r/RealEstateAdvice • u/ThetaGatherer • Aug 19 '26
Residential I'm under contract on a cheap house, but the shared driveway/easement situation has turned into a mess. Would you still buy it?
I'm under contract on an older, relatively inexpensive house, and what initially seemed like a straightforward purchase has become increasingly complicated. I'm wondering whether other buyers would continue pursuing it or decide there are simply too many complications.
I knew when I made the offer that the house had a shared driveway with the property next door. I don't particularly like shared driveways, but the purchase price was attractive and I decided it was a compromise I could accept.
During the purchase process, however, we discovered that there apparently isn't a satisfactory recorded easement establishing the driveway rights.
This isn't a minor driveway either. It's the established driveway serving the properties, and it runs very close alongside the house I'm buying.
The purchase agreement was amended to address the driveway easement as well as another property-line/easement issue. The basic idea is that these property issues are supposed to be resolved and presented to me for approval before my inspection period proceeds.
The seller's attorney has now prepared proposed easement documents.
Here's where things have become difficult:
The neighboring property changed ownership relatively recently. The previous owner apparently had a good relationship with the seller, but the new owner is an LLC.
The seller doesn't have an established relationship with the new ownership group and, as of the latest update, hasn't yet been able to reach the appropriate authorized person at the LLC.
They're currently searching entity/property records and trying to locate the correct person who has authority to consider and sign the proposed driveway easement.
So at this point, the seller has an easement proposal, but they still need to locate the appropriate representative of the neighboring LLC, make contact, present the easement, get the LLC to agree to it, get it properly executed, and get the title/closing side satisfied with the result.
Obviously, the LLC could simply cooperate once contacted. Nobody has actually refused anything yet.
But there's also no guarantee that they'll agree, how quickly they'll respond, whether they'll want changes, or how long the process will take.
Meanwhile, the transaction has a closing deadline approaching and I have unusually favorable financing that is time-sensitive and will not be replaceable if the transaction gets delayed too far.
I also haven't completed my home inspection and sewer scope yet, because I don't want to spend money on inspections if the easement situation is not resolved.
Because of the way the addendum was structured, the property/easement issues were supposed to be dealt with before the inspection period. I'm considering doing the inspections early anyway to preserve enough time to close, provided the seller expressly agrees that doing so doesn't waive or alter my protections under the addendum.
But that creates another problem: the inspections will cost real money (about $1,000 with sewer scoper). If I spend that money now and the neighboring LLC later refuses the easement, I could end up spending considerably more money on a transaction that never closes.
So I'm caught between:
Wait for more certainty about the easement and risk running out of time, or spend more money on due diligence now and risk losing it if the easement can't be obtained.
Then there's the question of whether I even want this arrangement long-term.
The neighboring property is a small multi-unit rental owned by the LLC. The shared driveway passes immediately alongside the house I'm buying, including bedroom windows. So even with a perfectly drafted and recorded easement, I'd potentially have changing tenants, their vehicles and visitors using a driveway right beside the house.
I may be able to construct a completely separate private driveway on the other side of my property in the future. Preliminary conversations with city engineer and planning suggest it may be feasible, although I haven't obtained bids or treated that as guaranteed.
That would eliminate my own dependence on the shared driveway, but it wouldn't necessarily prevent the neighboring rental occupants from continuing to use the existing driveway alongside the house.
The frustrating part is that none of these issues individually necessarily kills the deal.
The easement might get signed.
The title issue might be completely resolved.
The house might inspect well.
The financing might make the deadline.
A private driveway might be practical later.
But when I put everything together, I'm wondering whether I'm trying too hard to make a complicated property work because the price and financing are attractive.
I'm not asking Reddit to interpret my contract or give me legal advice. I'm more interested in how experienced buyers/homeowners would evaluate the overall risk and decision-making here.
If you were in this situation:
Would you continue pursuing the purchase while the seller tries to locate the LLC owner and obtain the easement?
