Would You Buy Property That is Subject to a Right of Way

[yyz0]

Hi all,
I've been watching this board for over a year now and posting now and then.

The post about Preplanning for shared driveway issues got me wondering if I'm the only one here who would never buy property with a ROW again after what I've been through(and compared to others it's not much!)

So the question to you experienced posters is "knowing what you know would you buy property that has a ROW, either one that you use or one that crosses your property?"

for me it comes down to the lack of help from the authorities that is deal breaker. We constantly have problems with neighbors parking in the ROW, the part that they own. Most times there is room for us to squeeze by them but that's besides the point, if they aren't supposed to park there then they aren't supposed to. Delivery trucks and emergency vehicles would never be able to get by them. We have complained to the building inspector many times but nothing seems to happen. He mentioned once that maybe we should have our lawyer send them a letter stating that parking in the ROW is not allowed, but I thought that was what we paid taxes for.

Ok I've rambled enough, what do others think about doing a ROW property again?

[Mr. Knowitall]

All I can say is "it depends".

There are a pair of high end homes near where I live that share a driveway. I expect that the builder decided it was cheaper to pay for one curb cut and that the owners of seven figure homes would not quibble over maintenance issues. But if I were buying a home in that price range, I would want my own driveway.

Occasionally I see relatively small back lots for sale, where a shared driveway would have to run all the way through the front lot for access; I would think twice (three, four times...) over buying a house on the front lot and having to deal with an unknown amount of traffic back and forth along the side of my house, parking and maintenance issues, etc., and I would have similar concerns about living in the back lot, particularly given that some of the housing values at issue would be pretty low giving reason to be concerned that one owner or the other might run short of cash when it came to arrange for maintenance, snow removal, etc.

I would be very wary of any access that involved a private bridge - I've encountered horror stories about people being ordered to upgrade an old bridge to accommodate emergency vehicles, as well as people hit with huge bills for "their share" of replacing a crumbling bridge - not cheap.

But sometimes the right of way will be relatively unobtrusive, and the property will be "in the right place".

[kelanies]

Every situation is different. You've learned from past experiences and you can use that knowledge to guide you to a better agreement. Have your attorney negotiate it for you.

[WootonBooton]

NY - Never! Never would I buy property with an easement through the property nor property that uses an easement. Keep searching. You will find property without easements. WHY? Because it is has now been 2 1/2 years since our landlocked neighbors entered into a lawsuit against us for $25 Million over the use and control of a 1500 foot easement through our property (25 acre horse farm) and it is still going on. We pay the taxes but they want to control - pave it, widen it, remove electronic gates at the entrance (very busy hwy), don't want us riding our horses on the easement -you name it, it is listed in the lawsuit. They claim to have money as he works for Goldman Sachs. There are some Good landlocked neighbors, but they might sell - which happened in our case - and in comes The Neighbors From Hell. Keep looking. DO NOT BUY PROPERTY WITH OR NEEDS AN EASEMENT!!!!

[LawResearcherMissy]

Two things were absolute deal breakers for us: ROW and Homeowner's Associations.

I'm not a fan of my neighbors having any input into the color of my house or the placement of my flowers or whether or not I can have a dog or a garden or a chimenea or a flag - or what flag I'm flying.

I'm also not a fan of dealing with people wandering across my property to get to theirs, neither do I want to cut across someone else's property to get to mine.

Too much hassle, not enough benefit.