Should You Consider Buying Landlocked Property?

[@michaellowe3665]

Get a helicopter and a night shift job. After a while, I'm sure one of the neighbors will let you put in a driveway.

[@donaldfrazier5244]

Yep that’s the only way cause you’re not gonna buy an easement

[@philup6274]

I'd hover for 5-7 min before actually departuring every time .

[@fradee2830]

IF you can afford to get and operate a chopper.

[@philup6274]

@Crosby Kade why you spying on your girl. I

[@michaellowe3665]

@@philup6274 those were just spammers trying to get you to go to their site.

[@joshblanton9613]

In ky you can no longer land lock anything by law. Court decides best easement route. Also required by ky state board for surveyors requires easements to everything

[@claycaudill5347]

2nd this (in Ky)- I bought an adjoining parcel to my land that had road frontage. Sold off the road frontage, but had to combine the remainder with my other property

[@fradee2830]

KY is smart! No use burdening the court.

[@outinthesticks1035]

Same in sask. But the owner of land that needs to be crossed has a large say on where the access runs and it legally neads to only provide access , not at the point where owner of the landlocked parcel wants

[@dcs4555]

@@outinthesticks1035 sounds totally fair, because the orig owners didn't create this situation

[@robertsprafke9376]

Thanks for the video! In Arkansas you might add difficulties with local politics and being an outsider keeping you from getting an access / easement in a reasonable amount of time. Keep in mind the mad neighbor you pissed off is only going to wait until your dream home is finished and fully furnished before the fire happens.

[@anthonypoole6901]

I wont consider landlocked property myself . I dont want the hassel of dealing with easement it creates a lot of negative feeling with neighbors which would be nothing but a problem the whole time you own it. Therefore if they wanna sell it they ought to have easements prenegotiated.

[@Candid1ify]

Land locked interesting topic, my fathers house was at the head of a valley and public road ran through the property. We own both sides of the road. Behind us were a bunch of old farms long since abandoned no public road ran up valley that we could find. Until we went to county and checked all the maps for the area and found the road had washed out close to 50 years earlier. It use to run on the far edge of our property up along side the creek. The county had not bothered replacing it because well nobody was living there anymore.. Well the creek is long gone, or since moved as creeks do, and I have always wondered what would happen if some relative decided to move back. So ya I am interested.

[@charlesemmer8856]

I enjoy watching your KZbin videos. You offer good common sense advice for new or established property owners.

[@bendean4255]

In Tennessee there is a special statute for a private person to condemn a roadway. Very old statute from early 1800s. Has a bizarre jury of view who says where it goes and what they pay for it.

[@spicer41282]

I second Jorge Ripoll request for your deeper Easement video! Thanks in advance!

[@EYALAVRAHAMI]

I'm learning so much watching your videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

[@bendean4255]

I have made a small fortune on landlocked land. Best ever was bought for $1000 an acre land 20 acres for 20000. Sold 7 years later for 12500 an acre. That’s like 125% annual return.

[@az55544]

All you did was tell us how awesome you think you are

[@bendean4255]

@@az55544 just saying I made over 200k off $20k invested on what was thought to be worthless landlocked land…

[@greenthumb6875]

Neighbor sold 100 acres to GFP for average citizens to hunt on his parcel of 640 acres. It was his poorest piece and he needed cash in 1980s. It was put in the center of the 640 acres. Fast forward 2015 his son now runs a very profitable pheasant and deer hunting lodge. No easement other than half mile of walking to undefinable acres that is marked by signs but off the road a ways and even few locals know about it “It is what it is .” He is my neighbor and told us the story after we chopped his corn. None of us had any idea until we saw old signs half mile onto his property surrounded by fields we were harvesting. That 100 acres shows up on hunting maps but nobody can find it from road. Ha

[@lyfandeth]

Actually, in NH (VT?) and perhaps some other states, there is a state law requiring the neighbors to grant reasonable access and an easement--at no charge.

[@mdspider]

This was eye opening. Thank you for the video.

[@Kistilan]

I have a piece of land that has an easement granted I bought almost 5 years ago, nearly paid off. The land has an ingress/egress easement written into the Deed, but it does not state I can do anything to modify the roadway. It's only for ingress and egress along servient easements and I am servient to another property that uses the same road to go through my land and each their land. The problem lies in our town that taxes these parcels as if they had access to water, but is not willing to lay the infrastructure down the easement nor down the major electrical grid easement that supplies MANY houses past our little subdivision with power. In this case I cannot find a right for myself to modify any of the easement and lay infrastructure (water piping) to the main water road at the front of this dirt road easement. My Town claims I have the right and therefore they can tax me the "availability" tax, and if I were to hook up it would go to $500. I am making a case with them that the deeds convey easement rights to property owners only for ingress and egress and that we do not have any rights to lay the infrastructure. In which case, we should be able to reclaim this unfair taxation. Infact, the town HAD been NOT TAXING the second property owner (which also has an easement at the front through the first and is servient to myself and the final easement holder) for the entirety of their possession of that land. I made this note and the town made the claim they needed to rectify the taxation on that particular individual! Absolutely crooked. I believe I'll be filing on behalf of the three property owners that require the easement for ingress/egress to have the town buy the right to run their water lines through our land if they wish to continue taxing us and afford us "the option to connect" to the water. At this present time it is cost-prohibitive for any of the property owners to pay for this project -- it requires an extreme amount of work due to the land being on a shale shelf so there is no 18-36 inch digging ability to lay any pipe through the rock for water to pass with relative ease. Since the easement explicitly does not convey the right to utilities, it seems the town should purchase an easement or seek a court-ordered easement granting the town the right to lay pipe and thus secure their "available yet not connected" taxation of the properties that do not have any way to lay pipe on any particular neighbor's property.

