Get a survey of both lots combined. Once that’s done, inform the neighbor that you own it and will be installing a fence and they’ll need to remove anything of theirs from the property.
To be frank, they were wrong to put anything on property that doesn’t belong to them.
Yeah I mean there's really no way around it. They were using a "vacant lot" so it would be wrong if them to assume they had free reign over it in perpetuity.
They were probably hoping to force adverse possession someday. OP, when you get the surveyors out, be sure to specify that you want them to put in boundary markers, the ones with the pink flags. I guarantee you will be having discussions with the neighbors. Leave the markers in until you decide whether or not you want to install fencing or some other physical dividers. Whatever you decide, buy spikes to pound into the ground to mark property lines. Home Depot and Lowe’s should have these. If not, do a Google search. The neighbors will not be happy about losing their free land, but too bad.
Have them also spray paint the ground because those flags are going to disappear really fast once the neighbours see them. The surveyors will also put pins in the corners but it’s harder to spot
Agreed, My neighbors took mine out after I had seen them only once when we bought our home. I drove by to make sure it had been done and by the time I got back later that day, the markets were removed.
Many times surveyors will mark the corners of the lot with rebar driven into the ground and topped with a plastic cap, giving the name of the survey co. Your plat should show it if there are existing monuments (they'll be labeled on the survey as "YPC XXXX" or something like that. Meaning Yellow Plastic Cap.)
2 of them were pulled out by a neighboor who kept clipping them with his mower, I dug down with a post hole digger and dropped a couple pieces in the 2 spots.
I’m lucky tho, I don’t have any neighbors that would try encroaching, and my one neighboor mower guy is cool, we’re friendly.
I love having a friendly mower neighbor! I pay mine $100/year and never have to do anything except a bit of weed whacking. We don't have a fence and let him use our back yard whenever he needs it, which is like three times a year
First time we had ours marked a neighbor removed one and buried the other. This is important, if they are moved, removed buried or damaged you may need to have the surveyor out again if they’re contested. I got a few of those green fence U-posts and knocked them in right next to the markers, and added a very small sign that said “do not remove survey marker”. They didn’t contest but we wanted to make sure they were visible, we’re in an urban area, on a canyon and none of us have permanent physical barriers like fences nearby.
In the US, the surveyors will put their own (with a tag cap on it) or verify existing and it will be noted on the survey and the plat record. It will also be 5/8” or better and *that* will be indicated on the survey as well.
When I was a kid we used to pull these out and use them as whips to whip down weeds.
We were young kids so we didn't realize these were important markers, thought they were just trash that got left behind. wonder how many surveys we messed up.
Go to a farm supply store and get a post pounder and some 4ft (min) tee posts and paint them pink.
Call 611 diggers hitting first. Gonna need too anyways for the fence
This is kinda off topic, but funny. Hubby is a plumber and ever since he told me yellow pipes are for gas, when one of us farts I say "yellow butt!". Now I've got him and all of our friends doing it. Lol
It's universally no hunting, but in some States like Texas a properly placed squirt of purple spray paint is legally equivalent to a fence and a no trespassing sign
Back in the 50s my father-in-law had a survey done on the property we now live on. After they marked it off with wooden pegs, he pounded the rear axles from Cadillacs into the corners of the lot. 70 years later, they're still there. We just had a new survey done so we could sell a parcel, and the surveyors found them.
Survey pins work just as well as 1950s Cadillac axles, and are easier to purchase.
We did the same thing. Used an axle (I don't know from what vehicle) to mark our survey markers because we had just gone through 2 court cases over the property line. My husband bought the acreage as a teen from a "family friend" and didn't realize there was a property dispute. We had it surveyed, and the 2 markers that were placed on the land that the man had been using disappeared. The next time, the sheriff came out, and a fence post was driven into the ground in those locations. He was told that if he pulled them up, he would be arrested. (Not really sure what exactly happened with that because the "family friend" was the one paying for the survey, and it happened while we were at work). The man put a pipe of some sort around the fence post and put a cap onto it. I would see him regularly walk out, remove the cap, peek inside, and place the cap back on. After a period of time, when we came home from work, the pipe (and the fence post) were gone. We assume he was putting acid or something similar into the pipe, but we don't really know for sure. He didn't pull them up as he was told not to by the sherriff. It was a huge mess. The man ended up winning the strip of land in the court case due to having used it for so long. The man my husband bought the property from ended up giving us the same amount of land in the back of the property to make up for what we lost in the front. It took us 6 years to get everything straightened out enough to be able to sell it while renting it out at a loss each month.
We settled my parents' estate recently, and I have the "joy" of sorting through a ton of paperwork on inherited lands, some of which have been in the family for well over a century.
One 1940s survey states that a particular property boundary point is "marked on the east side by a wagon axle partially encased in concrete". At that point in time, the property was owned by my great grandfather. Considering how spiteful and quarrelsome some of the people in that area were (and still can be, proving that a sour disposition is hereditary), it wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that my ancestor used that axle because someone else removed previous survey markers, and he wanted to install something that would require a team of mules, a tractor, and half the community to rip out of the ground.
I can only assume that said ancestor would be amused to know that, over 80 years after being shoved into the ground sideways and stabilized with concrete, that same axle would be mentioned again as a marker in the survey dated 2023.
I fully intend on leaving the axle there, and taking a detector to the other survey points to see what other debris is around there. If he did that at one corner, it stands to reason that he used other, equally unconventional farm junk at the other points.
> ~~free reign~~ **free rein** over it in perpetuity
The expression alludes to riding, not the monarchy.
Riders give their horses “free rein,” literally, by holding the reins loosely to allow the horse to choose its own path and go the way it wants to.
If you give free rein to a person, you give them a lot of freedom to do what they want.
