New Home Begins

   / New Home Begins
  • Thread Starter
#91  
Well, regarding the fence. Here are some pics. In the first, you can see the pin (yellow cap on top of re-bar) vs the actual fence. My property is to the right. In the second picture, you can look down the line and see the trees are about on the line. For him to move the fence, he would have either put the fence on the other side of the trees or move the trees also. I am not asking him to move anything if I can avoid it.

The third picture shows the fence down the line. I will be calling the title company on Monday as they are on the hook at this point and get their advice. They will most likely just refer me to a real estate attorney, but they should be in the loop.

P1010964.jpg P1010963.jpg P1010969.jpg
 
   / New Home Begins
  • Thread Starter
#92  
Just some more pics of the demolition progress. They even work on Sundays. gosh I love entrepreneurs. :)

P1010965.jpg P1010976.jpg P1010999.jpgP1020001.jpg

One of my camera shy fiance and other "child" wandering the property.

P1010978.jpg
 
   / New Home Begins #93  
Well, I do have some ace's up my sleeve. I have the upper hand no matter what.

1) He has become accustomed to using our property, while it was vacant by the past owner, as part of his hunting ground (bow). There is a deer stand in one of our trees that has been there for a long time and recently used.

2) When we purchased the property and received the survey, his fence starts at the pin just fine, but the other end (about 300' down) is 5 1/2' onto our property. Yes, feet, not inches. He has offered to move the fence but I recognize that moving the fence to the line means also uprooting the cedars because they are on the property line. In addition, I like the fence and if I was putting on up, it would be inside my property line also, maybe not that much, but it would still be inside it

I am going to get the advice of a real estate attorney to insure that adverse possession does not enter in. I want to retain my rights to the encroached area.

As much as I hate lawyers, getting the advice of a real estate legal beagle is probably a good idea. A few years ago, a couple of shyster Boulder, Colorado lawyers used adverse possession to grab 1/3 of their neighbor's vacant lot to preserve their view of the Flatirons. There isn't enough land left for the owner's of the vacant lot to build what they had planned on being their retirement home.
 
   / New Home Begins #94  
My next door neighbor has been really helpful and nice overall. The other day, he flew off the handle because the BH operator pushed a tree over that clipped one of his trees. Arms flying, f-bombs could be heard over the noise of the machine, yelling at me as if I did it. :confused:

He will calm down ... I hope. I don't want to become the Harfields and McCoys before the house is even done.[/QUOTE]

For him to move the fence, he would have either put the fence on the other side of the trees or move the trees also. I am not asking him to move anything if I can avoid it.

If the neighbor gets this worked up over one of his trees being clipped do you really think he will be reasonable regarding the property line? I would, at minimum, have him put the fence on the other side of the trees. The fence is really encroaching on property that you bought and should be able to use!!!!!!
 
   / New Home Begins
  • Thread Starter
#95  
Quick check with subs ... Stump removal today and tomorrow. Scraping off of top soil tomorrow also. Stakeout Wednesday. Foundation excavation Friday or Monday. Footings by mid next week.

:cool2:
 
   / New Home Begins #96  
Well, regarding the fence. Here are some pics. In the first, you can see the pin (yellow cap on top of re-bar) vs the actual fence. My property is to the right. In the second picture, you can look down the line and see the trees are about on the line. For him to move the fence, he would have either put the fence on the other side of the trees or move the trees also. I am not asking him to move anything if I can avoid it.

The third picture shows the fence down the line. I will be calling the title company on Monday as they are on the hook at this point and get their advice. They will most likely just refer me to a real estate attorney, but they should be in the loop.

View attachment 289496 View attachment 289495 View attachment 289497

Another thing to consider or at least an option is selling the neighbor the property to his fence. I would set a value of 4 times the going rate per acre and he must pay for all plats and re-surveys etc. It may be worth it to him to keep those trees and may not make any difference to you.
 
   / New Home Begins #97  
Yeah, buy it or move it sounds harsh, but the neighbor created the problem. Not only the fence, there is no way those arbor vitae can be maintained within his property. He probably planted those to screen your property, I don't blame him for that, but he should have been more careful about locating things. If the surveyor pin is not new, and has been easy to find, he has no excuses. In any case, it's his responsibility to know where his property is when fencing and planting. There are cases of surveyors arriving at different results, that would be a mitigating factor if there is a history of that.

Whatever you decide, a well-fenced yard is the bee's knees if you have a dog. Keeps them safe and out of trouble, and makes letting them out a non-issue, allows the use of a pet door too, which is very handy depending on your schedules. If you think you might fence your yard someday, you could tell him now that when you are ready to do that, his fence will have to be removed, and some of his bushes are going to get damaged. He would then have time to transplant or replace them, or whatever.
 
   / New Home Begins #98  
The amount of property in question is proabably less then 1/10 of an acre. Charge him $1,000 plus survey costs and call it good. I would let him make the decision on which option he wants and explain legally it needs to be resolved to protect you and him.
 
   / New Home Begins #99  
Another thing to consider or at least an option is selling the neighbor the property to his fence. I would set a value of 4 times the going rate per acre and he must pay for all plats and re-surveys etc. It may be worth it to him to keep those trees and may not make any difference to you.

Good idea.

I remember an ex-coworker bought a tiny portion of his neighbor's land because his new house needed the room as he built on an old mining claim. Although his land was about 5-acres, the mining claim is similar to the OP's property...long and narrow. Also he built in the mountains around 9,300 feet in elevation, and as I recall there was a drop-off that prevented him from placing the house totally within the boundaries of his property.
 
   / New Home Begins #100  
My parents found out that one of their neighbors had put a fence well into their property line before they ever bought their place. They just assumed the fence was on the line and didn't realize the mistake until Dad got to looking for the corners to build another fence. The title company was worthless and getting the fence tore down wasn't really an option with everything that the neighbor had into it and then done with creating a patio/back yard area. The realtor suggested they do a land swap and the neighbor pay for all the fees. The title company did do their part for free, but the survey was paid for by the neighbor.

Eddie
 
 
Top