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When you buy a home, the property will undergo a title search to ensure no legal issues are stopping you from becoming the new owner. When you receive the title search, you might see that the property has one or more easements, which give other parties the legal right to access certain parts of your property.
Should you be worried if a home has easements? Not necessarily — but you should definitely take time to understand the details. While most easements don't negatively impact the property owner, some can interfere with day-to-day life or your plans for the home.
Learn more: How a property title search works when buying a house
In this article:
Easements defined
An easement is an agreement that gives people or companies access to private property. Easements don't give other people ownership of your property, but they do give certain parties the right to use designated areas for specific purposes.
For example, an easement can give the general public the right to use a sidewalk that cuts through your yard or allow utility companies to maintain a sewer pipeline under your backyard.
As a homeowner, you’ll likely have easements that give others access to your property. But in some cases, your neighbors will also have easements that grant you access to an adjoining property. For the former, your property is referred to as the "servient tenement," and for the latter, it's the "dominant tenement."
Any existing easements will typically stay in place when you buy or sell a house.
Dig deeper: How to buy a house in 13 steps
How do easements impact home buyers?
Easements can have a major impact on homeowners, both good and bad. An easement probably won’t disrupt your day-to-day life, but it’s good to understand easements' effects before buying a home. You may experience some or all — or none — of the following issues by buying a house with an easement.
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Access to basic needs: The most common easements help you maintain access to the utilities you need and ensure emergency services are available to you and your neighbors.
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Limited use: Easements can limit your land use and control of a property. For example, maybe your neighbor has the legal right to use your driveway to get to their house. You can't build walls or fences that block your neighbor’s ability to drive through your driveway.
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Enjoyment of the property: Some easements diminish your enjoyment of your property by allowing people or loud vehicles to pass through frequently or by preventing you from making desired changes to the property.
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Loss of property value: An easement can make a property less valuable or more challenging to sell if it leads to more wear and tear or impedes the owner's ability to make home upgrades.
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Maintenance-related fines: Your local government can impose a fine if you fail to maintain a public easement — for example, if you let weeds or grass overgrow a public sidewalk.
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Higher insurance premiums: Double-check that your title insurance covers any issues with easements. If not, you may need to buy extended title insurance coverage.
Learn more: How does title insurance work?
What are the most common easement types?
Affirmative vs. negative easements
These are two broad types of easements, and other kinds typically fall under one of these categories. An affirmative easement gives you the right to use a parcel of land you don’t own, such as taking a private walkway that leads from the public road to your house.
A negative easement removes your ability to use your property in a specific way. For example, you might be banned from planting trees that would block sunlight from reaching your neighbor’s solar panels.
Utility easements
Most homes have utility easements, which are typically created when a neighborhood is developed. These easement agreements allow utility companies, including water, sewer, cable, and electricity workers, to come onto a person’s property to build, repair, or maintain facilities.
Public easements
Public easements give the general public access to certain parts of a private property, such as a sidewalk that crosses through a front yard.
If there's a public easement on your property, your local government can potentially hold you responsible for maintaining the area immediately surrounding it. For instance, you might have to clear branches obstructing the sidewalk or remove trash from the street in front of your house.
Private easements
A private easement can feel more invasive for the property owner. These agreements allow an individual or entity to use part of a private property for a specific purpose. For example, if your neighbor can't get to their house without driving down a gravel road on your property, a private property easement may guarantee them access.
Should you buy a home with an easement?
Finding an easement-free home is rare, even if you buy in a rural area. That doesn't mean you should ignore easements before purchasing a house, but they're usually cause for consideration rather than concern.
Before buying a home, the most essential way to address easements is to closely review the terms of each one, which you can find in the title report. To determine whether an easement will be a problem, ask yourself the following questions:
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Will it impact the enjoyment of the property?
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Can the easement eventually make the property less valuable or harder to sell?
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Will it be a burden to maintain the easement as required?
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Does it interfere with your plans for the property?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the home might not be right for you.
Dig deeper: What to look for when buying a house
Easement FAQs
How do I find out if a property has an easement?
To find out about easements before buying a property, do a title search and read the title report. If you already own the home, look at your property deed or contact the county recorder for the deed and, if applicable, recorded maps and documents.
How do I create an easement?
You can create an easement by making a written agreement between you and another party, then registering the easement in your title, or by recording it with the county deed records. You can also create a prescriptive easement by giving someone use of your private property repeatedly over several years or decades.
How do I terminate an easement on my property?
The main way to terminate an easement is by making an agreement with the other affected party. If they're not interested, offering them compensation could help.
This article was edited by Laura Grace Tarpley.