[@Yeshuaschosen]

I bought a piece of property at the end of a city street .Problem is the the city owns the land where the street ends and my land is just beyond that so I am land locked.Upon closer inspection there is a huge ditch there is why the city street doesn't go any further. I'm hoping the city will sell me their portion so I can access my land otherwise its useless.On one hand this acre of land was dirt cheap but I can't do anything with it until the street is extended.

[@Sartech3]

Hi I’m currently trying to buy property myself in West Virginia I am looking at it in Hampshire County the problem looking at butts up to the back and another parcel of land that has an H O A But mine does not so it should be fun to see what happens with access and the like who are you made this video and gave me good information and being it’s in West Virginia also I could see what you deal with in the discussion

[@tony7856]

A piece of property without legal easement was how the whole killdozer situation began. Granted there were many other issues that acted as a catalyst.

[@wakes_inc]

That's not true at all. There was no easement issue.

[@jimd3541]

Great video with lots of knowledge

[@pwu8194]

That's funny. Even if it had great timber value, if you have no right to access the property, how are you going to get it out?

[@bacawaka2813]

I wonder if you sell or even parcel out the land lock lot to the surrounding lots of that is a good business strategy.

[@jakebredthauer5100]

I have read several comments here that doing that is very good.

[@charlielewis6849]

Yes show us the video

[@thebluelunarmonkey]

If someone was landlocked and my property was a logical option for access by easement, I'd go for an agreement with easement (like them maintaining the road on my property). Also note granting access will eliminate (depending on the state) chances of future adverse possession claims as one of the requirements is the number of years of using someone else's property *without* permission. As far as adverse possession, when I bought my house, an outbuilding listed and i'm pretty sure it's on my neighbor's property. My neighbor and I are tight so I informed him of adverse possession, so let him know we now had an agreement that I could keep the outbuilding on his property. So I can't later screw him over with adverse possession and take over ownership of his land that I'm using. When I rebuild I'll make sure the new building is within my setbacks.

[@MAM-cy3yy]

Crazy new neighbor shot and killed established neighbor for spraying a fence line between properties. Perp has been locked up for 35 years now. Sad but true.

[@astrogoat]

My attorney in Floyd County, VA told me that he had a client who was shot and killed over a couple feet of land. I in fact sold out and left Virginia after a problem with a neighbor who demanded that two deeded easements I had across his land be released. While they were not developed and would in just a few years reach their 20 year limit, the new neighbor became such a problem and I decided it was better to leave. While I miss the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, I don't miss these kinds of problems, in fact I would never buy shared easement dependent land as getting neighbors to help foot the upkeep bill was a nightmare. I have looked as some land locked land but the properties that I looked at were along state rail/trails. At least you can go in and out with an ATV.

[@mtbasshead]

getting an easement of necessity is damn near impossible if the neighbor wont allow it. Court fight isnt worth it

[@bedlamite42]

IIRC, they tried to landlock Marvin Heemeyer

[@scottrussell6717]

Here in ky its illegal to landlock property and try to sell it

[@Jack-ne8vm]

Fly in.

[@lasalleman]

No. Don't buy landlocked property. Period. Unless , of course, you want to hassle with a lot of surrounding property owners trying to get an access easement through their various properties. If you don't intend to use it, you might consider selling it to adjoining property owners. Or buy an adjoining property with an existing easement or public road access. But in general, taking one thing with another, it's a bad idea to buy landlocked property. If you're determined to buy the property, get ahold of a title report showing the various easements and encumbrances and restrictive covenants that may be on the property. There might be provision for some sort of easement to a public road.

[@BearMeat4Dinner]

I love the tips! Great video!!!

[@kathiestacey5253]

Good info to think about, thanks.

[@dallasarnold8615]

A peculiar situation with a friend of mine living in an HOA subdivision. The HOA failed to pay property taxes on the property on which the pool and tennis court exist. So the one neighbor adjacent to that property paid the taxes for several years ( I do not know exactly how many ) then filed a claim to that property and got it. So, now he has more land, a pool, and tennis court of his own and a bunch of angry neighbors.

[@MustangsTrainsMowers]

Sounds like a good way to lose friends and make people hate you.

[@peachykeen7634]

❤️🤣🤣🤣 that’s FANTASTIC!!!!

[@dallasarnold8615]

@@MustangsTrainsMowers My bet is that he had no friends in the subdivision to begin with. I have not been by there myself. I would not be surprised to find all sorts of debris tossed onto the tennis court and into the pool. Of course the tennis court is on the corner of the main road and the entrance to their subdivision, joined by the pool, then the guy's house. I wonder how his wife feels about the whole deal. Or is she as much of an ass as he is ?