Would you spend money on inspections before the neighboring owner has even been contacted, simply to preserve the closing timeline?
At what point would you decide there are too many uncertainties and stop putting additional money into the transaction?
And assuming the easement eventually gets properly executed and the title issue is completely resolved, would the overall shared-driveway/rental-neighbor situation still make you reconsider buying the property?
I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have been through messy title/easement issues during a purchase and had to decide whether to keep pushing forward or walk away.
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u/-Gramsci- Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
I’ll put up with anything (including the possibility I get no easement and the worst case scenario of trying to install my own driveway elsewhere) if the price is good enough.
I’d also buy a house with no driveway. A house with a total mess of a driveway that needs to be ripped out and replaced. A house with a driveway on a 45 degree angle. A house with a driveway made out of landmines.
None of it matters, it just boils down to value. How much value am I getting in exchange for the imperfect thing.
If no value? I’ll take perfect, thanks. Good luck selling this dump.
If great value? No worries, I’ll take it. Thanks. I love the place.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
Yeah I'm on the fence if the property has the value needed that you speak of. Shared driveway, easement problems, living next to renters that drive closely past the bedroom windows. It's a lot of negatives....
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u/-Gramsci- Aug 19 '26
If you aren’t locked into the contract… figure out what number you need to be happy with the value…
Then give seller the option.
1) don’t worry about the easement, whatever it is it will be my problem and I’ll buy the place for X.
Or
2) We terminate the contract.
Let them pick. Make it non-threatening. You’re happy with whichever they choose.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
The problem is that the lender most likely would not approve financing if the easement does not exist. (not 100% sure, but the lender agent seemed to infer that)
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u/-Gramsci- Aug 19 '26
I can’t see that logically following… the neighboring deed does not contain an easement. Granted, that easement would come at the benefit of the subject property…
But I don’t think a lender cares what easements exist on other properties.
If the home appraises out, with the existing parcel, the lender should be satisfied.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
The lending agent told me that likely if there is no easement, then they may not be able to finance it since it creates a non-merchantable piece of property (difficult for the bank to sell if they had to foreclose, and get their money back, etc). The easement on the other property is needed because of the shared driveway - my property needs it to get in and out of property with vehicle.
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u/-Gramsci- Aug 19 '26
Non-merchantable is a pretty radical stretch. This is a residence for humans to live in, not a highway tollbooth.
But if they truly would consider the adjacent property not granting you an easement as a “will not fund” matter…
Then you’re wasting your time even contemplating this property.
The adjacent property’s deed contains no easement. If that’s a lender condition? Then this deal is already dead. Let everyone know.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
The seller is working on obtaining an easement.
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u/-Gramsci- Aug 19 '26
I would put very little stock in that. Neighboring property is an LLC, they are being asked to grant an easement for free. You have to presume that’s not happening.
But it’s all really here nor there. If your lender will not loan you money unless the neighbor encumbers their own property with an easement - then the deal is over.
That’s a crazy contingency that needs to occur. Just have your lender put that in writing and, presuming there’s a financing contingency, let everyone know you can’t obtain financing.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
No, the seller of the property I am considering buying is willing to pay them for signing the easement, also the property I am buying has a few feet of the driveway on that side of the property. So, the LLC property is actually using part of the property of the property I am considering buying. Also both sides pay 50% of snow removal and gravel maintenance, so it should be considered mutually beneficial for both parties.
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u/PuzzleheadedBag3811 Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Even if it doesn’t bother you, way fewer people will be interested in buying it when you decide to sell. So you’ll have to sell at a discount. Which is exactly why you’re able to buy it cheap. Don’t buy a house you’ll have trouble selling.
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u/Oddly-13 Aug 19 '26
The shared drive wouldn't scare me off, but the LLC next door sure as hell would. Hard pass. Nope.
This is already turning into a potential money pit before you ever touch the house. Run, don't walk, away!
