Tip - What You Should Know About Easements and Rights-of-Way | Zillow Blog

In certain types of real estate transactions, it's not until the middle of the deal that home buyers realize the land they’re purchasing with their home is not 100 percent theirs. They are startled to discover that they must allow their neighbors to “share” part of their land, or that the local utility company has a right to access a pipe buried in their back yard.   How can this be? In both examples, the properties have what’s known as an "easement,'' otherwise known as a “right-of-way.” This easement grants other designated people the right to specific types of access. Easements can be granted to another person, such as a neighbor, or to an entity, such as an electric and gas utility. A property easement is generally written and recorded with the local assessor’s office. The documented easement will show up when a title search is conducted and it stays there indefinitely, unless both parties agree to remove it. Without getting too deep into legal details, here are the types of e