[@Vapourwear]

@@dallasarnold8615 Well, you know from the beginning when you're with HOA types; the ones that WANT an HOA, not one that tolerate it. "Your house can only be one these three shades of beige, so you'll need to repaint those shutters, you have 10 days until a $200/diem penalty kicks in; also here is your $400 penalty for having grass .0176cm higher than the Homeowners Agreement Allows, also we have hired a yard trimming company to make sure this doesn't happen again, you will need to pay them $2,300.00 for the next year of service. See you at the next HOA meeting!"

[@mmdoz711]

That's so dirty!!! But ...DONT WORRY. HE ,S NOT GONNA HAVE IT LONG , ITS GONNA BE ALL TAKEN FROM HIM. HOUSE N ALL !!! HAHAHA !!!

[@frankdemeter5369]

Moral of the story..... DON'T BUY LANDLOCKED PROPERTY!

[@jorgeripoll9685]

Yes I would like to see a video on easements.

[@solohoh]

There's a reason a parcel of land is landlocked and don't expect a miracle in sorting it out. Don't be the neighbor from hell by threatening your neighbor -- who might already be or might become a neighbor from hell. I've seen everything in 55 years as a professional land surveyor (CA & TN). Get a good surveyor, a good lawyer, and a good title company and find out if the county has regulations that affect access & development -- be.informed before you enter a potential minefield. Another place to learn about the neighborhood is in a local church. Three old sayings -- you attract more flies with honey than vinegar, no such thing as a free lunch, and good fences make good neighbors -- are useful here. Final notes -- get the property surveyed and build a fence -- always 6" inside your property line and maintain your property corners.

[@jeffreypainter1711]

Troy, just recently a good friend of mine was murdered due to a property dispute (no kidding), although he was in the right. Folks become passionate about property so, as you mentioned, get a lawyers advice.

[@reloader3086]

I hope they rot in prison!

[@jtelectric9905]

I believe approaching the neighbors and asking for an easement, even if it requires buying a legal access is the only way to go. Pursuing legal action and forcing an easement is just a recipe for disaster. Great topic and channel

[@richardriehle4159]

i agree totally . legally forcing an easement on someone is a recipe for disaster.

[@horsemumbler1]

Yeah, persuasion is always superior to coercion when possible, amd when it's not, coercion is often not worth the candle anyway.

[@DeanFamilyAcres]

I Was thinking the same thing. And as Troy stated, always get it in writing. Preferably with a lawyer and witnesses.

[@MishaDaBear]

I think that I'd do the title search first without the lawyer, then approach the adjacent property owners. Actually you might find another property that is too small or looking at a place like WV too steep to build on that could be purchased to build a road on when exploring the GIS System. Also that search will show the contact information for each area property.

[@TheAmbulatingFerret]

Yup last thing you want to have to worry about is someone 'spilling' a bucket of nails on the easement road or some other shenanigans.

[@barms9768]

Had a buddy that bought a 10 acre landlocked chunk of land. He went to every neighbor offering $3-5K for them to sell him a 20ft wide section of their land along their property line in order to make a driveway. He said all but one of them said yes, and even had a little bidding war with the lowest price winning. The lesson I took from it was asking for an easement is like saying " I can legally use your land to where it really is only your land in name only" , but asking to buy a small section of their land sounds more straightforward and consensual.

[@HomesteadDNA]

I offered to buy a small prescriptive easement on our land. The guy didnt want to sell it as he was afraid that I would then convert the land into some apartment complex or something. Fine by me, I still have right of way.

[@barms9768]

@@HomesteadDNA Yeah, not every tactic will work 100% of the time. Worth a try before making enemies though.

[@Acecool]

The biggest problem with giving someone access to your land, is if they injure themselves - even if they are the ones who created the paving, and so on and so forth, is they can legally sue you because it was on your land.

[@barms9768]

@@Acecool Another reason they would be inclined to sell it instead. However, most places allow (require) an easement between properties for landlocked plots. Like I said, that would tend to make enemies of neighbors if you go grading and paving the edge of their property though.

[@linzierogers5024]

makes sense to me. Just buy the entry way land to your land.

[@traceyosterlind14]

Oh yes, exactly as you described. Granddaddy had a hundred acres and divided it among his three boys, my father and his brothers, correctly with an access easement across another man's land. A descendant decided he was no longer going to allow the easement, and built an outbuilding in the middle of a dirt road. My cousin needed to go to court to order that building knocked down. It was a sneaky move, had she not defended her travel easement right, the land would've gone back to the original property owner at some point, like 5 yrs. Since she now lives out of state, it could have very well been too much hassle, devaluing her land and letting the adjacent property owner snap it up for a song.

[@Falney]

I heard a story, one of those the old timers tell from when they were a young adult, of a land locked property where the owner was turned down for an easement on a property he inherited and wanted to put a house on. He then heard through the grape vine that the 3 surrounding families all used the property for camping on and knew that if they gave him access to that property, they would loose access to their free, river front camping ground. He flew a helicopter over the land and caught video of them trespassing and basically offered to not take action against them if they agreed to an easement. Apparently the guy would have been fine to let them continue camping on the land and would have even thrown parties on the land, had they asked instead of being jackasses about it.

[@cyumadbrosummit3534]

That's bullshit boomer folklore .

[@OldGriz708]

I bought 26 land locked acres about 35 years ago. There was I~94 along the west boundary railroad tracks along the north side and a huge gully to both the south and east. I had to submit my plans for the property and expected number of track crossings per day and approximate times to the railroad company before they would consider easement across the tracks. It took the better part of a year to get approval but I got it.

