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Neighbor wants to widen my driveway??

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Greenman said:
You really should speak to your neighbor before you make a decision. You're getting advice from a bunch of guys who don't know the entire situation.
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"who don't know the entire situation"

That's a gross understatement. Can't tell if the OP doesn't want to explain it, if he's just not capable of doing so.
 
Might've been easier to visualize if we had a google map zoom and approximation of the area his home will occupy and which area on your property will be taken by the widening.
 
Every time I see this thread pop up I assume that it's a "love and relationship" thread and that "widen my driveway" is a delicate euphemism for rough man love!
 
2vdib7r.jpg


Blue = me
Red = neighbor
Incch
 
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While I would still talk to a lawyer, I'd take the offer to improve your driveway but making sure no corners were cut doing it right.

I would also talk to him about privacy, suggesting that both of you would probably like more space.
 
I'd be careful. Concrete driveway cost a lot. Now, the question is will it be done properly for lots of money or just to brush you off for cheap.

Once you end up with crappy concrete driveway, it will kill you with maintenance costs and/or rebuild.

If you can assure that he'll do a proper job with concrete, it is a good deal.
 
It begins to make sense now. The neighbors driveway is shared and to narrow for emergency vehicles, so he wants to widen and extend yours to allow access to his property, as that would be way cheaper than upgrading his driveway. Is that all correct? If so, I would assume that you have to grant him an easement to use the driveway,
 
Willing accepting an easement to help someone in the manner described here is highly undesirable afaic. An easement or any other encumbrance is no joke and has real consequences on your future use of the property. And can scare away potential buyers should you want to sell your house.

They are not easily removed either. Had a friend who bought a home in a HOA neighborhood. Hoa went bankrupt and later defunct and was eventually dissolved though the legal process. But his title still contained references to this now dissolved corporate entity, which turned up on a title search when he was trying to sell his house. Ended up spending lots of time in court and money on lawyers to get a new title re-issued.
 
I would also want a clause that you have the right to a 3rd party inspection of the work and to have it redone at his expense if it is sub-par.
 
Good points guys! It all sounds like common sense after you mentioned it, but it's not. ie. 3rd party inspection, duh!

I told the neighbor "no" and he practically got down on his knees. I guess he has invested over 100K in subdividing his property and getting all the necessary permits, and then the 16ft driveway requirement went into effect. He said the driveway won't connect to his property, only goes up to his property - the backyard. It's kind of weird...the fire dept would have to drive down my driveway, get out, and hike a couple hundred feet down a gorge to get to the neighbor's backyard. Chances are that they'll never use my driveway.

Neighbor said there will be an easement only for the fire dept. It'd be about 35-40K out of his pocket for 450ft of concrete driveway. And it'd take about 3-4 weeks. He said don't worry about utilities, because digalert will mark all utilities. Said don't worry about the driveway, because it's not like they're building a new driveway. Said the dirt is already compacted, and just needs a little fixing here and there.

I'm still no longer interested, but told him I'll think about it.
 
$40k is only 5.50 a square foot for the driveway. That's low for remove and replace. Around here it would be in the $70k range.
 
Edit: 450 square feet or 450 feet in length?

Couldn't the neighbor build some or all of his drive with gravel to meet the required width? His drive is how long?
 
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Six said:
I told the neighbor "no" and he practically got down on his knees. I guess he has invested over 100K in subdividing his property and getting all the necessary permits, and then the 16ft driveway requirement went into effect.
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Ooooh yeah! The price just went up. If all that is being negotiated is replacement costs you are missing a golden opportunity to make a nice chunk of money. He has sunk costs. Now he is chasing it down the rabbit hole. Time to cash in.

Easements are common. Not sure why so many on here are scared of them. A decent property lawyer can craft an agreement that mitigates most of the identified risks.
 
Apparently OP's neighbor wants to get to his future house from OP's street, the driveway will be much shorter.

But once OP agrees the easement access to his neighbor, it would be hard to get it back, I think.

What if OP wants to build a fence later on for privacy? Will that potentially cut into the widened driveway?
 
Carson Dyle said:
Edit: 450 square feet or 450 feet in length?

Couldn't the neighbor build some or all of his drive with gravel to meet the required width? His drive is how long?
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450 ft lenght X 16ft wide. I think he cannot, because he also needs a turnaround which will cut into several people's front yard.

mxnerd said:
Apparently OP's neighbor wants to get to his future house from OP's street, the driveway will be much shorter.

But once OP agrees the easement access to his neighbor, it would be hard to get it back, I think.

What if OP wants to build a fence later on for privacy? Will that potentially cut into the widened driveway?
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I'm on a 1.5 acre lot.

monkeydelmagico said:
Ooooh yeah! The price just went up. If all that is being negotiated is replacement costs you are missing a golden opportunity to make a nice chunk of money. He has sunk costs. Now he is chasing it down the rabbit hole. Time to cash in.

Easements are common. Not sure why so many on here are scared of them. A decent property lawyer can craft an agreement that mitigates most of the identified risks.
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I'm not the kind that will take advantage of people down on their luck. Just don't want to get shafted while helping people, that's all. Neighbor's elderly parents came over this morning. I'll get a lawyer and probably go through with this at this point.
 
As others have said, this only makes sense from your neighbor's perspective if he is getting an easement to use this enhanced driveway for the houses he is building. Others have speculated on what restrictions this might put on your use of your own property, but you would need to hire an attorney to really find out. I would also worry about how this easement might be viewed by potential purchasers when you decide to sell your house.

But really...why even start down this path? There seems to be little in it for you. While I appreciate your interest in helping people out, you shouldn't feel obliged to accept the short end of the stick that (IMHO) this builder is offering you.
 
This sounds like a potential upgrade for you but just make sure all the legal stuff is figured out, like to make sure that you still fully own it, and that you can USE it. I would definitely get a lawyer involved just to make sure everything goes without a hitch.

Also find out if you are obligated to keep it clear of snow or not as that could mean more work for you, or if in a fire situation they just bring a plow to push the snow.
 
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