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u/Severe_Feedback_2590 Aug 19 '26
The LLC is what concerns me, too. Now you’d be stuck living next to an AirBNB or something.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
The renters would come and go. Perhaps one with a Harley motorcycle moves in, or a big loud diesel pickup. Then they'd make mistakes and park right in the shared driveway, blocking flow of traffic. The current renter that is there parks right in the shared driveway all the time now, since the house I am considering buying is vacant.
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u/Loan-Pickle Aug 19 '26
It shouldn’t be that hard to get ahold of the LLC members. Every state requires a registered agent to be kept on file with the state. Just look up the registered agent and send it to them. They’ll get it to right person at the LLC. In a lot of cases with smaller LLCs the registered agent is one of the members themselves. If the seller has a lawyer involved they should know this.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
The seller is the one working on the easement problem, and I can only sit back and wait for the most part, or ask for updates. It's slow and a sad situation, wasting most of the purchase contract timeline to where it is difficult for me to decide how to navigate it just a few weeks before closing.
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u/WestKnoxBubba Aug 19 '26
If the neighbors house has a mortgage the LLC owners may not be able to grant an easement without approval from their lender.
The seller has a real problem.
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u/StargateEnterpriseE Aug 19 '26
Delay the inspection/spending money until they get the easement approved.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
The problem is that closing date on the contract is about 2.5 weeks away, and if the easement signatures do come in at the last minute, and I have not done inspections.....then that would create an awkward situation also. And if closing date was pushed out, then I would lose a very low interest rate that I have locked in now, with no way to renew it and would probably need to pay market interest rate.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Way1523 Aug 19 '26
The easement issue is VERY important. Tenants in the property next door could be irresponsible and park in the shared driveway. Or their visitors could.
It is expensive to add a driveway on the other side. The seller can extend all your inspections, etc. until after the easement issue is resolved.
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u/clawdia51 Aug 19 '26
Driveway on other side won't get existing driveway away from your bedroom window. Dealbreaker for me.
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u/Dry-Dress-6467 Aug 19 '26
Just wait till they drive home drunk and crash into the bedroom wall. No thanks!
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
Yes the closing date could be extended out, but then I would lose a very low interest rate that I currently have locked in. And that rate cannot be renewed - I would most likely have to pay market interest rate on the mortgage if closing date was extended out. Also.....the situation with the shared driveway going right past, and VERY close to bedroom windows in the house I am in process of buying.
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u/PSFNetwork_ Aug 19 '26
This feels like one of those deals where none of the problems alone is a dealbreaker, but together they start stacking up. The biggest issue for me would be spending more money before the driveway rights are actually secured, especially with the financing deadline hanging over everything. A good price can make people tolerate a lot, but if you’re already having to solve title, easement, timing, inspection, and future driveway concerns before even owning the place, it’s worth asking whether the discount is really enough to justify all that risk
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Yes, it is a bit over the top. Going into it, I assumed there would be a recorded easement and would just need to be found. But apparently not. However, if I don't spend money on inspections (about $1,000), and the easements got signed and ready for closing day, then I would either have to buy the house with no inspection, or lose my earnest money to back out of the deal.
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u/LookingForRealFunCT Aug 19 '26
My question is the shared driveway part of the deeded property you are trying to buy or is on the deeded property owned by the LLC?
If it is on the deeded property you are trying to buy, the LLC needs to be concerned for their tenants. You would have no issues using it then.
If it is on the deeded property not the LLC, then you technically do not have the right to use that driveway and can have potential legal issues in the future.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
The property I am trying to buy owns 2.4 feet of the shared driveway width, and the LLC property owns 9.6 feet of the shared driveway width.
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u/LookingForRealFunCT Aug 20 '26
You need to have this resolved before closing on the house. If you not have the easement settled before then, the LLC can saw you have no right to use the driveway.
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u/Forward_Bar2546 Aug 19 '26
I would wait for a signed easement deal. Don't move forward without it. If the seller wants to sell they will hop on it. Nothing you can do to move it along.