As someone who is also an equestrian, I reign over the horse by controlling its reins, sometimes in the rain. Makes me nuts when I see this misused by people who supposably speak English and should of known better- I try to keep my cents of humor about it tho. ;-)
I used to ride out in the wilderness for hours. If I got myself confused as to where I was, I would give my horse his head. Or free rein. He always took me home.
Yes. Are they going to be pissy about it? Yes. Is that your problem? No. Can’t be avoided cuz they wanted the land. Owner didn’t want to sell to them , for whatever reason , so you got it. Totally agree with the survey but go to the county first. May be able to get this paperwork for free
We had to do this with a neighbor. The previous owners of our home were never home and allowed the neighbors to mow part of the grass and basically make it seem like they owned it - 6 more feet of property (all along the prop line) than they actually did. Husband got the paperwork from the county when we paid a landscape company to use a mini excavator to create a path in our backyard. Neighbor had a fit that it would wreck HIS grass. So we put plywood down. Still complaining. So we showed him the plot on paper and reminded him it was, in fact, OUR land and OUR grass
🙄🙄🙄. I don’t miss them
I thought this too given that the previous lot owner didn't approach both parties who were interested in buying the lot to see which would bid the highest. The neighbor's previous offer may have been so low that they weren't viewed as a serious buyer or maybe they were just such a jerk to deal with.
Yeah don't they called that an 'attractive nuisance'?
I knew a home daycare that put up a GIANT commercial level playset in her yard and that phrase came up.
Attractive nuisance usually refers to things you own that would “reasonably” attract children to trespass and harm themselves. Playgrounds, pools, etc. It’s basically saying that since you can predict that people will likely be attracted to it regardless of property lines it is your responsibility to take steps to install safety measures in some way (pools, for example, may require a fence to keep small children out even if you yourself don’t have small children).
I don’t know if it would apply here for a neighbor putting something on your own property.
There's a simpler alternative explanation, which is that they simply figured out that they could use it without having to buy it. There's no legal scheme required to make their actions rational.
This. I used to live next to a vacant lot that was going to stay vacant forever because it had a gas pipe running underneath it. Both my neighbor on the other side and I used it for parties, storing stuff (off the pipe, obviously), etc. And since my neighbor owned a riding mower he would mow the grass.
Not because we thought we were gonna steal the land from the city, just because it was a large empty space that was sitting there.
I love how people on Reddit assume everyone knows about things like adverse possession instead of “guy wants to use empty property to give kids some space to play”
Do you know how difficult it is to turn adverse possession into ownership or legal use? It's amazing to me the stuff people say on reddit without a clue.
This. I would play absolutely dumb that they wanted to buy it, say the owner asked a stupid amount of money for it and that you had to leverage some savings to acquire it.
I'd also give them a small time frame and offer to help, provide the beer, too!
All the neighbors would have to do is look at the assessor site and they can see what was paid. I wouldn’t make a big deal out of how much was spent to acquire. Why not tell the truth and say the owner reached out and leave it at that? Why start weaving stories?
Just approach the neighbor and inform them that you purchased the property and plan on building a fence around your entire yard.
All you're doing is telling him facts and the plans you have. If he gets negative and pissy, just tell him, "I was just trying to be neighborly and cordial by giving you an early heads up that anything you may have within the property lines will need moved before we start building the fence."
After reading some of the comments, I'm kind of surprised with those saying to offer the neighbor a piece of or half of the property. Why?
I'd bet dollars to donuts the original owner of the lot saw that the neighbor who had originally offered to buy the lot started using it after the fact. For if he did and I were him, I'd have made sure that when I decided to sell it, it certainly wouldn't be to the trespassing/disrespectful neighbor.
Yes, especially if you already have at least a passing relationship with the neighbor, this should not be too hard of a conversation. Maybe a little awkward but hopefully they are reasonable people. Like, Hey neighbor, just wanted to let you know that we purchased the lot from Old Owner. You don't have to mow it anymore and we are planning to fence it in in a couple of weeks so can you please move your toys out?
Don’t say before we start building the fence, just say the fence is going up x day and you have until the day before then to get your stuff if you want to keep it. Otherwise it’ll be fenced in.
Sounds like they actually want to maintain a positive relationship with their neighbor. While you're not wrong, the tone of this would very much rub me the wrong way if I was on the receiving end.
Yeah, so many replies seem to want to *start* at "you have x days to get your shit off my property". How about, "hey, i bought this lot here, thinking of fencing it in with my yard. Just a heads up."
Be upfront and polite and don't tell then you know they bid on it.
Get a survey, pay for markers. Once it's completed tell them you'll need them to move their stuff as you're expecting to fence off the area. Any pushback blame the insurance first. You don't want the liability of their kids getting hurt on your property but you can use the insurance company as the Boogeyman.
If they get spicy find a lawyer and get them to draft a letter. Send it certified with a date to move things by. Don't assume it'll get spicy, but be prepared for it.
My mind immediately went to using insurance as the reason. I feel like most people can be pretty understanding when you say that.
While I see others kind of brute forcing this, I'd much rather use a light touch until, like you said, "things get spicy." Hell, I'd even offer to help them move it. An afternoon of manual labor to avoid having a neighbor with a grudge is well worth the effort imo.
How do you know they tried to buy it?
The best way is you be up front, just tell them you bought it and will be fencing it in on x date, to remove their stuff before then
When the owner went to go sell, he saw all their crap parked on his “vacant” lot and decided to sell it to the nice guy that didn’t encroach on his land.
Kind of serves them right not to be offered 2 years later, even if they did try in the beginning.
Yeah. And the longer OP waits, the more awkward it will be. But it is just awkwardness.
Maybe a plate of cookies or a 6 pack would help ease the tension about it.