[@billbye2427]

Ingress and Egress are the magic words you are looking for in any "Metes an Bounds " legal description!

[@somedude0505]

If you have to sue to get the easement, might as well sell the property as soon as you get the easement. Your neighbor will never like you after that and its going to be a disaster. Besides, with the easement finished , the property might be worth more.

[@mattmonaghan5502]

Tax wise its great no road frontage. Big savings. Farmers sell off road frontage property to save on taxes and lease part of the land back from the buyer. I've seen that before.

[@Samuraid77]

Me - living on a bayou thinking "don't most of you live on landlocked land?"

[@thomasfields2082]

I was actually looking at acreage in wv that was landlocked when this came across. Lucky me.

[@HalfAssHomestead]

I too am looking at moving to WV from upstate NY. More land, newer house, and less than 1/10th the taxes.

[@hardstrugglehomestead9310]

We bought our place knowing it was landlocked. One thing you didn't mention is that no one will want to work with the land. We were not able to get a loan for the property and ended up paying cash because the bank wouldn't touch it. We also had to shop around to quite a few title companies until one was willing to work with us to close the deal.

[@karmaslap2252]

how did you end up getting access? Convince a neighbor to give an easement?

[@hardstrugglehomestead9310]

@@karmaslap2252 the land was bordered on 3 sides by the utility provider First Energy. It took 16 months of emailing back and forth and engineered drawings to their specifications to get them to agree to giving access. We ended up having to make our 3000' long driveway 14 feet wide and capable of handling a vehicle that weighs up to 120,000 lbs. It cost us $150k but we got our land at such a discount that it is still a good deal.

[@quicktest0532]

@@hardstrugglehomestead9310 hot damn glad to hear

[@NoTv10]

So you found the property before you started working with people or you were already working with a realtor?

[@Austin.8150]

What title company?

[@RobVespa]

Yes, please do a video on the hidden aspects of access (and other pratfalls, whether it's zoning, soil assessment, etc.). Thanks!

[@kenlee5015]

Great topic. A while back my neighbor owned 40 acres of farm land with some rentals that had an easement road. A developer from the other side of our ravine, which had a salmon creek requiring major setbacks, also owned land on our side. It did connect to his land but because of the ravine, was essentially landlocked. Dozens of acres sat there unused because my farmer neighbor refused access. Do your homework. For my part, I got to enjoy peace and quiet on only 2.5 acres backed up against a beautiful wildlife refuge because a farmer stood his ground.

[@rajbeekie7124]

SMH, why would any sane person even consider buying landlock land? Even if your brother promises you access through his land, don't. Many times, brothers do fall out.

[@solomonshields5070]

Yes, I'd like to see a video discussing ways to identify landlocked property that might be easy to get an easement and things that might make it deceptively difficult. Also, tips on locating landlocked property without wasting tons of time. Thanks! STORY: I have a friend that a long time ago had land (wasn't landlocked but the road was very inconvenient) and wanted an easement to the fire-tower road nearby. The property owner didn't let him, siting "wetlands" regulations. Little did he know that historically at some point there were trenches and valleys around that had filled in and dammed the wetlands (keeping them wet). So my friend dug out the "channels" on his property and in less than 4 years drained the wetlands and through the courts, won an easement suit.

[@bendean4255]

Landlock land is most valuable when a neighbor wants it.

[@LarsonFamilyFarm-LLC]

THAT's why i would buy it...1 of 2 to 5 parties would want it for more than i bought it for.

[@PaulMcClellanmn]

@@LarsonFamilyFarm-LLC of course sellers are not smart enough to ask their own neighbors if they are interested in buying

[@LarsonFamilyFarm-LLC]

@@PaulMcClellanmn Seriously, they're aren't in half the cases...many people live out-of-state, delinquent tax sale or just don't take the time to meet and greet potential land-owners around them. Those sellers are not as polished as i am and have burnt their bridges out years ago. I can and will do better.

[@mtbasshead]

Only IF the neighbor wants it. IF hes broke, its not worth squat.

[@reloader3086]

I'd get epa permits to bury medical or nuclear waste for the government! I bet they will pay for me to leave!

[@Dev-lc4cd]

You forgot to consider just simply creating a helipad and getting a helicopter to access your land

[@johnmccallum8512]

You would need a good clear area to land it even a small one, or be a bloody good pilot

[@BillLaBrie]

Helicopters are for plebs without access to teletransporters.

[@Dev-lc4cd]

@@BillLaBrie Well now we're just stating the obvious there, Bill. Here's a more helpful suggestion: Buying the mineral rights to an adjacent lot, and digging out a network of tunnels to the main rode. Bam, your welcome, so easy.

[@doughale1555]

Have the seller acquire the easements before you buy.

[@benjamincrooker2533]

I was in that very situation. I found out it was landlocked. I walked away. Very happy I did.

[@peachykeen7634]

My parents are in the middle of easement nonsense. Wow. It really depends on how much money/time you’re willing to fork over to get what you want.

[@larryjanson4011]

the highest paid lawyer wins the case.

