, whether through negligence or an intentional act of the person signing it, the area and boundary coverage given under the rule is unaffected and remains in full force, though the policy exclusions still apply. That protects the insured buyer. It does not protect the person who signed a false statement.

My lot is unplatted acreage in Comal or Kendall County. Does that change anything?

Not as a matter of rule. P-2 says a title company may not discriminate in providing area and boundary coverage on residential real property solely because the property is platted or unplatted. In practice, rural and acreage tracts are more likely to have older surveys, more fence movement, and more easement activity, so the odds of needing a new one are higher.

Does a plat from the county work instead of a survey?

No. A subdivision plat shows the platted lot lines for the whole subdivision. A survey is a specific measurement of your tract with improvements located on it, sealed by a registered professional land surveyor. Paragraph 6C requires the survey to be made by a registered professional land surveyor acceptable to the title company and the buyer's lender.

Who orders the new survey if one is needed?

Under 6C(1) the buyer obtains it. The expense question is separate from the ordering question, and the two are settled in different sentences of the same paragraph.

About the Author: Christopher Beal

Christopher Beal is a U.S. Army veteran and the Owner of Veteran Real Estate San Antonio, a Beal Group practice brokered by eXp Realty (TREC License #723559). A Military Relocation Professional (MRP) and VAREP member, he is a 7-time eXp Realty ICON agent, winner of Best Real Estate Agency in the 2026 Best of San Antonio Readers' Choice (San Antonio Current, 100,000+ voters), and a 3x San Antonio Business Journal Top 25 Individual Agent (#13 in 2024, #14 in 2025, #20 in 2026). His recognition also includes 3x Platinum Top 50, 2x RateMyAgent Agent of the Year, 2x Real Producers Top 100, Five Star Professional (2026), and a RealTrends 2026 ranking. He has helped 325+ families, closed more than $125M in career volume, and holds 5.0 stars across 370+ verified reviews, working almost exclusively with military and veteran buyers and sellers across Bexar, Comal, Kendall, Medina, and Bandera counties, with a focus on VA loans, PCS moves, and homebuying near JBSA-Lackland, JBSA-Randolph, and Fort Sam Houston. On the listing side he settles survey, title, and disclosure questions during pre-listing prep so they never turn into a closing-week emergency. He can be reached at (210) 882-8583.

This article explains the mechanics of promulgated Texas contract and title insurance forms. It is general information, not legal advice, and I am a REALTOR rather than an attorney. Read your own executed contract and ask your title company how it applies to your file.

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Related reading: the Texas seller's disclosure notice, what it costs to sell a house in San Antonio, and how to choose a listing agent.