Real estate easements can vary from case to case, which is why it’s important for you to know what you’re looking for. Here are 6 tips for spot them and more details about their role in real estate deals.
When it comes to real estate easements, there are a lot of misconceptions. Most people think “easement” and the first thing their mind goes to is an easement for an oil pipeline, but there are other ways that you can use an easement. This article should help you understand more about real estate easements, whether it be for your home or business.
Easements in Real Estate
Easements are legal rights to access or use a property. They’re not uncommon in real estate, but they can get confusing.
For example, if you want to build a driveway on your property, you might need an easement from the homeowner who lives next door. That way, you can use that person’s land to build the driveway.
A typical use for an easement is when one property owner needs access to another’s property for something like water or sewer service. In most cases, these easements can be purchased from the other owner for a small fee.
How Easements Work
An easement is a legal right to use someone else’s land for a specific purpose. For example, if you have an easement to drive over your neighbor’s driveway, that means you can use it anytime you want, even if they are not home.
In real estate terms, an easement is typically granted by a property owner to allow another person or entity to use their land for a specific purpose. The most common types of easements include access rights (an easement through the property) and utility rights of way (an easement across the property).
A Use or Occupation Easement allows someone other than the property owner to use or occupy part of the property. This type of easement is commonly used in situations where one person wants to build something on another person’s land. If they don’t own that part of the land, they need permission from the owner to build there and that permission comes in the form of an easement agreement.
When are Easements Created?
An easement is created when one person (the owner) grants another person (the burdened owner) the right to use his land for a specific purpose. The burdened owner receives this right in exchange for some benefit, such as payment of money, maintenance of the easement area or protection from harm. The benefit received by the burdened owner must be proportional to the burden placed on his property by the easement.
Easements may be created through written agreements between parties or inferred by implication based on certain facts and circumstances surrounding a transaction. Examples of implied easements include:
-A right-of-way granted in connection with an adjoining property sale;
-Rights to cross someone else’s land in order to access public lands; and
-The right to install electric poles across someone else’s land in order to provide electrical service.
There are two kinds of easements:
Obligatory Easements
Obligatory easements are those that must be granted by law and cannot be refused by the owner of the land. They include public highways, utility lines, drainage ditches and water rights. The utility company is required to have access to your property in order to do its job.
Voluntary Easements
Voluntary easements are those which you grant at your discretion and do not have to be given if you don’t want them. These can include right-of-ways for trails or walkways and rights-of-way for billboards on your property.
How do you spot easements in real estate transactions?
Easements are an important consideration in real estate transactions. Easements are also a type of land use restriction that can have legal consequences for the property owner and result in financial losses if they are not adequately addressed.
Easements are typically noted on title reports – sometimes called “metes and bounds” documents. These reports include information about any restrictions on your property (such as zoning laws), as well as any limitations your neighbors may have placed on their own properties. These documents are public record and can be accessed by anyone who wants them – so if there’s something that might affect your ability to use your home or land, it will probably show up here
Read the Public Records
The Public Records section many websites contains information about easements filed with our office. You can search for a specific document by entering the document number or title.
The exact information depends on where you live: In some states, any person can search public records online; in others, only licensed professionals like attorneys and brokers can do so without paying a fee (and then only when they have good reason). Title companies often charge extra for this service because it requires significant time and effort to research each property individually.
Have a Professional Help You
When you buy property, you can either purchase it with an existing easement or you can purchase it without one. If there is an existing easement on your new home, then you will need to make sure that it doesn’t negatively impact your plans for development or occupancy.
When considering a real estate transaction, it is important to understand what easements are and how they affect property value. A professional appraiser can help you spot easements and determine if they will affect your ability to sell your home.
Knowing about easements is key to making an informed decision about a property you want to buy.
If you’re buying a home, it’s worth doing some research into possible easements on the land or structures on the property. The potential benefits from such an easement are great, but only if you do your research first and make sure the easements will actually be of any use to you in the future.
They’re also one of the most important things to be familiar with when it comes to buying property. Take the time to know what an easement is, how they work, and what they mean for your future property.
