Discount for a perpetual easement?

[Ben Skove]

I'm looking at a three family foreclosure that has a billboard on top. Initially I thought it would be an additional revenue source; however, poking around I found that the owner sold a perpetual easement to the billboard company.

The easement is written fairly broadly, and even contains language allowing the addition of antennas and other telecommunication devices.

Two questions came to mind. First, are these companies responsive if there are issues with the billboard that are causing damage or problems to the building? With an easement rather than a lease, it would seem that they'd likely be less responsive as long as the sign wasn't affected.

Secondly, is there any decent leverage to use in asking for a lower price due to the easement? Has anyone had luck backing up a lower offer to the bank with evidence of an easement?