[@nightshadefern162]

My neighbor’s piece is landlocked. The only possible driveway was up my drive, which was rough. He owned an excavation business, still has some older equipment. So he did up the driveway and even keeps it plowed, easement granted! In NC, neighbor and I went through a property dispute. I put up a fence 5’ off the line, to be sure. They insisted I was on them. They dug a phone line in, tore out my fence. I drove fence posts back in, hitting the phone line. I hired a surveyor, proved where the line was, moved the fence to ON the line and their chicken coop was on me. 30 days later, I took my new chicken coop off the line (they failed to move it). They also put the phone line on them.

[@TheOnlySgtRock]

Sounds like you and your neighbors get along real well. Can't imagine a neighbor like that.

[@911WASanINSIDEjob420]

@@TheOnlySgtRock 1000% all his neighbors fault

[@denverbasshead]

@@TheOnlySgtRock talk to the neighbor for being an idiot

[@TheOnlySgtRock]

@@911WASanINSIDEjob420 I never said it was his fault. I just said I can't imagine neighbors being like that. We live on a rural road and we know all of our neighbors on a first name basis.

[@TheOnlySgtRock]

​@@denverbasshead I never said it was his fault. I just said I can't imagine neighbors being like that. We live on a rural road and we know all of our neighbors on a first name basis.

[@Squarehead45]

NEVER buy land locked property, your "Neighbor" may sell his property to a REAL Hateful idiot,,then you are screwed. End of story.

[@PeterSedesse]

You didn't mention it, but also be careful what an easement allows you to do, and this will vary by location. In some cases, it only allows you to put in a road big enough to drive through, usually an area barely wider than a car. You might have problems with rain/drainage Just a funny aside, this happened in a different country, but I had an acquaintance who bought 3 acres of land on a tropical island that was landlocked by almost half a mile. All the paperwork, all the lawyers assured her that there was an easement included that would provide access to the property through the back of a bunch of neighbors yards... After she bought the property, turns out the definition of easement was to create a walking path no more than 2 meters wide. As it was a poorer country, there was no expectation that people would have cars so when the wrote the easement laws, they didn't consider cars. She ended up buying the back 20' of a bunch of people's properties.

[@golfbravowhiskey8669]

you have no right to access in Tx. If you have land locked land, it’s basically off-limits unless there is a deeded signed easement. Which has to be legally binding and recorded at the county courthouse. We ran into a lot of that in the 70s and 80s when two old good friends just let each other use their road, but as they passed away their kids thought that was an actual easement when it was not. That made for a lot of land locked land. We have 91 acres landlocked in the middle of us The original family still pays taxes on it and they will not sell it to us, and the only offer we ever made them was they have to build a road do it which is about 4400 foot through timber and bottom land that’s so thick you cannot see through it. They had a quote of $90,000 for the road and they won’t do it. And will not sell it to us so they continue to pay $4000 a year property taxes. They cannot put it under agricultural exemption because they do not have access to it. Pardon any above weird spelling or phrases, I’m bouncing across a field planning corn on a tractor

[@golfbravowhiskey8669]

Also on a little side bar, the only time you were ever required to give and easement in Texas is if a company has the minerals least for drooling do you half to give an easement. Now that easement is going to be pricey, but if you price it to her then it will just go to the courts and you probably won’t get watt you would have originally gotten due to legal fees court cost etc.

[@kalebbrown5916]

there are a few ways to obtain access through Texas courts, but it sucks. My uncle is in this situation. His land become landlocked when a logger came in and bought the surrounding properties that had easement established. The logger came in and offered to log the land for the old men for x amount, then lowballed them on the land price because it had no logging value. The old men sold. The logger began maintaining the easement and told my uncle he "lost rights to easement because he had not maintained it himself for more than a year." My uncle, being an educated individual in the realm of property rights as a construction company owner, informed the man that he would prefer to negotiate access, even buying and maintaining the access, to legal action because he wouldn't want to live next to someone that doesn't want him around let alone after legally forcing the neighbor to give him access. I believe he's still waiting on the mans decision.

[@HamiltonvilleFarm]

good points to consider Troy

[@rogerhodges7656]

My attorney purchased a landlocked parcel at a tax sale. He sold it to an adjacent landowner for a great profit by gently threatening a lawsuit for an easement of necessity.

[@doghouseriley4662]

And attorneys wonder why people hate them.

[@rogerhodges7656]

@@doghouseriley4662 It was just chance that he wound up with tht property. I purchased purchased two landlocked parcelsat tax sales and they were both redeemed by the taxpayor before the redemption period was up.

[@noyopacific]

First time viewer. You did an excellent job covering a fairly complex subject here. Maybe you could try explaining prescriptive easements from the perspective of both the claimant and the encumbered property owner.

[@armymobilityofficer9099]

In Alabama, the landlocked property has a right to an easement over the last portion of property that made the property landlocked. Even though you have a right to access, you do not have a right to access wherever you want, so it is best to try to work out an agreement before lawyers get involved. Our county requires a subdivision approved by the county commission before land can be divided. The commission will not allow property to be subdivided that creates landlocked property. They require a minimum 50 foot easement. I have an 80 acre tract of land that has a recorded 50 foot access on one corner. The property owner with the road frontage tried to scare off all buyers claiming the land was landlocked. We checked the title, found the easement and made a pretty low offer for the property from the estate that was selling the land. We bought the land for a really nice price. The neighbor went to the heirs after they knew we made an offer. The neighbor offered to pay more, but the heirs were so mad at him that they sold to us at a lower price. While we have access to our property, all of the property lines are messed up. We gain land on two sides and lose land on two sides because fences have been in place for many many years and accepted as the boundary line. We were able to straighten on side out by offering to remove the old fence and replace it with a new fence on the "correct" property line. We gained about 25 feet x 1/4 mile. Well worth a five strand barb wire fence that we were going to put up anyway. Good video.

