Buying landlocked property: What you should know

Let’s say you found an empty piece of land along a secluded lake, the perfect site for your future weekend retreat. But there’s one problem: There is no existing road to access the land. The only way to reach the property is by crossing over neighboring land.

The land you want to buy is known as landlocked property. If you purchase it, you’ll likely have to turn to legal means to build an access road or negotiate with your neighbors for the right to cross their property to reach your land.

Do these potential challenges mean you should never purchase landlocked property? Not necessarily.

What does landlocked property mean?

A landlocked property is a piece of land without legal access to a public road. Because it’s surrounded by lots owned by others, the only way to reach the land is by crossing a neighbor’s property.

An example could be a vacant lot behind a shopping mall. If the only way to get to this lot is by walking through the mall's property, it is landlocked. Another example could be land in a wooded, mostly undeveloped area. The land is surrounded by lots owned by others. Because there’s no road providing access, it’s landlocked.

Plots of land don’t have to remain landlocked. A buyer can negotiate with the owner of a neighboring land or property for an easement or right of way. The agreement may grant the buyer a strip of land they can use on the neighbor’s property to build an access road or travel across the property to reach their land. This process could be straightforward or require a lengthy and costly legal battle.

Subdividing parcels of land

Landlocked parcels are often the result of owners subdividing their properties. Suppose a landowner has a large parcel of land in a largely undeveloped area. They may want to divide the land into smaller plots to sell the parcels.

Landowners are usually willing to negotiate easements for parcels that lack an access road to a main road. The easements allow buyers to build private roads from a main road.

Pros and cons of buying landlocked property

Depending on your goals, buying landlocked property can have advantages and disadvantages. It’s often cheaper, but that discounted price can come with several obstacles to accessing the property.

Pros

Landlocked property is generally cheaper because there’s no direct road access to the property. Securing access to the land from a neighboring landowner will likely translate into buying for a deeper discount than you would have if the property had direct access to a public road.

Landlocked property may offer the opportunity to buy real estate in a neighborhood, community or rural area that was initially out of reach.

Cons

Lenders may hesitate to finance a land purchase due to safety concerns. They anticipate it’ll be more difficult for emergency services, like medical personnel, to gain access to the property.

Landlocked properties also involve some degree of negotiation. Even with a neighbor willing to help you gain access to your property, you’ll still need to draft an agreement and settle on its terms, such as financial compensation. However, if you and your neighbor can’t agree, you may face a long legal dispute.

What is an easement and why might you need one?

If you purchase a landlocked property, you’ll probably need to secure an easement from a neighboring property owner.

An easement secures access to your landlocked property. It may be as straightforward as a neighbor granting you the right to drive through their driveway. Or your neighbor may give you the right to create a driveway or access road that runs through their property and leads to your land.

You can negotiate directly with your neighbor to get an easement, including the fee you may pay your neighbor to cross their land. Never rely on a verbal or handshake agreement. Draft and sign legal documents to make the easement official.

If your neighbor doesn’t want to grant an easement, you may have to file a lawsuit and convince a court to grant you an easement.

What is right of way and how does it differ from an easement?

Depending on the layout of your land, a right of way easement might be an option. The easement allows you to travel over another person’s property. You may need a right of way easement if you can’t access a public road from your property without traveling across another owner’s land.

Maybe you need to travel down a paved drive over your neighbor’s land to get from a public road to your property. If your neighbor gives you access to that driveway, that’s a right of way easement. The only right you have is the right to travel. You can’t build a road on the land.

An easement gives you the right to use another person’s property for various designated purposes. If you need to build a driveway that connects your property to a main road but can’t do that without crossing over your neighbor’s land, you’ll need an easement to build a driveway legally.

Easement by necessity

If a neighboring property owner won’t grant an easement, you’ll likely have to obtain an easement by necessity – a court order granting an owner access to a neighboring property through an easement.

To secure an easement by necessity, examine your deed and conduct a title search to prove your landlocked property and the neighboring property were once owned by the same person. If that’s the case, the court will typically find that the previous owner failed to provide road access when dividing the land and grant the easement of necessity to ensure your landlocked plot of land remains useful.

How to get an easement for a landlocked property

There are different ways to obtain an easement to access landlocked property. To get it right from the start and protect your investment, work with a real estate attorney to draft a written agreement.

Survey the land

Your first step to securing an easement should be to pay a professional to survey your land. The surveyor will draw up maps showing the exact boundaries of your property and research the recorded history of your land and its neighboring lots.

The survey may uncover previous access routes to your land. That detail may make obtaining an easement an easier task. If you need to go to court, the information in the survey could bolster your attorney's case.

Meet with an attorney

Don’t settle on an easement agreement until you meet with a real estate attorney who can negotiate it. An easement agreement must be a written agreement. This way, you can refer to the documents if there is a dispute over your access to the property.

Contact the property owner

The most direct way to secure an easement is to meet with the property owner. You can often work out an agreement with the owner. You may have to pay your neighbor a fee, but it’ll be less expensive and time-consuming than going to court.

Make an offer and negotiate

Working out a deal with a neighboring property owner will likely take some negotiation. A property owner may reject your original offer for the easement and make a counteroffer. If you don’t agree with the counteroffer or the fee your neighbor wants, you’ll have to continue negotiating.

File a court order

If you and your neighbor can’t agree, your real estate attorney will likely need to sue for access to your property. Filing a lawsuit for an easement is expensive, takes time and can be stressful. While you may succeed in court, it may strain your relationship with the property owner. Going to court for an easement should be considered a last resort.

The bottom line: Understand landlocked property law before purchasing

Buying landlocked property involves pros and cons. A pro would be the steep discount you’d likely get for a landlocked property. The cons include taking steps to gain access to your land. It can involve lengthy negotiations with a neighboring property owner or even a legal fight. You’ll have to determine whether the lower price associated with landlocked properties is worth this potential hassle. Visit the Rocket Mortgage® Learning Center for more information and tips on different property types.

If you’re ready to buy, you can start an application online or give us a call at (833) 326-6018.