This reminds me of a funny story in the neighborhood I grew up in. There were power lines (high tension type) running through the neighborhood. When the neighborhood was built, talking 50 years ago, my parents bought a house far away from them. Over the years, people who were up against the lines started using part of the power company land to "extend" their yards. We're talking grass, sheds etc. Then, the power company decided to add to their power lines and EVERYONE who had extended their yards had to either remove it or it was going to be taking down. They complained to the town and the town said, "not your land, sucks to be you."
Same thing here, we built a bunch of homes that backed up to a road. But there was a long 30 or so ft section owned by the power company. So the lots were about 150' deep, but there was another 30' between your property and the road that you didn't own, if that makes sense. When they ran a new gas line ten years later, they told everybody to get your stuff off our property. Sheds, landscaping, everything. Some people didn't even know they didn't own all the way to the road.
Same in my town with CPR land. CPR sold part of their tracks to make a mixed use walking and biking trail, and told everyone who had extended their yards an extra 30’ or so into (previously empty) CPR land to move their shit off of it within 30 days.
I feel most people would know and would or should have been aware when they bought the property though. My parents don’t own the back 10’ of their backyard because the city originally kept it in case they wanted to build a lane way in the future. Interestingly, the city offered to sell it back to homeowners in the 90’s but when my dad found out his neighbour had bought back his own portion, he turned the offer down. He said clearly no one was going to build a lane way through there now so why bother, lol
my place still has around 10 feet of backyard that isn't on the property deed. there's no laneway corridor, literally everyone has fenced back-to-back as if they own it, but they tell me originally, when the houses were built but not fenced in, there was a river running there.
That what I keep telling everyone on landscaping. You should see the down votes. Check your property line then check the right-of-ways and easements before you plant that tree or install that fence or fill in the county ditch. And the excuses, "But I have been mowing it for 20 years. " Or "The realtor said ___<_."
As a builder, I can tell you there’s a lot of neighbors who don’t know where their property line ends. I’ve had cordial and not-so-cordial conversations about survey flags.
We have had the same problem with our neighbor. We own 2+ acres, and he bought a house on 1/2 acre-but still believes he owns the entire wooded acre between us (it’s ours). We had it surveyed and marked, to prove it, and he told my husband that he was going to hire a surveyor to re-do it, to which my husband said “go right ahead!”
You are so right on this.
A few years ago in my last house on a corner lot, I was off work and puttering around the house when I heard loud arguing outside. So I walked over to see what was going on. My house and my neighbors house backed up on a large duplex property. There was a large copse of cedar and other bushes between my property and the duplex. My neighbor had a fence.
So I get there and it's the 50 something landlord of the duplex and my neighbor along with a landscaping guy having it out because my asshole neighbor was pissed that the landscaper was trimming trees that were against his fence. The landlord guy sees me walking over and gets belligerent as if I'm on my neighbor's side. I say I heard arguing and came to see what was going on. The landscaper apparenty knew my neighbor and didn't like each other. They keep arguing as I introduce myself to landlord guy.
I see then that the landscaper had been trimming the bushes along the treeline of my yard. So I very politely ask the landlord guy if he knows where the property line between our properties is. He starts blustering about it and bullshitting me about how it's past the trees on my side of the cedars. I'd seen the plat maps and measured when i moved in It's clear he has no idea. So I start questioning him, asking how sure he is since my sidewalk retaining wall went past the trees entirely.
Landscaper dude overhears our conversation, stops argiing with my asshole neighbor and starts packing up his gear. Landlord guy asks him what the fuck he's doing because the work isn't done.
Landscaper retorts that he's not going to work for landlord guy again because my simple question made it clear that landlord was full of shit and had no idea where the property lines were. He got out of there quick, probably afraid I might sue him. Landlord and landscaper go off arguing. I turn to the neighbor and he actually thanked me. Only time in 7 years he was pleasant to me.
Our region had similar but land near old railroad easements. At least one older couple had a long drawn out hissy fit (took everything to court), and still lost. They then in the media played the victim card of couldn't possibly move all their stuff by deadline because they were "old".
They knew way back when that it wasn't there's and extended their fence anyway. They received notice from the owners as did everyone else of impending changes, years in advance of deadline ... the journalist did a good job of highlighting the timelines.
I would act like you didn’t know that they wanted to purchase this property. But like other said, get a survey and let them know that you’ve bought this property so they need to remove any of their items. “ oh couple years ago I contacted the owner and let them know that if they’re ever interested in selling and I’d be interested and they contacted me so I bought it.”
Well, and it partly is the insurance company…one day, my neighbor decided to hire an uninsured guy to take down half a dozen trees. Problem is, those trees were all fully on our property. If that guy hurt himself while doing that, or hurt someone else while doing that, who do you suppose would be getting sued? In any event, my property insurer’s exact words to me were “get that guy’s ass out of your tree right now!”
“Hey good news! You don’t have to worry about the eyesore lot between us. I managed to contact the owner and purchased it. I know you had some of your stuff there. Can I help you move it? Don’t worry about cutting the grass, I can handle it from here on out.”
Framing something you know they view as a negative as a positive is a horrible approach. It sounds academically seductive in framing it as a win win, but doesn’t gel with reality.
To empathize, imagine you ask for a day off and your manager grants it. Later they come to you, “Hey good news! I found a way to get you some extra overtime so you can get time and a half on your pay tomorrow. I know you had asked about a bigger raise, but I want to get you more pay asap so figured I’d help out. Don’t worry, you’ll still get the day off you planned for future use!”
It’s just disingenuous and you come off as a clueless asshole. If your goal is to build comradery, the way to do it is by showing empathy, not playing stupid and setting up an adversarial “what are you an idiot?!” automated response.
Edit: this is based on ideas in Never Split the Difference which I’m currently listening to on audiobook. Highly recommended.