[@lisaclark6977]

Something else to consider, I would never allow neighbors to connect to my power or cable poles because it gives them a 30 easement you don't want others to necessarily have. It becomes a permanent easement. Also if you have a old alley, cut road years ago put through and maybe connects close to property rights you by law cannot close it back off. In my state it's just a 3 year to make it where you can't close it up. I wasn't a ugly neighbor but I did not allow them to connect to my poles. I had one neighbor who wanted me to take a fence down and let people from his rental house come in and out by my house. Lol, not. He said he just doesn't like hearing or dealing with his renters going in and out. They were not right up to his house he just wanted to close off his property and open mine. I didn't own or profit from the property or his renters. It cost me a pretty penny putting power poles 3.5 acres off the road why am I going to give you access to a 30ft easement I 210% know will be taken for granted, abused? Just wanted people to know if you do give a easement it gives the Utility, cable and others that same 30ft. of your property from start to end of it.

[@HalfAssHomestead]

I own a 1/2 acre I bought at auction. The guy who owns the land with the truck path to my land, wouldn't give me an inch. I went back to the tax office to find that he claimed his property as sole residency when he lives in Brooklyn and my land is upstate in the woods. He got tax break for 10 years on the sole residency claim, and when I went back to the tax office to find a different neighbor, they went after the main one, to get back over $6,000 in tax benefits, to which I asked them, to please mention my name. If he opens up my lot, I'll pay the penalties. He's rich, I'm not, and he paid the fines just to keep blocking me. I've trespassed twice on his land to check on mine, but since he lives 5 hours away, no harm, no foul. I'll be gone before he can get law involved. I'm now waiting for his land to go up for sale, and am hopeful the new owners will see and understand my dilemma..The path is already there, it just needs to be cleaned up to use again. I'll bring in the saws to open it back up for just simple access. BTW, I bought the land for $50, and it is now valued at over $500 just because I bought it and am willing to fight for it. After taxes and transfer I have over $1,000 invested with no access still. I'm patient, I want to build a summer retreat, and possibly use it for a hunting camp when the snow flies and the season opens back up for whitetail. The woods are teeming with all kinds of wild life, and there is a water way that runs right through it.

[@Barbaralee1205]

The worst state for these kinds of problems is Tennessee!! I owned 113 acres and used the “access” road for 20 years. Then built a home. Then lost the access to an evil neighbor who bought the property i crossed after the former owner died and the wife looked only at what she could get. Shutting off access was the best profit for her. A lawsuit later and the neighbors lawyer said “we will simply make this cost you more than your land is worth “ and he meant it. I lost my home, which i still had to pay for and my retirement. I’m very bitter but Tennessee law is set up to the disadvantage of property owners with permissive easement or handshake deals. Avoid TN

[@NYFreeman]

So sorry to read your story.

[@robertcastleberry5108]

You had a terrible lawyer.

[@battalion151R]

Hmmm. I guess lightning would have struck that house, before I'd have let someone else steal it.

[@bendean4255]

Yeah beware of lawyers who charge by the hour. They will make more than the battle is worth. You need to find the special lawyer that puts clients first and not billing by the hour. They are few and far between. (8/10 lawyers simply can’t be trusted). I have cases where I charge 3-5k for everything/trial and all and the other side spends 250k half way through the case. I have seen lawyers doing depositions and spend a fortune on easement and boundary cases. Sometimes I don’t care if I lose if I costs the other side a fortune and that is part of the power a great lawyer can bring to your case that being the other side will spend and hemorrhage cash fighting you and your great lawyer. Most people end up with the hourly lawyer and have lost the war before the battle even starts. I am interesting in buying landlocked land in Tennessee and helping people state wide. I am a lawyer in Springfield Tennessee. The statute allows you to condemn a right of way(limited to 20 foot access and 10 foot utility). Sometimes this is problem for development as some codes require 50 foot of road frontage. I had the easement granted by court order in a case and the zoning people said the court order trumped the 50 foot frontage requirement.

[@jwhiskey242]

A "handshake deal" is worthless in court in every jurisdiction.

[@cameronwittman8597]

depending on the situation i have seen great results just offering an equal amount of land in return. innless fences are in place a tenth of an acer is a tenth of an acer, just make sure you offer to pay for the survey in that case.

[@number4cat1]

My version is: I found a home in another state, in a scenic location, but on a dirt road with no easement. There were many other occupied homes on the same road (don't ask me how they managed to get their homes built). I made it a point to meet the landowner who owned the road, and noted that he had never blocked any of the other homeowners from accessing their property. I planned to live in the home for the rest of my life and leave it to my children, and wouldn't need to sell. Later, one of the other homeowners wanted to sell, couldn't due to the lack of easement, and sued successfully for an easement, which was applied to everyone else.

