"Chet Hayes" wrote in message
om...
Abe wrote in message
. ..
Being a homeowner that has had to do with easement issues in the past,
my very strong advice is not to grant an easement, for any reason,
whether you are compensated or not. I can't emphasize this strongly
enough.
Anything that reduces your sovereignty over the property you purchased
is just asking for trouble in unexpected and unforeseen ways.
So, draw up a contract whe
1. There is a specific start and end date for the work.
2. Specify a per diem charge of XX dollars (100 is usually pretty good
incentive) for each day the work extends past the end date, payable in
full to you, by the homeowner, at the finish of work.
3. You will be made whole for any damage the work does to your
property. Specify that the quality of work must leave the land in the
same condition that before the work was begun.
4. You are not responsible for any costs arising from Item 3 above in
the case where the land was left in 'better than original' condition.
You know what I find interesting about this and similar threads?
Someone asks an open ended question, giving hardly any info to base
advice on and then disappears. There are probably 20 posts here so
far, with all kinds of good questions raised and only the original was
from the person who started the whole thing and presumably has the
most interest.
Thanks for all the advice and comments. Here's some more detail:
The guy who bought the lot with no access lives across town. I have no idea
if he is a spec developer, wants to build his personal dream house for
retirement, wants to put in a subdivision, or if he wants to build a Muslim
church and pre-school.
The lot is on a street that also serves as the boundary for the city limits.
The area was annexed approximately 15 years ago, and there are few houses on
the street. The newest house there is about 10 years old, and the city has
spent millions of dollars upgrading the sewer system and probably passed
some ordinances to require all new construction homes in the city limits to
be hooked up to the sewer system so they can get more money to help pay it
off. Older houses are probably grandfathered for their sewer lagoons and
septic tanks.
I live in a very hilly part of the world, and the lot that has no access is
lower in elevation than mine by probably at least 40 feet.
Yes, there is probably another route or two that the sewer lines and water
could be run, but it would be a whole lot longer run than to just come
through my lot. There would be about six other landowners the other ways to
get it here.
Yes, I agree the guy was a supreme idiot if he bought the lot without
knowing there was no sewer access.
The lot has been for sale since Moses, so I would imagine he got it for not
much money. My thoughts exactly that if the easement benefits his lot
greatly, then I should also benefit.
I already have an easement across the back of my yard that a previous owner
granted 10 years ago when a fool built a house three lots down before he
found out there was no sewer service. This easement is for a 4" sewer force
sewer line for one house. I wouldn't know it was there except for the two
cleanout plugs my mower busted off because I cut it short this summer.
Looking at my abstract, it appears that it took about 5 years in court to
finally get a court order to force the previous owner of my house to allow
the easement. No money changed hands that I can see in the legal
documentation.
The new proposed easement likely would also include running along my side
yard to get to the water main on the street. This would be much longer and
more worrisome than another 4" line running across the back yard next to the
existing one.
I don't feel like I should screw the guy, but I also don't feel like I
should be used for his huge financial gain.
Right now, it is all talk and no agreements nor any contracts nor any
formalities have been presented to me. I don't know for sure what they are
wanting or if/what they are willing to do to get it. He did admit that he
has had a well-know attorney/land developer who is also the city's mayor
working on his issues. I doubt that I could find a more powerful or
effective attorney than the one this guy has, so I figure I am ****ed.
Anyway, that is about all I know and some more detail. Thanks for all the
thoughts, advice, and comments. You folks gave me some things to think
about that never crossed my mind.
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