[R7]

Did I mention my doctor put me on high blood pressure medication

So my land closing is this wednesday and I was all excited. I got a call from the bank and the realtor last Thursday while I was in Montreal saying everything is good for the closing. All that needed to be done was for the seller to mark the property lines every 50-100'. I stopped by the land today to see if this had been done yet or not...at first I thought it hadn't been done because there were no markings where the listing agent said the lines were? After looking around a bit, I saw what looked like some new flags...and they were. I was surprised because the lines were way off from where I was told!!
Anyways, we started walking the line. It was well marked with survey stakes and pink ribbons that said lot line on them. I was actually pretty excited at first because where I was walking seemed like a much better peice of land..it seemed like the line went on forever. About 3/4 the way around the line and heading back to the road, I knew I wasn't going to like what I was about to see. The lot next door had been clearing for their house and yard and I knew they were close to my line (or what I thought it was before) but I didn't think much of it at the time... Well turns out they cleared a 50'x 150' section of my land, trees cut down everywhere, stumps pulled out and piled on my side...it just looks like crap. The part that sucks is the conditions mandated by the town for the subdivision was for each lot to have a 30' buffer zone (they called it a no yard zone) on each side of the property line, it would have guaranteed 60' of woods to stay for privacy. That's gone now, and it's in the same area I have to build my house. It's not a huge deal but I don't really want to see any other houses, that was kinda my idea wanting to be at that location. There will still be at least 50-70' of woods.
I don't know how it's going to be handled yet as I still want the property. At the very least I want the mess cleaned up and off my land, and for them to replant pine trees to recreate the buffer zone mandated by the town. I haven't even closed yet on the land and there is already a problem with a neighbor

[dhuze]

Are you sure the flags are in the right areas? They should have had the land surveyed and marked. I'm not sure how the law works if someone cuts trees on your land, or if you have any rights because you don't legally own the land yet.

[bigred875]

holy hell...what a mess.

[R7]

Originally Posted by dhuze

Are you sure the flags are in the right areas? They should have had the land surveyed and marked. I'm not sure how the law works if someone cuts trees on your land, or if you have any rights because you don't legally own the land yet.

Yes, I'm pretty sure they are in the right place. Looking at the lot map, it all makes sence.
The corner points of the land have always been surveyed and marked, but with 1300' + property lines it's hard to see from one point to another. That was the reason for the seller marking the line every 50-100'. Why the owner of the next lot over didn't have that done, I don't know? When I went to the town hall for the building permit paperwork, the building official made it very clear that no work could be done on the land until all lines were marked so they could varrify the locations of your driveway, house and septic...

[RandyO]

Originally Posted by R7

When I went to the town hall for the building permit paperwork, the building official made it very clear that no work could be done on the land until all lines were marked so they could varrify the locations of your driveway, house and septic...

could be a recent regulation change, either way, it's hard to enforce tree cutting like that, especially if it's in an area that's not readily visible from a well travelled road

most towns around here don't require lines being marked before construction but there are exceptions, Barnstead started requireing boundaries be marked a couple 3 years ago, and only because they started having problems with encroachments

where you don't own the property yet, and when you do take posession, it's already in that condition, it's doubtful that you can take any legal action against the neighbor, probably the town may be able to make him replant if it's in violation of a town ordinance or condition of subdivision approval

your recourse is to renegotiate the price with the seller due to the damages, then he can take legal action against the neighbor for loss

either way, it becomes a fucked up legal mess and as you said, isn't a good way to start off with a new neighbor

best option is to decide if you ca live with it, and just forget about it

[R7]

I just met the realtor, current land owner of the property I am purchasing and the owner of the property next door at the lot a little while ago. They were already cleaning up the mess, removing the stump pile, pulling the downed trees out and off my side, etc. They agreed to clean up all their mess and replant some pine trees in the spring. Everyone seemed very nice and said sorry, it was a honest mistake (which I kinda agree with).
I have to go back first thing wednesday morning to make sure everything is clean before the closing..if it's not we are still closing but money will be left in escrow until I'm happy with the results.
The current land owner of my land and the owner of the land next door are brothers

[ssg]

Originally Posted by R7

The current land owner of my land and the owner of the land next door are brothers

You should fight them both then, instead of just one.