[@jbaker4900]

If you can't buy an easement, then don't buy the land. If you legally forced someone to give an easement around where I live. They would burn you out. Plain and simple

[@scottsatterthwaite4073]

In many states there is no such thing as land locked property. There has to be a right-of-way in the deed before in can be financed by a bank or recorded by the county recorder.

[@johnwoody4905]

yes here to

[@SlowRiderDucati]

In a rural area if you sue for easement you will then be in a living hell. As everyone knows everyone, the Sheriff, the school superintendent, all the local businesses, etc...

[@Kenniii3]

We bought a property with a pet food store next door. The neighbor keeps mowing 15 feet onto our property. We planted some grapes armors on it and it was funny, they came out and gave us permission to plant there. We finally had it surveyed which proved our original understanding of the layout. The problem we have is their costumers. They walk their dogs in our yard and leave little tokens of their existence. They’ve even mangled our ducks and acted aggressively toward our dogs. We’re considering seeking a a variance to allow us to put up a fence right on the line to keep uninvited, unleashed visits from messing up our border and endangering our critters.

[@Kenniii3]

@denise starr unfortunately it’s not quite so cut and dry. There are local covenants that restrict the position and size of the fence. The size of the fence allowed locally would not actually prevent the kinds of problems that we’ve been having because they won’t be high enough to keep a determined dog out. Not to mention with setbacks and easements I would essentially be abandoning several feet of my property to the neighboring property because it would be fenced in and inaccessible to me but still trespassable to them. There is a chance that the township will give a variance in consideration of these issues but the neighbors get a chance to weigh in on the decision, and they quite like having access to my property. They are likely to resist a variance being granted

[@AZDesertExplorer]

Just leave antifreeze out. They’ll stop coming over one way or another. 🤷‍♂️

[@jakebredthauer5100]

@@AZDesertExplorer Antifreeze would be illegal. Getting photos my work or signs. Have the neighbor put up a fence.

[@jwhiskey242]

@@AZDesertExplorer dirty sob

[@doughale1555]

I’m about to grant an easement, not a big one. But I want the goodwill with a new neighbor. He is right between to bad neighbors.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

That's extremely reasonable and respectable of you, my parents years ago had to pay a ridiculous extra cost to run power on their property due to an extra 5ft of easement not being granted by the neighbor. We never had a good neighborly relationship with that family. The one that moved in after them, years later, those folks were awesome. Thanks for being a good neighbor!

[@gregarioussolitudinist5695]

Parcels are generally not landlocked. A right of way exists in the Chain of Title (Ownership Chain). Every successive generation becomes increasingly ignorant of the pertinent facts. Have a Title Examination conducted on the Subject Property. They cost about $200.

[@RobVespa]

Plus, there's the fact you may have a spiteful neighbor... which can be hell (which you cover).

[@MishaDaBear]

One more option, especially if it is a large land locked property, your city or county can expropiate an access to the property. I have seen one where the county expropiated 33' of the border of 2 adjacent properties into the legal 66' wide road pid property unit! All you may need to do is to subdivide off a number of lots making the access for 4 or 5 lots. Locally the smallest a lot can be is 1.5 acres where onsite water and wastewater is required. One bonus the local authority maintains the road!

[@MrHunterseeker]

Grew up in logan WV, and had a neighbor that claimed our driveway. I remember it being one of my parents biggest headaches growing up. Neighbor tried to plant trees in the middle of the driveway- that both families used. They had a driveway/right of way on the other end of their lot specifically for their lot, but once my dad bought this piece of land and put in a driveway that was about 10 feet away from their property line, (it was the old right of way the land company established when it parceled the land out into lots here in the 60s when they were logging and the old logging road that followed the counties right of way to other plots of land that were land locked behind the two lots beside the county road (my parents lot and my neighbors) it began years of dispute. The neighbor always tried to claim that driveway, when they didn't even own the part of the land they had their house sitting on, it was the land companies land. Finally when I was a kid, dad got tired of fighting with them all the time about it, he stopped taking care of the driveway and put a paved driveway in his front yard and abandoned the other driveway, which is still there, just rutted out now, since the neighbors died off. Dad did try to buy that old driveway but the county said since 2 families used it, it became a county road. So remember that- if you let another family use a right of way across your property, the state can be dirty and take that land from you and call it a county road. My advice to anyone about right of ways is to check the courthouse, normally they have them plotted. From my understanding if you inherit or buy a piece of property, you are supposed to get a right of way to that lot regardless if it's landlocked or not, and the person who owns the land with the shortest distance to the county road or the "easiest" access to the county road is required to allow you access. My house sits in front of a couple of "land locked" lots that the land company owns and the old right of way to them would need a road put in, my land has a section of land marked on it for right of way to those lots that I don't claim. Land is the one thing in WV that will get you murdered. A lot of hot headed old timers out there that can be the nicest people you ever met, but when it comes to land, and them being wrong, you may as well be talking to a wall. Be careful.

[@Dan-oz4qb]

Easement laws vary by state people. This is great general info but don't make any buying decisions without consulting your state laws.

[@jwhiskey242]

I have had an opportunity to buy a property where someone else has an easement to an existing home - I passed. Who wants a parade by or through their property?

[@kftc1980]

I’ve seen land with another dimension added: “access is walk in only through BLM land.” Any solution for that?

[@jcadult101]

@That Guy BLM tried to shut down a mining operation that way. They closed the nearest forest road so the guy brought in helicopters. THEN they wanted to inspect the operations and he said 'no, sorry'.

