# Reasonable price for an easement?



## Ellendra

The backstory:

Many years ago, a large piece of property was divided into 14 parcels, each roughly 5 acres apiece. These were then sold off one by one, until there were only 3 left. The person selling them didn't much care what happened to the ones he still owned, as long as there wasn't any squatting going on, so some of the buyers got a little loose with the boundary lines.

In 2007 that seller went bankrupt. I was able to buy one of the remaining properties cheap, the other 2 were owned by the bank until last year.

The property to one side of mine had one of those owners that was loose with the boundaries. Half the length of his driveway is on my land. When I bought it, I was told that just a few feet of it was on my land, and that the guy was friendly so it wouldn't be a problem. The guy turned out to be a jerk, but I knew my legal rights, and he learned he can't intimidate me. We've managed to be civil ever since.

(The timing on his sudden discovery of manners may also be due to my discovering his wife is a brunette, when I had been seeing a pretty blonde woman leaving his house during the day. But that's an aside.)

The situation:
Mr. Grumpypants is trying to sell his house. I discovered this when I went out to my land and found a For Sale sign on my property. I had a nice chat with his realtor, who was shocked to find that he had misled her concerning where his boundary lines were located. I also made sure she was aware that there was no easement for his driveway, half of which was on my land. She is adding an arrow to the sign so it's clear which part is for sale, and in the mean time she said she's going to push for him to make arrangements for the driveway. 

The question:
I understand it's normal to charge for an easement like this, but what's a reasonable price? I have no frame of reference for what to charge, assuming he takes the realtor's advice.

(The last time he tried to sell, I asked the realtor if they knew where the property lines were, and immediately the listing disappeared. I kind of want him gone, but I don't want someone thinking my land is included with his.)

Here's a photo if that helps:


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## Belfrybat

I just faced that at the property I sold a couple of months ago. The realtor suggested getting the tax appraisal and using that as a basis even though I wasn't actually buying the land but the easement. I ended up paying $400.00 for 2000 square feet triangle -- a real bargain for me.


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## FarmerKat

I am not sure about pricing but I would make sure that the neighbor that needs the easement pays for a survey, recording fees and all that good stuff in addition to paying you for easement or the small piece of land. 

Do you have any realtor friends who you could call for help with pricing?


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## Nimrod

You are not obligated to sell him an easement. You can probably charge only a few thousand and that would not be enough for me to give up part of my land. You lose the use of that land forever but you still pay property taxes on it forever. 

The mistake was the neighbor's. Make him fix it by moving his driveway off your land. Most places have a setback requirement from the property line. Make him get a survey done and abide be the setback when he puts in the new driveway.

You could lose possession of that land. Google "Adverse Possession". Serve notice on him immediately to move his driveway.


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## tree-farmer

Nimrod said:


> You are not obligated to sell him an easement. You can probably charge only a few thousand and that would not be enough for me to give up part of my land. You lose the use of that land forever but you still pay property taxes on it forever.
> 
> The mistake was the neighbor's. Make him fix it by moving his driveway off your land. Most places have a setback requirement from the property line. Make him get a survey done and abide be the setback when he puts in the new driveway.
> 
> You could lose possession of that land. Google "Adverse Possession". Serve notice on him immediately to move his driveway.


If you go that route, now is the time. You'll be upsetting the jerk who's leaving and it won't affect your new neighbours.


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## AmericanStand

I'd never sell a easement if I didn't have to. 
I'd rent it and require a process fee for the first year of what you would sell it for.


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## Michael W. Smith

Has either you or the neighbor ever had a survey done?

If either one has and it's recent and agrees with your claim - then you can decide if you prefer to do an easement, or just sell that portion of the property to the neighbor.

If there is no survey - then you might want to push the neighbor to have one done. 

Don't go by the County photo map or satelite map. Those can be way off.


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## Ellendra

Michael W. Smith said:


> Has either you or the neighbor ever had a survey done?
> 
> If either one has and it's recent and agrees with your claim - then you can decide if you prefer to do an easement, or just sell that portion of the property to the neighbor.
> 
> If there is no survey - then you might want to push the neighbor to have one done.
> 
> Don't go by the County photo map or satelite map. Those can be way off.


I thought he'd had one done, and he put permanent posts up to mark the line. So, when I had mine done recently, I made the possible mistake of trying to save money by only getting the other 3 sides surveyed. (To be fair, money has been extremely tight for a while now, I had to save for almost 5 years just to afford the survey to begin with!)

The problem is, the corners don't match. There's about a 5-foot discrepancy. But either way, both of them show that I own roughly half of his driveway.

I like the idea of renting an easement.


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## Ozarksteresa

personalty I would not rent or sale, if there is room for him to widen the driveway on his side. The next people that live there might have kids with 4 Wheeler's that race up and down making noise and tearing up the road in general. If he can widen it to his side why would you let part of your land go.


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## KatsFarm

Ozarksteresa said:


> personalty I would not rent or sale, if there is room for him to widen the driveway on his side. The next people that live there might have kids with 4 Wheeler's that race up and down making noise and tearing up the road in general. If he can widen it to his side why would you let part of your land go.


I wholeheartedly agree. It looks like he has plenty of room for him to move his driveway onto his property. Try and get the last side of your property surveyed, that way it's recorded and he, nor the person who buys his place, give you any more hassle.


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