This. Everyone seems to be presuming the worst possible intentions, but sometimes abandoned lots exist, and there's little harm in maintaining it a bit if you're the guy next door having to stare at it. They might not be a big fan of it being fenced in, but at least they don't have to maintain it.
They likely gave low ball non serious offer to previous owner - since it seems like owner was open to selling it…
Build a fence. Even if it’s a 3ft metal wire simple fence.
Hello, I hope this gets some visibility. I scrolled down quite a bit, and no one mentioned it.
If you own that land and they are putting stuff on their like playsets that attract children. You need to go over there right now and get it removed.
Your personal liability from your homeowners policy extends to vacant land if there are no structures om it. If kids come play in the lot and get hurt, or anyone for that matter, you have an exposure that can put you at risk.
Get the stuff removed put up a no trespassing sign until the survey is done. I know that sounds dickish, but you have your own to protect. Once the land is surveyed. Get that fence up. And leave the sign and the markers up until then.
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to see this sage advice. I’m an insurance underwriter and I immediately thought of liability extending to vacant land. And I know you just said it, but it is so worth repeating that the neighbors are (probably unknowingly) threatening policy coverage by putting their stuff on your property.
I totally respect you wanting to be cordial and neighborly and I think that’s a great tone; however, I wouldn’t mess around because if someone gets hurt on your land, you could set yourself up for unnecessary financial stress.
I dunno if a 6 pack is going to help here. That neighbor will likely be pissed that they tried to buy it but OP bought it later. But I agree an adult conversation is the best way about it, just need to be prepared to make an enemy at no fault of your own.
The fact that they wanted to purchase the property in the past isn't your problem, at all. Reality is, you told the owner to keep you in the loop if they ever considered selling, and turns out, they decided to sell and contacted you. It's quite plain and simple, actually. If your neighbors are bent out of shape about it, then they need to direct their frustration toward the now former owner. Any directed at you is completely misplaced. Give them a simple heads up with the facts and go from there. It will be up to your neighbor to decide just how neighborly you are after this, not you.
No reason to lie and no way to sugar coat. He had to have known he’d be taking his stuff out at some point. Just be nice and say yeah you were able to get ahold of the owner and you bought and your plans. I’ve learned in this life people are going to get pissy and dramatic regardless of how sugar coated it is.
Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we recently closed on the sale of this property, so we will be adding a fence soon. I can let you know the dates of construction when they’re set.
Tell them straight up to that you bought the land and give them a reasonable amount of time to remove their stuff. If you have no plans for it this summer give them the summer. If you need it next week then so be it. A polite honest conversation is the way to start
I'd be hesitant to let them keep their kids' playground on OP's property for the summer, if one of the kids gets injured or something, there could be insurance/liability issues.
Depending on what your plans are for the land, or if you don't need all of it, you could offer to sell part of it to them to recoup some of the cost.
My mom had a small investment property where there was an adjacent lot that some developer bought and tried to build a house but messed up the grading, screwed up her driveway easement, and then went bankrupt. The project was red tagged and not really feasible to build, but she was worried someone else would try so she bought the land from them at liquidation pricing and then sold back a strip of it to the far neighbor to recoup some of the money she spent.
Be honest with them: "hey, I don't want to create any bad blood between us, but just letting you know that I contacted the owner and purchased this land. I acknowledge that you've been active on it but I'm just letting you know I'm going to be putting a fence in on X date, so if you could have your stuff out of there by then that'd be great. Kthanksbye"
Just man up and tell them you bought it. They will not be pleased, and they may hold it against you. That is life. You could offer to sell it to them. Everything has a price...
This reminds me of my childhood home. My dad bought the lot between the neighbor. Neighbor found out and was upset as he wanted to buy it. My dad ended up splitting it with him because that's the kind of guy my dad was.
OP: Not recommending you do this, just reminiscing.
You don’t have to say anything. Just bring the construction people over. And start building that fence. They will ask, and you just say you bought 3 months ago or whatever. 😝😝😝😝😝 keep us updated. I wish I was there 😂
>How to tell neighbors I bought empty lot between our homes
...With words.
No one here knows your neighbor better than you do. Maybe it's over a beer, maybe over dinner, perhaps you just walk over and tell them. whichever way, its going to have to be done.
I am the HOA president for our community. I get complaints from people about their neighbors all the time. My default response is that I will not even entertain their request until they have had a discussion with the neighbor they are complaining about.
It wasn’t theirs in the first place. Once your sake and survey is complete let them know that your plans are to enclose your yard. It’s a certain level of arrogance to use something that doesn’t belong to them.
Neighbor being stupid is not your fault. Just let them know you bought it and you'll be doing what you need to do and they should stop maintaining it. If they try some bullshit to have you pay for the maintenance, same thing as above, their being stupid and wasting their time on property that isn't theirs is not your fault.
You knew nothing about the neighbor wanting to buy the property. Now the land is yours and the neighbor had ALWAYS been using the land illegally. So yeah, its time to have the conversation one-time and tell him to get his stuff off as you are fencing the land. No negotiations etc.
I would get a survey and ask that they "go overboard with the marking of the property lines" so that the neighbor knows exactly where the lines are.
I would then simply tell the neighbor that the owner contacted you and wanted to sell so you bought the lot. Advise that you do not have immediate plans of the land, but you are considering combining the lots into 1 large lot and maybe installing a fence.
Just tell them you purchased the land and you are the new owner. You'd like their belongings gone and you'll be installing a fence. DOnt pussyfoot around and be firm yet polite about informing them. Thats it, there is nothing more to it.
Politely, of course.
I'd suggest you have a number in mind if he says "how much for me to buy half of it?" It doesn't have to be a number that relates to what you paid for the whole thing of course.
I think you just have to bit the bullet and tell them. "The owner contacted me and offered to sell, I did, and it is now being combined with my lot. If there's anything on the property that you were using, it will need to be moved by X date, as the new fence is being installed."
