Fences, Party Walls, and a new home (Huntsville, Madison: HOA, attorney)

[rayjustray]

I'm buying a home in Huntsville (first time home buyer), and the neighbor to one side already has a fence up. I asked the owner of the home how he'd feel about me linking my eventual fence with his (it would be about 70 linear ft of shared fence then), and he brought up an HOA guideline about splitting the cost and asked me to pay half of what he paid for that length of fence.

Upon checking with the HOA, the actual guidance is that a fence on the property line is a 'party fence' and both parties on either side should pay for maintenance and repair as needed, and of course, whomever causes damage should pay to repair that damage. No mention is made of reimbursing someone for their cost to install a fence.

After having a survey done, the surveyor said his fence is about 4" back from the line between survey markers.

Having just purchased a home, I don't have a lot of extra money to throw around, and I don't want to absorb a voluntary cost of reimbursing him for a fence, especially since I don't intend to charge to neighbor on the other side if they ever decide to put up a fence and join onto mine.

So, what is the etiquette on fences around here?

Next question: The back area of my lot, 15' deep starting on the east side, and expanding to 26' deep on the southwest side (about 3600 sq ft total), is marked as a Utility & Drainage Easement. Am I allowed to fence around this area when I eventually put a fence, or do I have to put up my fence short of this easement area?

[Marc45002]

If his fence is 4" into his property, you cannot hook up the fence without his approval; if he wants to charge for the benefit, that is his choice. You will gain a bit of property out of all of this but that could be a big issue down the road for future owners. I would sure want to have the land transferred to me and resurveyed if i was going to pay to hook up to his fence.

As for the second item; no issue putting fence even with easement.

Marc

[NoleFanHSV]

Do you have to have the entire yard securely fenced in? You could have the front and back sections of you fence end right at the end of your property line without "tieing" into his fence. This would leave a 4" gap though.

[rayjustray]

I don't necessarily need the entire yard fenced in, I'd be fine leaving a gap and planting a shrub or something to block the gap and keep the dog from getting out.

At the moment, I'm thinking I'll wait a bit before putting up the fence. I want to settle in first and get to know the neighbors, maybe he'll agree to pass on the reimbursement once we're better acquainted.

If I was to reimburse him, I'd want something in writing so it doesn't become a problem later on.

[writerwife]

I would also wait a bit, see what type of neighbor you have.. you might end up wanting a 10' steel reinforced fence, lol... but I agree with NoleFan... leave the 4" gap and plant something in front of it.
Good fences make good neighbors.

[LCTMadison]

Originally Posted by Marc45002

If his fence is 4" into his property, you cannot hook up the fence without his approval; if he wants to charge for the benefit, that is his choice. You will gain a bit of property out of all of this but that could be a big issue down the road for future owners. I would sure want to have the land transferred to me and resurveyed if i was going to pay to hook up to his fence.

As for the second item; no issue putting fence even with easement.

Marc

The worst transaction I EVER had was when a seller had pulled their fence inside their property line (this was a couple of feet)....the new buyer wanted the fence ON the property line and the seller agreed to do that, as both neighbors had tied in on either side. Talk about a HOT MESS. We had to get an attorney involved because one of them was screaming adverse possession (not even close). It took three months to close the house and a LOT of stress and one VERY unhappy neighbor on one side. The irate neighbor accused me of moving the property pins (as if I could pull a 4 foot piece of rebar out of the ground!). And all thru this, the listing agent sat at her lake house and did absolutely nothing and in the end, lost her entire commission and it cost her brokerage about $7k to close the deal.

For the record, the homeowner had given the two adjoining neighbors permission to tie into her fence.

Moral of the story....when you go to tie into your neighbor's fence make sure you still stay on your property because that neighbor may not always be your neighbor. If they are inside their property lines....DON'T DO IT.

[NoleFanHSV]

I've got a neighbor where Breland put the fence about a half inch to my property. They said it was "on" the line but it clearly is off by a half inch. I usually end up weed eating the grass on that side as well because the neighbor won't. If I put a fence up, I won't tie in, but I won't put another fence against his on that side either because if I did, there would be an inch gap between the two fences which I think would look horrible.

[cnygreek]

I wouldn't put my fence onto someone else's property line. Just not worth the hassle. A good way to fill that gap is something like one of the Arborvitae trees. There are plenty that grow tall and thin.

[cnygreek]

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

The worst transaction I EVER had was when a seller had pulled their fence inside their property line (this was a couple of feet)....the new buyer wanted the fence ON the property line and the seller agreed to do that, as both neighbors had tied in on either side. Talk about a HOT MESS. We had to get an attorney involved because one of them was screaming adverse possession (not even close). It took three months to close the house and a LOT of stress and one VERY unhappy neighbor on one side. The irate neighbor accused me of moving the property pins (as if I could pull a 4 foot piece of rebar out of the ground!). And all thru this, the listing agent sat at her lake house and did absolutely nothing and in the end, lost her entire commission and it cost her brokerage about $7k to close the deal.

For the record, the homeowner had given the two adjoining neighbors permission to tie into her fence.

Moral of the story....when you go to tie into your neighbor's fence make sure you still stay on your property because that neighbor may not always be your neighbor. If they are inside their property lines....DON'T DO IT.

As a buyer I probably would have backed out on the deal. I can't imagine any house being worth this kind of hassle and potential future headaches with crazed neighbors.

[rayjustray]

Originally Posted by Marc45002

If his fence is 4" into his property, you cannot hook up the fence without his approval; if he wants to charge for the benefit, that is his choice. You will gain a bit of property out of all of this but that could be a big issue down the road for future owners. I would sure want to have the land transferred to me and resurveyed if i was going to pay to hook up to his fence.

As for the second item; no issue putting fence even with easement.

Marc

I don't care about gaining property, but I don't want to LOSE property. If I put up my own fence along that length, rather than tieing in, I'd have to set mine back far enough maintain the area between fences. So I'd be giving up a few feet of my land for the length of that side of the lot, and considering that barely a week before closing I discovered almost 20% of the .4 ac lot is already a utility & drainage easement, I'm not happy at the prospect of giving up any more of the land I paid for.

I feel like that rather large easement is something their realtor or at the very least, MY REALTOR, should have informed me of before I started signing papers.