If you are looking at buying a piece of real estate, it is essential to carry out thorough title checks. Among the issues that these checks might turn up is an easement. This gives another party the right to cross the property.
What if there is an easement showing? Should you continue with your purchase or not?
The easement might end with the sale
Easements do not always continue to apply after the owner sells the property. There are three basic ways they can work:
- They expire after a certain period: Some easements are created for a set period. Checking how long it has left to run allows you to see how much it will affect you, if it does at all.
- They are permanent: Some easements will never expire and will continue to run regardless of how many times the property changes hands.
- They end with a person: Some easements are created so that if the owner sells the property or dies, the easement will come to an end. Thus, it will not be a problem for anyone looking to buy the property. Or maybe it is the beneficiary of the easement that the agreement is tied to. If they die or sell up, then that may be the end of the landowner’s obligation to give passage.
Establishing the terms under which the easement was created can help you to better understand how much of a burden it might be if you were to go ahead and buy the property. Aside from the time factor, it is important to understand the scope of the easement. An easement for someone to pass on foot along the boundary line of a property for a few feet is very different than one for someone to drive machinery through the middle of it for hundreds of yards.
Learning more about this and other legal issues that can affect real estate can help you make informed purchasing decisions.