Home, Land, Property Buying and Selling - HELP!! on buying a strip of land

Hi All,

In the backyard of our new construction house, there is about 40ft between the back of our house and a 20 ft utility easement, 10 ft of which includes our property.

The other side of the easement backs another 30 feet to a fence that is the backyard of our neighbor. Thus, there is a 30 foot by 80 foot plot of land that I would like to purchase so I can build a fence and our backyard would be a lot bigger. Problem is, I don't know who owns it. I also don't know if it is possible to have an easement run through the middle of your backyard (there are overhead power/cable lines, but no telephone poles in the middle, they are spaced by 80ft that butt the irons for my property)

The builder says the city does not own the strip of land, and he thought someone nearby owns it (did not know who) as part of an alley that was parsed up and made inaccessible by the new construction. I do not know how he knows this.

It is a ridiculous plot of land to want to hold onto. How do I go about seeing who owns it, and what steps can I take to purchase this or acquire it? If I find the owner, what kind of cash should i offer?

Thanks!!

A little research at the local land registry office should be able to find the info.
Some one is paying taxes on it. The city might able to tell you who owns it.

Go to the local County Courthouse. Either the Assessor's Office or the Mapping Office, if they have one, has the tax land plat maps with the Map and Page Number. The Assessor's or Sheriff's Office can tell you the name and address of the surface owner of the property of interest, as well as assessed value and amount of taxes paid.

Records of easements can be found in the Record Room. The copy of your deed and the deeds to adjacent properties and any easements or rights of way will be recorded and contain descriptions of what these entail. It is possible for an easement to run through the middle of one's property.

Thanks for the help.

I found the owner at the courthouse, and will contact assessor to find a value. The building inspection office says the easement won't be a problem, but he couldn't tell me that I was allowed to put up a fence.

I do have a final question, say he does want to sell me this strip of land and we agree on a price, what is the first step? A real-estate attorney?, or a title company? I know I also have to do a resurvey with the clerks office for it to go through, just not sure what at what point.

Thanks!!!

Just a note..

In our old area, you could build a fence on a utilities easement (they were all underground), but if the fence needed to come down or was damaged due to work on the utilities, you were SOL.

I've seen notes from others on here that in some areas, they would restore the area to original condition if it needed to be removed, but I'd question what their idea of "original condition" would be...farmland maybe?

A real estate attorney can help you with the purchase of the piece of land, advice re: title search and survey. He can also tell you if the utility company will allow the building of the fence on the easement. In many areas a permit is required to construct a fence. If there is an easement you may or may not be allowed to construct a fence. The easement if recorded at the courthouse and spells out the terms of access to the property.