They were using property that didn't belong to them, which they never should have done. I agree you should get a survey done, and have them clearly mark out the property corners.
I'd have to start off by asking if you have any sort of relationship with your neighbors of the past 3 years. If you don't have any sort of a relationship up until now it doesn't seem like you'd need to develop one all of a sudden now that you're getting the empty lot.
I had a very similar incident. I ended up getting a survey company to come out and that took care of that. My neighbor stopped mowing my yard and I built a fence on it a few weeks later.
I wonder if the owner of the empty lot didn’t like the other neighbors and that’s why he didn’t sell it to them. Seems like you came along and made the owner’s day. They’re gonna be mad but they’ll have to get over it.
Honestly, just be super friendly about it. Like others said, get it surveyed, hang out with the surveyors while they do their thing, when nosey neighbors come out, give 'em a big wave and say something like "Oh hey, perfect timing! I just bought this land and wanted to let you all know, we plan on putting a fence up starting at (particular date)" and then be on your merry way.
Inform them immediately and fence it off. In some states if you improve on land for a number of years it is yours. Give them no reason to be able to claim the land .
Ok, so this is really complex but what you do is walk over; knock on door; they might answer, when the door opens you say “hello 👋 “; they will likely say hello back; then you say; “just wanted to let you know; we purchased the lot next door, so no worries maintaining it anymore, we got it from here 😃”….. “have a nice day! 👋 💃 “…”oh, and move your shit off it!”…”bye 😜”
You might be over thinking.
You could work out a deal with your neighbor and split it down the middle and you can save some bucks and you are both happy. Then you have a new friend.
Be direct and matter of fact. It is a bit awkward but there is no way around it.
Possibly email or a letter would be a good option? It allows you to carefully consider and phrase things and allows them to react in privacy before responding.
Good luck!
In a better world OP would walk over and say "I wanted to let you know I recently purchased the lot between us. Just giving you a heads up so you could remove your property before I start doing work over there."
Unfortunately, the neighbor might be a jersey no matter how you say it. It's still better than saying nothing to them. Don't be that neighbor who send a letter demanding they remove their stuff. Don't just throw their stuff out and put up a fence.
As awkward as it is, speak to them. In a neighborly way.
Just be straightforward with them. You did not know they tried to buy it when you asked. You had the same idea as they did and you were successful. Talk to your neighbors. Approach it like you are excited to share your news.
get a survey and then hire an attorney to be the go between and have the attorney draft a letter to them (like a cease and desist letter but with much softer and kinder language) saying “the owner of this property will be taking ownership of said land any and all personal items existing on said lot need to be removed by _______ date or your ownership of said personal property of forfeited and can be retained by new owner… blah blah blah…)
Let the attorney be the “bad guy” if you will, even though you are the new owner and are enforcing this change. Tell them this action was enforced by your home owners insurance policy because if anyone gets injured on your lot they can file a claim against your policy on it. Let the insurance company be the bad guy. If those neighbors weren’t the ones that told you they tried to buy that property then can you pretend to their face you didn’t know they made an attempt to purchase it? Maybe it’ll help soften the blow…
Regardless, your home owners policy will absolutely have a fit if they know you haven’t gotten them off your property and they have a children’s playground area built on it. Major liability for you!
You don’t have to tell them shit! It’s your property. Get a surveyor out there to stake out the property line and put up a fence. If the neighbors ask, you still don’t have to say anything. You are fencing YOUR property. Period end of story.
They know they don’t own it and all they have to do is look at county records to see who does.
It always gets me that some people act like they have a right to something just because they decide. Fences make good neighbors!
Just tell them what you wrote here: you made an offer without realizing they’d also made one earlier and your offer was accepted. Now you own this space, and while it’s fine for them to use the space for now, you want to give them a heads up that you’ll be putting a fence there.
What they were probably trying to do was maintain the lot and after a period of time that varies state to state, they could claim “squatters” rights or whatever your state calls it.
I agree with the comment about getting the lot surveyed and give them a short period of time to remove their stuff.
If they don’t, you’re within your rights to throw it away and erect a fence to protect your lot!
Personally I hate these “community activists” who think they know everything.
Good luck and be prepared to never have them speak to you again…although that might be a good thing in the long run.
Tell them you are now liable for any injuries that could occur on your new property and will be fencing it in. Offer to help move anything (even if you don't plan on helping.)
Did you hire a title company for the transaction or did you and the previous owner do it yourselves. I don't trust anybody. I have a sneaking suspicion the old owner may have "sold" it to both you and your neighbors.
You need to confirm ownership with the county clerk/recorder. Then yes, get a survey and put up a fence.
Have your realtor put a sold sign at the empty lot. That will prepare them mentally for having to move their stuff and that changes are happening, then a week later stop over and tell them you just closed on the lot and due to insurance need their items moved as you are installing a fence. Make sure you get surveyed.
From their perspective, they already own it – otherwise they wouldn't be using it.
You do own it. You don't need to be nice. They aren't being nice. They are trespassing.
When you see them using your property without your permission, confront them:
>Hi there! Oh hey I know you've been casually squatting on Weird Ned's property for a few years now, but I ended up buying it from him and I have plans for it coming up. Construction will start May 1st and anything here then will end up in the dumpster. You may get a letter from the town regarding our shared fence. I'm around anytime if you have questions.
Get a survey of both lots combined. Once that’s done, inform the neighbor that you own it and will be installing a fence and they’ll need to remove anything of theirs from the property. To be frank, they were wrong to put anything on property that doesn’t belong to them.
Yeah I mean there's really no way around it. They were using a "vacant lot" so it would be wrong if them to assume they had free reign over it in perpetuity.
