Reading your property deed can help protect your investment

By Richie Vraux

In purchasing your home, you should read your deed thoroughly because it could be costly to you if it is incorrect. It’s important to make sure you understand and ask a real estate law professional for those things that are difficult to comprehend.

Your real estate title company always has a lawyer on staff that reviews the deed. If you use your family lawyer, make sure they are familiar with real estate law because it may not be their specialty. There could be things listed in your deed that you may not be aware of or understand. For instance, there could be an easement and restrictions and or even a (ROW) right-of-way designation that you might not have been aware of.

These are just some of the factors that show up in a real estate deed, and if you don’t understand something, always ask about it.

What is an easement

An easement is an agreed-upon use of land by someone other than the owner of the property. It allows access, mostly established for the utility companies for passage onto your property to maintain public services for the community. There are basically two types of easements.

Gross Easement

A gross easement usually allows for an individual to get onto his or her property that is landlocked. It would be the only way to get onto their property. This, of course, may cost you something extra, but it may be the only way to get to the property. This type of easement passes on to the new owner in the property deed when the owners sell the property.

Appurtenant easement

An appurtenant easement is usually set up to join two properties. Typically, the land with the higher amount of acreage will be the prominent party listed here. This property owner will have more leverage and will usually set the rules moving forward for this type of easement.

ROW-(right-of-way)

A ROW allows an abutter to pass over your land to get to their property. To be clear, a right-of-way is established in a deed to allow an owner of an abutting property to pass over your property to get to theirs. It does not allow you to park your vehicle, to stow your boat or for anything else for that ROW (right-of-way). For example, if a right-of-way is given to an abutter to get to a lake, you cannot store your canoe or kayak there for future use without written permission from the owner. Also, some people think, because they have a ROW agreement that they can build a dock or a slip for their boat there. It is only with written permission that they can do so and listed in the property deed.

As a property owner, you should always be prepared and be knowledgeable about what could affect your quality of living. You should always be aware of your limitations and requirements of your easements or rights-of-way as listed in your property deed. You may require legal services to understand what terms are defined in your property deed. Not all attorneys specialize in real estate law, so investigate thoroughly and know who to call when you have specific real estate questions. If you are unsure of where your property deed may be, you can always go online to the registry of deeds in your community to look up and research your property.

Richie Vraux is a real estate broker with Pine Tree Realty of Maine. We will be back at our same location at 76 Tandberg Trail in Windham shortly. Richie has been a real estate specialist for more than 25 years, so take advantage of his expertise. Call him at 207-317-1297. <