Is pending construction on a neighboring property disclosable? (for sale, new house)

[Whitey1]

Friend of mine recently purchased a house-2 weeks after he moved in, he arrived home from work to find the neighbors house gutted and a foundation dug for an "extension". If he had known the scale and scope of this "extension" he most likely would never have purchased his house. Is this something that his realtor should have disclosed at closing? Does he have any recourse?

[flowbe202]

Why would the realtor have known about the neighbor?

Caveat emptor

Permits are required and are on file and accessible online.

If your friend was concerned about this type of construction, they should've checked City/Town Hall Building Department for all building permits. Projects of that scale would've needed approval and, depending on area, abutter notice and approval along with zoning variances and/or approval.

[KKay9]

I've never heard of pending construction next door being something that must be disclosed, as it doesn't directly relate to the property you are buying. Plus, the seller or seller's agent may not have known about it.

IMO, this is a due diligence thing for the buyer. Any new construction will require, at least, a permit and possibly a variance. Those are all public record and things you can find out about, either online or by a visit to town hall. If a variance was required, the seller would have received an "abutters notice" and been given the opportunity to express an opinion at a public meeting, though their opinion may or may not have made any difference. Personally, I did beyond the usual due diligence when I bought, but I did not check for open permits on neighboring houses, as the lack of planned construction would be only a temporary state anyway.

About all your friend can do at this point is go check the records NOW and see if the work is permitted and meets setbacks and zoning requirements. If not, your friend can make a stink, but all that may do is delay the construction while the paper work is completed and make an enemy of a new neighbor.

The same construction might have started next year and then there really would have been nothing he could do about it, except attending the meeting if a variance was needed. You have an extremely limited ability (as it should be) to control what your neighbors do, on their property, whether you just bought it or they want to do major construction after you've been there for a decade or more.

Everyone who lives in a town undergoing big growth deals with this. Our town certainly does. Some friends have two McMansions going in where there used to be woods, nearly in their backyard. Nothing they can do. One reason why I chose a lot surrounded by conservation restricted land. It will never be built on. Made some other compromises to acquire this situation, like dealing with never ending weed and brush intrusion, wildlife damage to everything, no visible neighbors to give a heads up to intruders or fire, a house needing much repair because I could not afford a super fixed up or new house on this much land...it's inconvenient, but what my neighbors do doesn't affect me and vice versa and that was important enough for me to give up some other niceities.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Whitey1

Friend of mine recently purchased a house-2 weeks after he moved in, he arrived home from work to find the neighbors house gutted and a foundation dug for an "extension". If he had known the scale and scope of this "extension" he most likely would never have purchased his house. Is this something that his realtor should have disclosed at closing? Does he have any recourse?

I'm not aware of this being something that an agent would have to disclose.

I'm not sure what the big deal is though. Is your friend bothered by the potential for construction noise for a few months or does he feel this project somehow affects his own property?

[chicagoliz]

I don't see why it would need to be disclosed, but I, too, am wondering why your friend is so upset -- is it the noise of the construction (which will be temporary, although it could go on for many months) or is it the idea of the finished product? Is he worried about too many tear-downs going into the neighborhood? If he is, I would expect the neighborhood is already in that situation. Or does he not like that this somehow obstructs or changes his back yard view?

[Whitey1]

I think he's out of luck. He moved from a 2 acre lot into the "village". The foundation for the bulkhead of the extension next door is about 5 feet from his kitchen window....no exaggeration he showed me in person-that's really what he's upset about. This neighbor has a double wide lot And could have expanded on the other side without being right on top of him (or anyone else for that matter)

This village has many non conforming lots and structures including his own so the zoning and planning gets very complicated. His own house, in its current form would t make it through planning, but it's been there like that for 200 odd years, probably before there was a ZBA or planning board

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by Whitey1

The foundation for the bulkhead of the extension next door is about 5 feet from his kitchen window....no exaggeration he showed me in person-that's really what he's upset about. )

As long as he's not breaking any zoning rules, not much he can do really.

Originally Posted by Whitey1

This neighbor has a double wide lot And could have expanded on the other side without being right on top of him (or anyone else for that matter)

But he could be trying to accommodate some sort of interior layout. Maybe he's trying to add a new master suite on the opposite side of the house from the other bedrooms to have some privacy from kids? Or something like that?

[johngolf]

In the first post my reaction was your friend was a pi$$er and moaner. Now that you say the bulkhead could be 5 feet from the edge of his home, it might be worth checking the town building codes for property line clearances. Often nothing can be built within a specific distance from the property line.

[kingeorge]

Old owner probably new about it but decided not to talk. Might be reason for sale. It would be very rare not to be informed about any pending construction so close to your friend property and property line. I get town notification even for neighboring street, let alone if anything is to happen on my own street.

This is not necessarily legal issue, as much as question of simple honesty and consideration, and I understand why your friend might be bothered. He is right to feel as he was being played.

Is this big garage with an upper floor addition perhaps?

At this point he might want to talk to town officials in building department ASAP, and see if he has any options. It is weird if new construction is so close to property line, and is impacting your friend's windows, what about town setback laws? There is law that manages distance between homes. I would also do property/land survey ASAP if that was not done yet.

Again, he should not be shy to go to town building department and talk to someone since he was impacted and as was not aware of anything going up on his property line prior to closing. He needs to be proactive and understand what is happening next door. Old owner was planing to move, and maybe he did not object to window and light being impacted effectively doing a favor to an old neighbor, but new owner might want to raise some (polite) stink if so inclined. Nothing is written in stone.

I understand that this is very stressful to deal with on top of everything else, but your friend is home owner now, and needs to look out for his best interests: passively fuming at this situation will get him/her nowhere.

Good luck.

[flowbe202]

"Village" and 200 year old homes and in Mass?

Come on, nothing is passed or approved in Mass historic districts without everone and their dog walkers knowing about it or being in the local paper. ZBAs and building inspectors and long time residents live for setbacks, articles, and wetlands protections. Gossip reigns on every town green. It takes more than one abutter to say OK; variances and setbacks still need to be followed.

Your friend bought without knowing the community and doing due diligence. They didn't read about the zoning restrictions for their area. No one stopped them from learning about it. They learned their lesson for next time.