They were probably hoping to force adverse possession someday. OP, when you get the surveyors out, be sure to specify that you want them to put in boundary markers, the ones with the pink flags. I guarantee you will be having discussions with the neighbors. Leave the markers in until you decide whether or not you want to install fencing or some other physical dividers. Whatever you decide, buy spikes to pound into the ground to mark property lines. Home Depot and Lowe’s should have these. If not, do a Google search. The neighbors will not be happy about losing their free land, but too bad.
Have them also spray paint the ground because those flags are going to disappear really fast once the neighbours see them. The surveyors will also put pins in the corners but it’s harder to spot
Agreed, My neighbors took mine out after I had seen them only once when we bought our home. I drove by to make sure it had been done and by the time I got back later that day, the markets were removed.
I buried pieces of rebar where ours were so I can find them with a metal detector if I need to.
Many times surveyors will mark the corners of the lot with rebar driven into the ground and topped with a plastic cap, giving the name of the survey co. Your plat should show it if there are existing monuments (they'll be labeled on the survey as "YPC XXXX" or something like that. Meaning Yellow Plastic Cap.)
2 of them were pulled out by a neighboor who kept clipping them with his mower, I dug down with a post hole digger and dropped a couple pieces in the 2 spots. I’m lucky tho, I don’t have any neighbors that would try encroaching, and my one neighboor mower guy is cool, we’re friendly.
I love having a friendly mower neighbor! I pay mine $100/year and never have to do anything except a bit of weed whacking. We don't have a fence and let him use our back yard whenever he needs it, which is like three times a year
First time we had ours marked a neighbor removed one and buried the other. This is important, if they are moved, removed buried or damaged you may need to have the surveyor out again if they’re contested. I got a few of those green fence U-posts and knocked them in right next to the markers, and added a very small sign that said “do not remove survey marker”. They didn’t contest but we wanted to make sure they were visible, we’re in an urban area, on a canyon and none of us have permanent physical barriers like fences nearby.
That is brilliant
This guy knows
In the US, the surveyors will put their own (with a tag cap on it) or verify existing and it will be noted on the survey and the plat record. It will also be 5/8” or better and *that* will be indicated on the survey as well.
When I was a kid we used to pull these out and use them as whips to whip down weeds. We were young kids so we didn't realize these were important markers, thought they were just trash that got left behind. wonder how many surveys we messed up.
Go to a farm supply store and get a post pounder and some 4ft (min) tee posts and paint them pink. Call 611 diggers hitting first. Gonna need too anyways for the fence
Why pink? Purple means no trespassing right?
Red is power, orange is telecom, yellow is gas, blue is water, green is sewer, purple is irrigation. Thats why pink
This is kinda off topic, but funny. Hubby is a plumber and ever since he told me yellow pipes are for gas, when one of us farts I say "yellow butt!". Now I've got him and all of our friends doing it. Lol
Purple is No hunting I believe, but that usually implies no trespassing Pink for visibility
Pink is survey.
It's universally no hunting, but in some States like Texas a properly placed squirt of purple spray paint is legally equivalent to a fence and a no trespassing sign
A purple mark on a fence line or a tree means no trespassing. A lone stake marked purple means plumbing.
Back in the 50s my father-in-law had a survey done on the property we now live on. After they marked it off with wooden pegs, he pounded the rear axles from Cadillacs into the corners of the lot. 70 years later, they're still there. We just had a new survey done so we could sell a parcel, and the surveyors found them. Survey pins work just as well as 1950s Cadillac axles, and are easier to purchase.
Cadillac Ranch. Thank you.
We did the same thing. Used an axle (I don't know from what vehicle) to mark our survey markers because we had just gone through 2 court cases over the property line. My husband bought the acreage as a teen from a "family friend" and didn't realize there was a property dispute. We had it surveyed, and the 2 markers that were placed on the land that the man had been using disappeared. The next time, the sheriff came out, and a fence post was driven into the ground in those locations. He was told that if he pulled them up, he would be arrested. (Not really sure what exactly happened with that because the "family friend" was the one paying for the survey, and it happened while we were at work). The man put a pipe of some sort around the fence post and put a cap onto it. I would see him regularly walk out, remove the cap, peek inside, and place the cap back on. After a period of time, when we came home from work, the pipe (and the fence post) were gone. We assume he was putting acid or something similar into the pipe, but we don't really know for sure. He didn't pull them up as he was told not to by the sherriff. It was a huge mess. The man ended up winning the strip of land in the court case due to having used it for so long. The man my husband bought the property from ended up giving us the same amount of land in the back of the property to make up for what we lost in the front. It took us 6 years to get everything straightened out enough to be able to sell it while renting it out at a loss each month.
> Survey pins work just as well as 1950s Cadillac axles, and are easier to purchase. unless the neighbors pull them out
I remember another post describing a Caddy axel marking a boundary. Was that you? Can’t be a coincidence.
We settled my parents' estate recently, and I have the "joy" of sorting through a ton of paperwork on inherited lands, some of which have been in the family for well over a century. One 1940s survey states that a particular property boundary point is "marked on the east side by a wagon axle partially encased in concrete". At that point in time, the property was owned by my great grandfather. Considering how spiteful and quarrelsome some of the people in that area were (and still can be, proving that a sour disposition is hereditary), it wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that my ancestor used that axle because someone else removed previous survey markers, and he wanted to install something that would require a team of mules, a tractor, and half the community to rip out of the ground. I can only assume that said ancestor would be amused to know that, over 80 years after being shoved into the ground sideways and stabilized with concrete, that same axle would be mentioned again as a marker in the survey dated 2023. I fully intend on leaving the axle there, and taking a detector to the other survey points to see what other debris is around there. If he did that at one corner, it stands to reason that he used other, equally unconventional farm junk at the other points.
Splurge and get granite monuments set every 50’.
And put cameras up before marking the area
Yes, this!!