[R7]

I stopped by today and it was cleaned up for the most part except for a few larger trees. Not a big deal as they will make some good firewood by the end of the summer.
I walked the entire boundary line again today. It took me over 45 minutes to walk it, another 38 more hours and it's mine

[ChR1s]

Cool. When's the christening? I gots a quad and a chain saw.

[R7]

Originally Posted by ChR1s

Cool. When's the christening? I gots a quad and a chain saw.

I'll be there this weekend, need directions?
I gotta stake out the house, driveway, septic and well...then I'm gonna start on the trails while I wait for an inspection and approval from the town. I still need to buy a new bar and a couple chains for my chainsaw...gots some big trees to drop

The ground is frozen so you'll have to wait a few weeks to come a dig your pine trees

[ssg]

I'm picking pumpkins or I'd be there to help, good luck on the closing though

[97BladeRider]

It's unreal what that type of stress will do to your body. My wife and I went through some shit when looking for a house back in 2005 and it really took its toll on my system. I ended up with a really bad nervous stomach for close to a year after we finally purchased a house. here's our story:

Feb. 2005, we sign P&S on a new construction in Millbury, MA. It's half of a duplex condo unit in an 11 building complex. Ground breaking doesn't start until Apr. of 2005 and our closing was supposed to be Aug. 1, 2005.

Aug.1 comes and goes and there is an extension clause to the P&S that allows up to 30 days for the builder. In the meantime, there's issues with how the billing is handled for the upgrades (lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, flooring, carpeting, etc...) When we signed P&S, the builder told us to go to the various vendors to choose out fixtures. Anything above the allotted amount was to be direct-billed from the vendors to us. Well, halfway through the build, the builder figured out that he can make more $$ by having the vendors send him the upgrade bills and then he tacks some extra on for himself. We fought this and won. (we had a really sharp attorney)

Well, when we went for financing, we had secured the interest rate through Sep 30, just in case construction runs over. Well, as Sep 30 approaches, we're informed that we wouldn't be closing until mid-Oct 2005. At this point, we contact our financial institution and they say it'll cost us a point to keep the interest rate. Finally, at the end of our rope, we decide to back out of the deal, since the builder breached the contract in several ways including going over the 30 day clause.

We ended up getting ALL of our money back from the builder (again with the help of our attorney), but unfortunately, we had purchased quite a few lighting fixtures ourselves. We ended up dumping our Realtor, as she was basically useless through the whole process, causing miscommunication quite a few times. We found a new Realtor and resumed searching, finding our current condo in less than 2 weeks. This experience was the exact opposite of our first experience and we closed in less than 3 weeks.

The good out of the bad is that we found a place that was BIGGER, had more upgrades than we were going to build and was $20K LESS than the new construction. We occasionally drove by where we were originally going to build, come to find out that the place wasn't finished until sometime in early 2006, which was 5-6 months later than originally agreed upon.

I'm now much better off, both in where I live and with my health. I'm hoping I never have to go through that kind of crap again.

[Tricky Mike]

Closings are always fun, huh?

Anyway, offer still stands.
I love making chips (old pic, pre shop)

[benVFR]

Good luck Mark.. everything will work out eventually.

BladeRider I know what you mean.. it's been mostly work related but I've been a mess the last year from stress, same thing, stomach issues. Thankfully it's finally getting better.

[skiierx]

As all builders say...it is easier to ask for forgiveness then it is to ask permission! Glad it is all working out though

[R7]

Ahhhh, I feel better already
I have to wait for the RI DEM to return the transferred ISDS and site plan, then I can lay it out and start cutting.
I spent 4 hours there today and made 1500' worth of trail on the lot line..there's a lot of ORV activity in the area already

Mike M, thanks for the offer, I hope that chainsaw is sharp

[R7]

Originally Posted by skiierx

As all builders say...it is easier to ask for forgiveness then it is to ask permission! Glad it is all working out though

It should work out, I think I'm going to get along just fine with the neighbor.

Jamie, thanks for the advice on a mortgage when I first started this. I ended up with Bank Newport and as you said, they are a bit creative and easy to work with.
Now the construction loan is next...