Driveway Right Of Way?

[David A.]

Hey all - Earlier this week, I checked out a property with a small 400 sq ft cabin on it that I'm super interested in (this is in Connecticut), but there's an issue with the driveway - a part of it is not on the piece of property owned by the guy selling the house (see image below - the driveway is in red, that middle lot (20B-30-2) is the part NOT owned, but the house (on 20B-30-3-4) and the corner lot (20B-30-1) are owned by the same guy and he's happy to deed over the part of the land on 20B-30-1 that contains the driveway to me). Some random woman owns that middle plot of land that the driveway goes through (it's just land, no house or anything), and she is not willing to sell it to the owner or me. The owner of the house says that there's been a right of way for that driveway for over a hundred years, and that I won't be able to get a mortgage for the house (not for me, but for after I flip it and try to sell it down the road) with just a right of way. The house is up a fairly steep hill, and there's no other place to put a driveway besides where it's at now.

I'm curious if there are any ways around this, or if it's just not worth the hassle at this point and I should walk away. Also thinking I *might* be able to hold onto this as a rental in the long term if the numbers really make sense, but still really uncomfortable doing that knowing that I can't sell it to anyone but a cash buyer down the road. 

[Andrew B.]

You should be able to check with the town to find out if you have any recorded easements/right of ways. Check with someone that knows your local real estate laws to determine if the land owner could ever take away your right to use that driveway.

Simultaneously, find out what steps would need to be taken to build a driveway that connects right to the road. It looks kind of odd the way it is, and I see no reason why you wouldn't just connect directly to the road.

[David A.]

Originally posted by @Andrew B.:

You should be able to check with the town to find out if you have any recorded easements/right of ways. Check with someone that knows your local real estate laws to determine if the land owner could ever take away your right to use that driveway.

Simultaneously, find out what steps would need to be taken to build a driveway that connects right to the road. It looks kind of odd the way it is, and I see no reason why you wouldn't just connect directly to the road.

 The house sits quite a bit higher up the road, so if the driveway were to connect directly from the road, you'd be going up like a 100 degree angle at least - need the longer driveway (which starts at a higher point in the road as well) to ease that angle. 

If the easement/right of way were recorded by the town, does that mean that a mortgage would be able to be put on the property, or still no? 

[Andrew B.]

Originally posted by @David A.:

Originally posted by @Andrew B.:

You should be able to check with the town to find out if you have any recorded easements/right of ways. Check with someone that knows your local real estate laws to determine if the land owner could ever take away your right to use that driveway.

Simultaneously, find out what steps would need to be taken to build a driveway that connects right to the road. It looks kind of odd the way it is, and I see no reason why you wouldn't just connect directly to the road.

 The house sits quite a bit higher up the road, so if the driveway were to connect directly from the road, you'd be going up like a 100 degree angle at least - need the longer driveway (which starts at a higher point in the road as well) to ease that angle. 

If the easement/right of way were recorded by the town, does that mean that a mortgage would be able to be put on the property, or still no? 

 I don't want to pretend to be an expert as I only have a rudimentary understanding of what we are discussing, but from my understanding the proper process is to have the easement or right of way "attached" to the deed so it travels with the deed when sold to new owners. If there is something giving permanent access to the driveway, my understanding is you would be able to get a mortgage, no problem.