Selling a property with a sewer easement

Hello,

I have recently made some enquiries about a rear green title land that i am interested in purchasing. I have found out there is an underground sewer easement running approximatley 2.0m deep running across the back and the right hand side boundaries ( 'L' shaped) right on the fenceline. I understand that no permanent structure is permitted to be built over the easement and hence i am thinking the area over the easements will primarily be grassed.

I plan to build on the block and initially renting out the property for a few years and then selling it to fund my PPOR. What i wanted to know is, if i was to sell the property in the future, would potential buyers be turned away from purchasing? Has anyone experienced similiar circumstances and had trouble selling?

Your opnions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

Hi,

I am a conveyancer in Sydney, however suspect that the easements work the same in Perth as here. From what you explained it seems like a fairly typical type of easement, you will need to check how close you can build to the easement as there is usually a metre or two set off, which may affect what you can build on the property.

With respect to re-sale, a lot of properties have easements on them and sewer easements in particular. If you look at all of your neighbours they also will have the sewer easement run through the rear of their block. Check out what other properties have sold for with similar easements.

Generally however, I would believe that this type of easement wont make a huge difference to your price or ability to sell easily. There are certainly worse easements to have.

Hope this helps. Obviously speak to local experts in your area to get their opinions.

 

Hi macper,

In addition to Vanessa's comments above, I'd like to offer my "non-expert" view.

I recently bought a vacant block of land with an easement (3 metres wide) running down the entire depth of the block. It was clear that not many people wanted to touch this block - and accordingly I was able to secure it for a "good price" - whatever that means!

That said, the house was subsequently built (detachable carport) over the easement and the house/land now has the functionality of any normal unencumbered land. The property sold nicely and prospective buyers (and the ultimate buyer) didn't seem to have any issue with the easement.

In conclusion, and to hopefully answer your question, I think an easement has more influence on a sale price of a vacant block. But if you've built a functional house and utilised the land well, the easement will have far less bearing on the sale price (if at all).

Cheers

 

Like Zudjian said, my experience has been that most buyers wouldn't consider or be aware of most easements as an issue. Even with a house that has to be raised to build over an easement would be judged purely on what you can see above ground by most buyers.