The Expert Podcast

So in real estate, what is the difference between a property easement and a property boundary? Those are two terms you'll see on deeds and real estate records and real estate titles that you want to know about if you're contemplating purchasing a property.

So let's start with boundary. Property boundary is exactly what it sounds like—it's the outside edges of a property. Some cases it's a square, some cases it's a rectangle, some cases it's very irregular where it's just like somebody drew with a pen on a piece of paper. The boundary is where your property starts and somebody else's property begins.

So you want to know where the boundaries are because that's going to determine obviously what you own. But more importantly, it's going to determine where you can build. Many counties and jurisdictions have regulations that say you can't build within a certain distance from your boundary. It's called a setback. You have to be set back 5 or 10 or 20 feet. Sometimes that holds true also for things like septic tanks. You can't put a septic system within five feet of a boundary.

And if you're trying to build a house and you don't have a place where you can put the house and the septic and everything you want to do, you could be out of luck. Even if you have enough space technically, you may not be able to do it. You want to know where your boundaries are because you may want to put up a fence or a shed or some other structure. You want to know where your boundaries are—plus it tells you how big your lot is.

What is an easement? Well, an easement is different. An easement is a deeded right to use somebody else's property within your boundaries of your property. If you have a square boundary, you may have easements that allow use of or encroachment onto your property.

Well, why would you want to do that? Well, first of all, some are required. Some are good for you, like utility easements. The power line that comes from the electric company to your house—either over the air on a pole or underground buried—is on an easement because that power line belongs to the electric company. They have to fix it, they have to repair it, they have to maintain it up until the time it gets to your electric meter. That's power company property.

So they have to have your permission to put that line there, and they have to have the authority to come fix it. If your power line’s broken or underground is damaged, you want them to come fix it. They have to have permission to do it. So they have an easement that allows them to access that area—maybe it's five feet wide.

You may have an easement for things like water—same thing with the water pipe from the water company or sewer. There are other types of easement. Sometimes there's an easement from the city for the space in front of your house where the road is, for easement for them to do maintenance or curb or access for the road crew to fix a road.

More troubling is you could have an easement from a neighbor. Maybe there's a property that's behind you that the neighbor has an easement to go across your property to get to theirs. Might be a driveway easement. It might be an access easement.

There are also view easements in some areas of the country where somebody has a view to see the ocean or see a mountain or see a river. If that view goes over another property, sometimes there's a restriction—you can't build above 10 feet in that easement area. And those will be prescribed in the deed.

So before you buy a property, make sure you know what the easements are, because you're bound by them even though you didn't agree to it. You're not the one who signed over that easement 10, 15, 20 years ago. If you buy that property, that easement stays with the property and you are on the hook for it.

And sometimes the easement requires you to pay money. You might have an easement for a road where you have to contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of that road. So an easement is not the boundary—it's something that encroaches on your boundary.

Now you may have an easement on another property where you're allowed to go across. But even then that's tricky, because if you have a road easement that allows you to go across the property to get to yours, what if there's some dispute over that easement? What if the road's not kept in good condition? You have to rely on that other neighbor.

So you want to make sure that with any easements, you know what the pros and cons are and how it affects your boundaries. It doesn't give you any more land. If you have an easement on another property, you don't own that land—but it does give you access.

So seeing the difference between an easement and a boundary is an important determination when you're purchasing real estate. And even if you own real estate, you have to know what your rights and responsibilities are. And if it gets complicated, you might want to contact an attorney to get appropriate legal advice about how to use a boundary or a property easement.