neighbor trouble

[myles]

Upon a recent survey of our property we discovered our neighbor's driveway is on our property. (We would like to put a swimming pool in our back yard and had the property surveyed to locate exact property lines.)Our neighbors have live in their home 10 years. We have tried several solutions and agree somewhat on the latest solution...we change the property line at our neighbor's expense. After viewing several proposed changes in the property line the only change we can agree on forces us to "give up" property. We do not know how to place value on the 500 square feet we need to "sell" to our neighbor. If we do not agree to "sell" the property to our neighbor it will cost him over $10,000 to relocate his driveway and garage. 2 issues-1. How do we place value on the property? 2. Now that our neighbor will have to purchase the property he says he legally ownes the property because he has been using the property for 10 years...is this true?

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[This message has been edited by myles (edited July 24, 2000).]

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by myles:
Upon a recent survey of our property we discovered our neighbor's driveway is on our property. (We would like to put a swimming pool in our back yard and had the property surveyed to locate exact property lines.)Our neighbors have live in their home 10 years. We have tried several solutions and agree somewhat on the latest solution...we change the property line at our neighbor's expense. After viewing several proposed changes in the property line the only change we can agree on forces us to "give up" property. We do not know how to place value on the 500 square feet we need to "sell" to our neighbor. If we do not agree to "sell" the property to our neighbor it will cost him over $10,000 to relocate his driveway and garage. 2 issues-1. How do we place value on the property? 2. Now that our neighbor will have to purchase the property he says he legally ownes the property because he has been using the property for 10 years...is this true?

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Well you know that to the neighbor, the value of the 500 SF of land is worth at least 10K. Order and have your neighbor pay for a real estate appraisal of your home, then take the market land value only and used the value per square foot to calculate the value of the 500 SF piece. You can also get the land value from the real property tax office. If the market value is less than $10K you can still charge him $10K or refuse to sell. You are not forced to sell any piece of your property.

Check with your State on the adverse possession law and the required time period of usage needed to qualify. If you have been paying property taxes on the neighbors driveway portion on your lot, the neighbor can not claim AP.

 

[Tracey]

Consult a real estate attorney. A letter form an attorney may be sufficient to make N give up his notions of adverse possession. N should be willing to pay you up to $10,000 for the right not to have to move his drive & garage. On the other hand, you should be willing to give up some of the money you'd expect for the land in exchange for not having to go through the hassle & expense of a suit. Once both sides understand the real legal (power) situation, you should be able to work out a price. Make sure you allow for the survey costs & the cost of re-platting the boundary line.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.