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- What Are Netting Escrows & How Does It Work?: The Best Guide - January 2, 2024
- The Secret About Prescriptive Easement: Top Guide 1 Must Know - December 4, 2023
- About Home Equity Loans In Texas And How Can One Obtain It - November 27, 2023
About Landlocked
If you are buying land to build a property, you might have come across a term known as landlocked. In most land purchases, you would have direct access to the land.
However, in some cases, you might have access to the land that you are planning to buy through other properties.
In this post, we will understand what is a landlocked in detail.
What Does Landlocked Mean In Real Estate?
Landlocked real estate is a parcel of land surrounded by land owned by others. As a result, legal access to such land is not possible. The only way to access the land is by crossing the property that is owned by others.
For example, there is a vacant lot behind an apartment. The only way to get to this site is through the land through the apartment.
Another example is a lot behind a huge commercial complex and there is no direct road to access the land and the only way to get to the land is through the commercial complex. In both examples, the land is known as landlocked property.
These types of plots do not necessarily remain landlocked. Buyers of this type of land may negotiate easements or rights-of-way with neighboring land or property owners.
This would help the buyer to gain access to the property. The time taken to get an easement or right of the way completely depends on the neighboring owners.
If the owners are reasonable and helpful, it could be an easy process else you might need to take a legal route which could be time-consuming and costly as well.
Things To Consider Before Buying A Landlocked Property?
It could be risky to purchase this type of property as it does not make sense to buy a property without legal access.
However, these types of properties are often priced low due to a lack of legal access to them. The houses in the interior are cheaper to buy.
If you can negotiate with a neighboring property owner to get access to the land, you would be buying the land at a huge discount that can be sold for a much higher price.
Based on the location of the land and the area, you would require an easement to get legal access to the land.
Easement
Easements will help you get legal access to your landlocked property. It can be as simple as giving your neighbor the legal right to cross their driveway to access your land.
Alternatively, your neighbor may grant you the right to build a driveway or road on their property that leads to your property. You can negotiate easements directly with your neighbors.
This may include paying your neighbor to give you access to the land. But never rely on verbal or handshake agreements. Instead, you sign a legal document to finalize your easement.
In case the neighbors are unwilling to cooperate for the easement, you have to take the help of the court through a lawsuit to grant the easement.
Right Of Way
Based on the location of the land, you might only require the right of way. Right of way will allow you to access your land by traveling over other owners’ property.
You may need this type of specific easement if you are unable to access a public road from your land without crossing another owner’s property.
For example, you need to drive a paved road through your neighbor’s land to access your property from a public road.
If the owner of that land grants you access to the public road through his property you have gained the right of way.
The right of way allows you to travel over someone else’s property, but you are not allowed to build any road on the owner’s land.
Easement By Necessity
If the owner of the land does not agree to provide an easement, even after providing compensation, you might use an easement by necessity. This court order gives owners access to their property through an easement.
To obtain an easement by using easement by necessity, it is usually necessary to prove that the landlocked and adjoining properties were once owned by the same person through deeds and title searches.
If you can prove this, the court will usually find that the owner who subdivided the land did not provide the necessary roads to access the landlocked property.
Conclusion
Buying a landlocked property could be a good option if you consider all the pros and cons before you make your informed decision.
Buying this type of property means giving time, having patience, and hoping that the other property owners provide easement without any issues.
Make sure that you have a team including a real estate attorney, an experienced real estate agent, and a little knowledge about the area and surroundings of the property you are planning to purchase.