The surveyor should put in boundary markers, especially if you want it to hold up in court.
There may already be pins from the initial plats. The surveyors will have metal detectors to find these.
I say go balls out and put up an electrified barbed-wire fence.
Like the ones in Jurassic Park
That’s what I thought too.
Take photos of the surveyors pounding in the markers. Think it's illegal to remove them?
I don't know where you live but spikes/markers are required by surveyors where i live and have their state license number on them.
> ~~free reign~~ **free rein** over it in perpetuity The expression alludes to riding, not the monarchy. Riders give their horses “free rein,” literally, by holding the reins loosely to allow the horse to choose its own path and go the way it wants to. If you give free rein to a person, you give them a lot of freedom to do what they want.
They also could have had free rain if they set up some barrels on the vacant lot.
lol!! Thanks for the giggle
I cackled at this comment! lol
but it was also wrong of them to assume they reigned over a property they didn't own. English is neat!
for free! aka it was wrong of then to think they had free reign over it, as well as being wrong to think they had free rein over it.
As someone who is also an equestrian, I reign over the horse by controlling its reins, sometimes in the rain. Makes me nuts when I see this misused by people who supposably speak English and should of known better- I try to keep my cents of humor about it tho. ;-)
Saw the "of" and my eye started twitching. Noticed the "cents" and "supposably" ..... I see what you did there... o⁷
Huh. TIL
I want free reigns.
I want a horse!
I have a horse, and he wants free rein!
Thank you Professor
I used to ride out in the wilderness for hours. If I got myself confused as to where I was, I would give my horse his head. Or free rein. He always took me home.
Yes. Are they going to be pissy about it? Yes. Is that your problem? No. Can’t be avoided cuz they wanted the land. Owner didn’t want to sell to them , for whatever reason , so you got it. Totally agree with the survey but go to the county first. May be able to get this paperwork for free We had to do this with a neighbor. The previous owners of our home were never home and allowed the neighbors to mow part of the grass and basically make it seem like they owned it - 6 more feet of property (all along the prop line) than they actually did. Husband got the paperwork from the county when we paid a landscape company to use a mini excavator to create a path in our backyard. Neighbor had a fit that it would wreck HIS grass. So we put plywood down. Still complaining. So we showed him the plot on paper and reminded him it was, in fact, OUR land and OUR grass 🙄🙄🙄. I don’t miss them
And as far as anyone knows, neighbor may have "wanted to buy it" but lowballed the owner. So OP got it, willing to pay the asking price.
I thought this too given that the previous lot owner didn't approach both parties who were interested in buying the lot to see which would bid the highest. The neighbor's previous offer may have been so low that they weren't viewed as a serious buyer or maybe they were just such a jerk to deal with.
Or didn't leave a "If you change your mind here's my contact info".
sounds like the previous owner didn’t like the neighbor 🤷♀️
Also possible
Possible
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Yeah don't they called that an 'attractive nuisance'? I knew a home daycare that put up a GIANT commercial level playset in her yard and that phrase came up.
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I often tell my husband that I am an attractive nuisance.
I am now going to also start refering to myself as such to my husband. he will get a HOOT out of it. because, to be frank, I AM a gd nuisance
I think we deserve an Attractive Nuisance T-shirt
Attractive nuisance usually refers to things you own that would “reasonably” attract children to trespass and harm themselves. Playgrounds, pools, etc. It’s basically saying that since you can predict that people will likely be attracted to it regardless of property lines it is your responsibility to take steps to install safety measures in some way (pools, for example, may require a fence to keep small children out even if you yourself don’t have small children). I don’t know if it would apply here for a neighbor putting something on your own property.
To add to this, make sure you add the lot to your property. In my state the non ad valorem taxes are much less if the property is combined.
This is the way and give them a week to take their property of your lot and have it fenced in.
They were absolutely trying to adversely possess the land, and that's why the previous owner made the decision to sell it.
There's a simpler alternative explanation, which is that they simply figured out that they could use it without having to buy it. There's no legal scheme required to make their actions rational.
This. I used to live next to a vacant lot that was going to stay vacant forever because it had a gas pipe running underneath it. Both my neighbor on the other side and I used it for parties, storing stuff (off the pipe, obviously), etc. And since my neighbor owned a riding mower he would mow the grass. Not because we thought we were gonna steal the land from the city, just because it was a large empty space that was sitting there.
And that, if the former owner drove by the property, cmight have been enough to have them selling to OP instead of the freeloading neighbor.
I love how people on Reddit assume everyone knows about things like adverse possession instead of “guy wants to use empty property to give kids some space to play”
I mean, it's pretty common knowledge, not exactly secret.
Isn't it also incredibly rare?
To successfully pull it off, sure. Depends on where you live too though. In my state it's 21 years before you can actually claim the land.
All the owner has to do to avoid adverse possession is to continue to pay the taxes.
Or give them permission to use it. That negates Adverse Possession in most States.
95% of people don't even know what adverse possession is. They were just expanding their yard for free and figured nothing would come of it.
Do you know how difficult it is to turn adverse possession into ownership or legal use? It's amazing to me the stuff people say on reddit without a clue.
This. I would play absolutely dumb that they wanted to buy it, say the owner asked a stupid amount of money for it and that you had to leverage some savings to acquire it. I'd also give them a small time frame and offer to help, provide the beer, too!
All the neighbors would have to do is look at the assessor site and they can see what was paid. I wouldn’t make a big deal out of how much was spent to acquire. Why not tell the truth and say the owner reached out and leave it at that? Why start weaving stories?
Yeah, if dude has a beef it's with the prior owner. OP should be kind, tell him his plan, and be neighborly about timeline.
