Easement question for potential property

[Wind Gypsy]

A property popped up on the MLS today that has me very interested. One of the things i'd like to clear is the status of any easements related to a driveway through the south end of the property to a house. The screenshot below shows the driveway through the south end of the property east of the house. The listed parcel makes up the bulk of the image covering the entire NE. I intend to look at it tomorrow.

What questions would you ask the seller about this driveway?

The other thing I'd be concerned about is it looks like continuous pasture between the two properties and I cant see any fence between them. I don't know if there is any type of prescriptive easement or possible ownership claim if they've done it forever without anyone fighting it. Probably a very long shot but I'll make sure i drive it to ground.

The property seems to be priced about 20% below what I'd expect so I'm hot on a deal but trying not to miss the reason for the deal.. Last sold for about 82% of current list price in 2002.

 

[Mortenson]

That's a long driveway. What has you so interested? Doesn't strike me as slam dunk hunting farm (what's shown anyway), but probably still some decent deer activity and solid income.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

That's a long driveway. What has you so interested? Doesn't strike me as slam dunk hunting farm (what's shown anyway), but probably still some decent deer activity and solid income.

The part shown is the least interesting part of the parcel and really I don't anticipate hunting in any of that. It interests me because:
-its only 40 minutes from home
-I think it's underpriced and has more appreciation potential than our current land even if it were priced higher
-there should be some good deer in this area
-I think it would hunt well (access on 3 sides, potentially 3.5)
-having row crops on it is a benefit to me, I can keep em that way or it would be easy as a blank canvas.

Negatives are there would be a LOT of screening to do but corn could do some of that work until something permanent is done.

 

[b116757]

If there are fences on your side of the property line and the neighbors ran cattle on the current owners ground without paying rent it is possible they could make an adverse possession ownership claim in most states if they didn’t have permission to use the ground. This takes years of continuous use by the trespasser 10,15,25 depending on each states laws. So I would look into it I do believe your title insurance would kick in if it becomes a issue and you loose ground you paid for.

 

[bjseiler]

Have your broker write an offer with plenty of room for you to get out of it if you find something fishy during due diligence.

 

[omicron1792]

With that driveway running along the length of the south end I would deed it to the home owners and be done with it. Then screen the south end of the property.

If an Easement runster the middle of the property it is an issue. If it is Along a border, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just give away that small sliver and not have any cross ownership.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

It’s an old dairy farm that sounds like they still were milking in the early 2000s. A couple septics that it sounds like are not compliant and a capped well it sounds like currently. My best friend who is my realtor (cities residential guy with minimal land experience) mentioned possible financing issues with non-compliant septic even without a dwelling but we would likely be making a cash offer.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Got minimal feedback from listing agent. My realtor said "Agent recognized there could be an easement to the south but seller doesn't know or have surveys". Said there are 2-3 offers on the table already and they are doing best and highest due Monday.

 

[Buckly]

What are the blue lines? Also, this property seems to have been sold a couple times without surveys so I would be wary. Personally I would want a survey and a title search done and along with the deed looked over by a lawyer. Then you can make an informed decision about price and problems, otherwise you’re basically guessing and that’s not good on real estate.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Blue lines indicate a creek of some sort.

 

[bwoods11]

I hate the highest and best scenario, and my agency sells home and land really estate… Just not a fan ! But maybe it’s a steal and that’s why !

Good luck if it works out !

 

[spaniel]

What you end up spending in court could squander what you "think" you are saving on the property. If they can't produce evidence of clear right-of-ways and surveys I'd run, and run fast.

Guy whose property I used to hunt bought a property like this, learned his access road was not legit and it got yanked. State had screwed up decades before and created this landlocked parcel backed up against state land. It took 10 years and multiple lawsuits for him to get access granted across someone else's land, and even then they screwed with him locking gates etc for more years. This was after he offered every bordering property owner 3-4X going value for an access route along property lines. I don't know what that must have cost him in legal fees.

 

[Bill]

No legal advice. But miscanthus would grow nicely along that driveway. Just keep the farmer from planting within 15 feet of it because sprayer guys don’t care what they kill.

Apologies to any sprayer guys.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

It's a pretty straight forward 80 acres consisting of 2 square 40s. The entire east and north boundaries are on roads. The easement is for someone else's access to their home. I have a hard time seeing a scenario where a gravel driveway along the south property border is catastrophic after walking the property today. From the internet it looks like the whole thing is exposed to the road. While much of it is, you could tuck a handful of acres of foodplots closer to cover and screen them easily without screening the whole road. The timber wasn't very exciting, lower ground than i expected made up of Aspen, box elder, ash, ironwood, willows, alders, no oaks. Lots of bedding cover but if acorns are a draw it might get quiet.

There were 5 or 6 other potential buyers there tonight. I don't think I want it bad enough to win the bidding war but I'll likely throw an offer in. I'll look more into how anything on a property this simple could get misinterpreted on the deed before committing and pay for title insurance.