The T-47 Affidavit and Existing Survey: How Texas FSBO Sellers Avoid a Last-Minute Survey Fight

Survey is the boring paragraph that blows up more FSBO closings than any other in the last two weeks before funding. In a Texas resale using TREC 20-17, paragraph 6C makes you and the buyer choose, at contract signing, who is producing a survey and when. If you own an existing survey and can honestly swear nothing has changed, a T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit lets the title company reuse it and skip ordering a new one. If you can't, or the affidavit is sloppy, the buyer's lender will demand a fresh survey — and you will be paying a surveyor to squeeze you in on a Wednesday when closing is Friday.

This is the piece FSBO sellers miss because there is no agent walking them through paragraph 6C on the front end. Handle it at contract, not at the closing table.

What paragraph 6C actually says

Paragraph 6C of TREC 20-17 (the current One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale)) gives you three options for survey:

• 6C(1) — Seller delivers an existing survey plus a completed T-47 affidavit within a stated number of days. If the buyer's lender or the title company won't accept it, the buyer orders a new one at the party specified in the contract.
• 6C(2) — Buyer orders a new survey at buyer's expense.
• 6C(3) — Seller orders and pays for a new survey.

Most FSBO sellers with a recent survey should be choosing 6C(1) and delivering the documents inside three to seven days of the effective date. It costs you nothing, it removes a task from the timeline, and it prevents the buyer from later arguing you delayed.

What the T-47 is and what it swears to

The T-47 is a form promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance (which regulates title insurance in Texas). It is a sworn, notarized affidavit in which the seller states that, since the date of the attached existing survey, there have been no:

• construction projects such as new structures, additions, garages, decks, patios, pools, or outbuildings
• changes in the location of fences, walls, or other boundary-related improvements
• roadway or driveway construction
• easements granted or received by the property

If the seller can swear to that, the title company will issue area and boundary coverage on the buyer's owner's title policy — a T-19.1 endorsement, in title-company shorthand — using the existing survey. The buyer's lender almost always accepts that. No new survey is ordered.

If you can't swear to it because you added a shed, moved the back fence, or poured a slab for a hot tub, the title company will not accept the T-47, and a new survey is coming.

What a title company will actually accept

There is no statutory age limit on a Texas survey. A 1998 survey is legally usable if nothing has changed. In practice, Bexar County title companies — Independence Title, Alamo Title, Texas National Title, Stewart, and Fidelity all operate here — apply their own underwriting standards. Common friction points:

• The survey is older than the current owner and shows a house footprint that doesn't match satellite imagery. Underwriter will reject.
• The survey pre-dates a visible pool, room addition, or detached garage. Rejected.
• The survey shows a fence line that the current fence obviously doesn't follow. Rejected.
• The legal description on the survey does not match the current legal on the deed (common after replats or lot splits). Rejected.

Before you sign a contract with the T-47 option, pull your existing survey out of the closing folder from when you bought the house and look at it against the actual property. If you added anything, plan on a new survey.

Filling out the T-47 correctly

The form itself is one page and takes ten minutes, but FSBO sellers get three things wrong constantly.

Sign in front of a notary

The T-47 is an affidavit. It must be notarized. A UPS Store or the notary at your bank will do it for a few dollars. Do not sign it in advance and hand it in unsigned-in-front-of-notary — the title company will reject and send it back.

Attach the actual survey

The affidavit references "the survey dated ___, prepared by ___." You attach a copy of that survey to the affidavit when you deliver both to the title company and to the buyer. Deliver them together, not separately, or the buyer's file will be missing one when the underwriter reviews it.

Answer honestly about the fence

The most common false T-47 in San Antonio is a seller who swears no fences have moved when the neighbor replaced the shared fence three years ago and shifted it six inches. Six inches is enough for an encroachment issue on a small lot in Alamo Heights (78209), Mahncke Park, or the King William district. If a neighbor rebuilt, disclose it. The title company may still accept the existing survey with an exception, or may require a new one — that's their call, not yours to hide.

When you need a new survey no matter what

Order a new survey up front — under 6C(3), where you pay — if any of these apply:

• You added square footage, a pool, a detached structure, or a driveway extension since the last survey.
• Your existing survey is more than ~15 years old and the neighborhood has visibly changed.
• You are on acreage in far north Bexar, Boerne, or the Hill Country where fence lines and easements shift.
• The property was replatted, subdivided, or had a lot-line adjustment.
• The buyer is using a VA loan. VA underwriters are stricter and often require a current survey regardless of the T-47.

A residential boundary survey in Bexar County runs roughly $450 to $700 as of recent cycles, ordered directly from a Texas-licensed Registered Professional Land Surveyor. Turnaround is one to three weeks depending on the surveyor's backlog. Do not wait until day 20 of a 30-day contract to order it.

What most people get wrong

• Choosing 6C(2) reflexively. FSBO sellers often let the buyer pay for a new survey because it sounds free. It isn't — the buyer will negotiate the cost back somewhere else, and a rejected T-47 mid-contract creates a delay you own even if you don't pay for the survey. If you have a clean existing survey, use it.
• Assuming any survey works. A mortgage-company "location survey" or a plot plan from the builder is not a boundary survey. The T-47 must attach a real boundary survey with metes and bounds or lot-and-block references matching the deed.
• Signing the T-47 without reading it. The affidavit exposes you to liability if you swear falsely. If you added a pergola, say so — either order a new survey or let the title company decide whether the change is material.
• Missing the delivery deadline in 6C(1). The contract specifies a number of days. Miss it and the buyer can order a new survey at your expense under the default language most FSBO sellers accept without reading. Deliver on day two, not day seven.
• Forgetting VA and some FHA lenders will still require new. Even a perfect T-47 doesn't override lender overlays. Ask the buyer's loan officer in writing during the option period whether the existing survey will be accepted for their specific loan.
• Not giving the title company the survey until closing week. Title needs the survey and T-47 early to prepare the commitment and clear exceptions. Send both within 48 hours of the effective date.

Timing this against your Bexar County closing

A typical Bexar County FSBO closes in 30 to 45 days. Survey should be resolved by day 10. The realistic sequence:

• Day 0 — effective date; contract executed with 6C(1) selected.
• Day 2 — you deliver existing survey plus notarized T-47 to buyer and title company.
• Day 5 — title company confirms whether it will accept the survey; buyer's lender confirms.
• Day 7 — if either rejects, order new survey immediately.
• Day 21 — new survey delivered if needed.
• Day 30 — closing.

Run that timeline the day you sign, not the day you get the closing disclosure.

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If you're preparing to sell without an agent, RentInSA lets you list your home FSBO free at /list-your-home and pulls together the TREC forms, disclosure, and closing walkthroughs at /resources. Handle paragraph 6C on day one and the rest of your contract stays on the rails.