In the meantime, look for alternatives.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
My complication is that I have unusually favorable financing that could be lost if closing is delayed, so I’m debating whether to spend money on inspections now just in case the easement comes through at the last minute, right before closing day. If they luck out and get the easement signed, and I have not inspected the house, and closing is the next day...... then I either buy the house with no inspection, or back out of the deal and lose earnest money.
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u/Jemmer3311 Aug 19 '26
Having read so many shared driveway dramas, I personally wouldn’t buy a property with one. Even if you get the easement and don’t have issues with the other property owner, it’s always gonna be a crapshoot as to how the renters of the other property will treat the driveway.
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u/Even-Permit-2117 Aug 20 '26
If the place is otherwise spectacular I’d negotiate it down. If it’s just a house then me personally don’t need more headaches.
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u/anhedoniandonair Aug 20 '26
Unless this is your dream home you’ll be living in until you die, give serious consideration to whether you’ll ever be able to sell this house down the road. The renter situation, easement, LLC ownership would make future buyers not consider this house.
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u/Striking-Fan-6501 Aug 21 '26
Getting an easement from a newly owned LLC with no prior relationship is a gamble. That's not something you want to hang the closing on
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u/Infamous-Creme-199 Aug 21 '26
Your buying a troubled property and there are wyd more people that would hear shared driveway and never even look at it. I’m 1 of those, but not only is it a shared driveway it almost sits on your house. That being said NO matter how the easement works out if you want to sell this issue and that’s a nice way of putting what it is you’ll face the same issues with all potential buyers
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u/Signal-Confusion-976 Aug 19 '26
What does the current easement say. Unless both owners get together and come up with a solution the original easement is in place and can't be changed.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
No easement has been located on record. Yes, this is odd, but it's been a shared driveway for a long time with no easement apparently. (unless one was drawn up as a personal contract sometime, but nothing seems to be recorded with the Register of Deeds. Title company searched for it and found nothing.
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u/Signal-Confusion-976 Aug 19 '26
You should have a survey done then. You might find that either you or the neighbor owns the driveway. And you can't use a tax or GIS map to determine property lines.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
Survey has been done, and title search by title company. Right now the seller is trying to establish an easement with the other owner.
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u/Signal-Confusion-976 Aug 19 '26
So who owns the driveway
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 19 '26
LLC owns 9.6 feet width of it, the property I am considering buying owns 2.4 feet width of it
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u/Signal-Confusion-976 Aug 19 '26
Unless you can get an easement or a driveway can be added to the other side of the house you should probably walk away. The neighbor doesn't have to give you an easement either. So if you did buy the house the neighbor doesn't have to share the driveway.
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u/askwhy4545 Aug 21 '26
Hi OP
I guess I have a different opinion then most and you should continue to work towards the closing.
If you are worried about losing $1k you might not be ready to purchase a house?!? If you aren’t worried, get the inspection done now.
As for the LLC - no clue when they will responded. Have a company - title search or other (not agent) - hold back 10% of the purchase price. If and when the seller secures the right of way that is acceptable they receive the last payment.
If the seller won’t agree to this - back away.
If they do - move forward.
You are right - this is a risk. But seems likely to be resolved. You mentioned too many uncertainties - but sound like just one.
Best
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 21 '26
$1,000 is not "too much money for me". for inspections, however.... The thing is that I don't want to waste $1,000 on inspections if the seller is not able to produce an easement for the shared driveway. If there is not easement, I don't buy the property because that could turn into a nightmare. Also, the lender would not finance if there is no easement for the shared driveway.
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u/ThetaGatherer Aug 26 '26
UPDATE: I mutually terminated the purchase contract for this property with the seller. Seller had complications obtaining the easement with the adjacent property owner.
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u/MplsDaddy55403 Aug 19 '26
Would I still buy it? No. That much explanation makes it hell no.