[@customwoodshiftknobs9322]

Sometimes talking to a neighbor and being nice about things can help a lot. But always get things in writing(in case someone dies etc). Friends of ours were looking at a large section of property that nobody would touch because the city required a road/utilities etc to be installed. He talked to a neighbor in the back that already had a road roughed in. Made a deal so they could access their property without paying for the city road.

[@needparalegal]

English/US Common Law allows you to cross neighboring property to access your property if there is no public access... Check state statutes to see if they have rescinded Common Law.

[@stingray4540]

Just don’t buy landlocked land without an easement. Make the seller acquire the easement and document it with the county.

[@onthepegs168]

Great video. I bought landlocked land in VA, got a great deal on it. I then subdivided and created two landlocked parcels. I did this knowing Virginia Code requires "ingress and egress" access through neighboring land to the landlocked land. However, after a title search, I discovered a 70 year-old perpetual easement (for farm access) that went through a neighboring landowners front porch. He gladly allowed me to put in an easement through his ajoining10 acre parcel (Far from his house) if I promised to abandon the existing perpetual easement through his front porch. I eventually sold one parcel for the price I paid for the entire property. Now I own 15 acres in Loudoun County VA mortgage free. Research state code, talk to neighboring land owners, and buy that landlocked property! Also research state code on how many homes an easement can support before it needs to be an engineered road. An engineered road could add tens of thousands of dollars to your cost if you share it with too many homes.

[@rickershomesteadahobbyfarm3291]

Get your easements in writing.

[@martyb3783]

Great video, very informative. I ran into this situation once before. It looked like it was going to go to court so I pulled out of the sale. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.

[@shanebiggers8437]

I bought land locked 40 acres and 30ft wide acccess to it at the same time and it’s still been a nightmare fighting with one neighbor on property lines... my survey company assured me he was correct on my survey and now my neighbor has switched from it’s his land to trying to claim it under adverse possession... so court is our only options. hopefully people don’t have the luck I do and end up with one bad neighbor!

[@TheOnlySgtRock]

Wow.

[@artemiasalina1860]

The trouble with any sort of an easement is in a sense what economists call a "tragedy of the commons," where two or more people feel as though they have some sort of ownership claim to something. It leads to a rat's nest of rules, government involvement, and often hard feelings. It's best to avoid land that requires an easement to access it.

[@got2kittys]

All public acess is an easement.

[@artemiasalina1860]

@@got2kittys Correct.

[@deadpresident78]

This does not matter. Go to court and force a easement. They will have to pay your court costs and the road. Get a civil litigator to do your work. Before you buy make sure there are no land locked properties that will need your property to get to it. This guy is not informed.

[@woodybogg]

Bull shit A judge has no jurisdiction on privately owned property. If they want it they have to condemn it and commission it in to the county or state to make it a public road and the state or county has to maintain it Us title 10 chapter 921 article 121 Larceny and unlawful appropriation You cannot give someone else's property to anyone temporary or permanently without consent of the owner

[@antonhuman8446]

Very good information. Thank you.

[@EchoTangoSuitcase]

Probably not a bad idea to keep in mind that a properly constructed gravel driveway is going to run you roughly $5,000 - $7,000 per 100 running feet at a 13' width. That depends on the cost of Limestone aggregate in your area and whether or not you need to put in drainage alongside the driveway. I can't tell you the number of people I've seen who built a house that required a 1,000' driveway and were then stunned that a Gravel driveway was going to cost them $60,000.

[@greenthumb6875]

Minus huge drainage problems I just put in virgin new driveway 13 feet wide, 50 belly dumps of gravel 300 ft for 7500 dollars. I kept grading it as they dumped with two 8 foot rail road irons welded at slight angle with 50 hp tractor. Driveway smooth and hard as a rock. I’ll hire a road grader to slope it this fall as settles. No limestone mind you, crushed rock... probably have to add more next year to really raise the bed but I’m happy...

[@astrogoat]

No, pissing your rural neighbors off is really a very bad idea. You run the risk of them killing you.

[@astrogoat]

And DO NOT use verbal agreements!

[@escapedtheratrace3408]

What an excellent video, I have owned landlocked property in Virginia for 20 years, and now want to access it. This video has helped me breathe a sigh of relief 😮‍💨 knowing that there is more than 1 way to gain access to it. Thanks 🙏

[@joshblanton9613]

I’m a land surveyor. People are stupid!!!

[@johnrenaud690]

Even if you win.... who would want to surround themselves with neighbors that resent you from the git go?

[@vhateverlie]

It raises a lot of issues. Especially if you share that drive and you want to fix it while the other person doesn't. Just a nightmare

[@allpraisebob]

Note that some states (like Florida) give the owner of landlocked land the right of access. You may still have to go to court to decide the exact placement of the easement(s) if the surrounding owners don't play nice, but there's no question on whether you'll get your road, utility services, etc.

[@jaystrickland4151]

I normally make the guy selling the land pay for the easement.

[@leeburkard4879]

One thing you may have forgotten is fire dept. Easements for fire control.

[@wildernesshermit]

If you can't get access from a willing neighbor the property isn't worth pursuing. Suing is definitely ill advised, you'll be encountering hostility coming and going.

[@mistervacation23]

You sound like a big choo choo train