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Easements, encroachments, and right-of-ways can impact your property at sale time. Be aware of what they are and how they affect your home.
Encroachments, easements, and right-of-ways, oh my. These words by themselves may seem meaningless, or may even elicit apprehension and fear. Understanding this language and how it applies to your current home as well as future purchases is an important part of a home purchase. To encroach means to intrude on a person’s territory or rights. In Real Estate that means that you need to follow the rules and regulations regarding municipal setbacks from roadways, and neighbors. This will vary from region to region, and it will show up on a current survey if one is available for the property in question. Encroachments are often unintentional. Through the construction of a shed, fence or a home improvement many people misjudge the boundaries of the property and end up encroaching on an adjoining parcel of land because they do not meet the minimum municipal setbacks. Unfortunately this will not usually be uncovered until a new survey is completed for the property that will give a visual reference to the problem. An Easement is a legal denoting a right-of-way over another persons land. Often easements are referred to as a Right-of-way and are commonly used for energy and municipally related easements, such as access roads, walkways, utilities, right to park, right to light and so on. Right-of-ways are similar to easements, but differ in subtle ways. The right-of-way is a right established by usage to pass over another person’s property. For instance utility corridors, gas lines and water lines all use a right-of-way to access the utility. The beneficiary of a right-of-way or easement has been granted certain rights regarding the use of the property. It will be described in a written agreement, signed and dated by the land-owner and the beneficiary of the agreement. The landowner only gives limited rights, to the beneficiary, through the agreement and retains ownership of all the land in question. In order to make this a legal and binding agreement the landowner must be compensated for granting the easement. It is important when you are selling a home that you disclose any easements, right-of-ways, or encroachments associated with your property. Failure to disclose can have serious legal ramifications. Up to date surveys will assist in this process. The process can also be eased by obtaining building permits for improvements on the subject property. By being aware of the situation ahead of time and properly disclosing the issues can save you costly delays at your homes closing day after it is sold.
The copyright of the article Survey Issues in Buying/Selling a Home is owned by Joel Nash. Permission to republish Survey Issues in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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