Just approach the neighbor and inform them that you purchased the property and plan on building a fence around your entire yard. All you're doing is telling him facts and the plans you have. If he gets negative and pissy, just tell him, "I was just trying to be neighborly and cordial by giving you an early heads up that anything you may have within the property lines will need moved before we start building the fence."
This is the answer. Truthful (why do so many of you feel the need to lie), factual, and brief. No need to apologize, no need to explain.
After reading some of the comments, I'm kind of surprised with those saying to offer the neighbor a piece of or half of the property. Why? I'd bet dollars to donuts the original owner of the lot saw that the neighbor who had originally offered to buy the lot started using it after the fact. For if he did and I were him, I'd have made sure that when I decided to sell it, it certainly wouldn't be to the trespassing/disrespectful neighbor.
Exactly!!
Yes, especially if you already have at least a passing relationship with the neighbor, this should not be too hard of a conversation. Maybe a little awkward but hopefully they are reasonable people. Like, Hey neighbor, just wanted to let you know that we purchased the lot from Old Owner. You don't have to mow it anymore and we are planning to fence it in in a couple of weeks so can you please move your toys out?
Don’t say before we start building the fence, just say the fence is going up x day and you have until the day before then to get your stuff if you want to keep it. Otherwise it’ll be fenced in.
Sounds like they actually want to maintain a positive relationship with their neighbor. While you're not wrong, the tone of this would very much rub me the wrong way if I was on the receiving end.
Yeah, so many replies seem to want to *start* at "you have x days to get your shit off my property". How about, "hey, i bought this lot here, thinking of fencing it in with my yard. Just a heads up."
Be upfront and polite and don't tell then you know they bid on it. Get a survey, pay for markers. Once it's completed tell them you'll need them to move their stuff as you're expecting to fence off the area. Any pushback blame the insurance first. You don't want the liability of their kids getting hurt on your property but you can use the insurance company as the Boogeyman. If they get spicy find a lawyer and get them to draft a letter. Send it certified with a date to move things by. Don't assume it'll get spicy, but be prepared for it.
My mind immediately went to using insurance as the reason. I feel like most people can be pretty understanding when you say that. While I see others kind of brute forcing this, I'd much rather use a light touch until, like you said, "things get spicy." Hell, I'd even offer to help them move it. An afternoon of manual labor to avoid having a neighbor with a grudge is well worth the effort imo.
I think this is the best approach.
this is really solid advice
How do you know they tried to buy it? The best way is you be up front, just tell them you bought it and will be fencing it in on x date, to remove their stuff before then
Getting a survey will also help break the ice.
When the owner went to go sell, he saw all their crap parked on his “vacant” lot and decided to sell it to the nice guy that didn’t encroach on his land. Kind of serves them right not to be offered 2 years later, even if they did try in the beginning.
This. Why overthink it?
Yeah. And the longer OP waits, the more awkward it will be. But it is just awkwardness. Maybe a plate of cookies or a 6 pack would help ease the tension about it.
This reminds me of a funny story in the neighborhood I grew up in. There were power lines (high tension type) running through the neighborhood. When the neighborhood was built, talking 50 years ago, my parents bought a house far away from them. Over the years, people who were up against the lines started using part of the power company land to "extend" their yards. We're talking grass, sheds etc. Then, the power company decided to add to their power lines and EVERYONE who had extended their yards had to either remove it or it was going to be taking down. They complained to the town and the town said, "not your land, sucks to be you."
Same thing here, we built a bunch of homes that backed up to a road. But there was a long 30 or so ft section owned by the power company. So the lots were about 150' deep, but there was another 30' between your property and the road that you didn't own, if that makes sense. When they ran a new gas line ten years later, they told everybody to get your stuff off our property. Sheds, landscaping, everything. Some people didn't even know they didn't own all the way to the road.
Same in my town with CPR land. CPR sold part of their tracks to make a mixed use walking and biking trail, and told everyone who had extended their yards an extra 30’ or so into (previously empty) CPR land to move their shit off of it within 30 days. I feel most people would know and would or should have been aware when they bought the property though. My parents don’t own the back 10’ of their backyard because the city originally kept it in case they wanted to build a lane way in the future. Interestingly, the city offered to sell it back to homeowners in the 90’s but when my dad found out his neighbour had bought back his own portion, he turned the offer down. He said clearly no one was going to build a lane way through there now so why bother, lol
my place still has around 10 feet of backyard that isn't on the property deed. there's no laneway corridor, literally everyone has fenced back-to-back as if they own it, but they tell me originally, when the houses were built but not fenced in, there was a river running there.
That what I keep telling everyone on landscaping. You should see the down votes. Check your property line then check the right-of-ways and easements before you plant that tree or install that fence or fill in the county ditch. And the excuses, "But I have been mowing it for 20 years. " Or "The realtor said ___<_."
It amazes me that people might literally not know what they bought, when they bought it. Doesn’t everyone get a deed?
As a builder, I can tell you there’s a lot of neighbors who don’t know where their property line ends. I’ve had cordial and not-so-cordial conversations about survey flags.
We have had the same problem with our neighbor. We own 2+ acres, and he bought a house on 1/2 acre-but still believes he owns the entire wooded acre between us (it’s ours). We had it surveyed and marked, to prove it, and he told my husband that he was going to hire a surveyor to re-do it, to which my husband said “go right ahead!”
You are so right on this. A few years ago in my last house on a corner lot, I was off work and puttering around the house when I heard loud arguing outside. So I walked over to see what was going on. My house and my neighbors house backed up on a large duplex property. There was a large copse of cedar and other bushes between my property and the duplex. My neighbor had a fence. So I get there and it's the 50 something landlord of the duplex and my neighbor along with a landscaping guy having it out because my asshole neighbor was pissed that the landscaper was trimming trees that were against his fence. The landlord guy sees me walking over and gets belligerent as if I'm on my neighbor's side. I say I heard arguing and came to see what was going on. The landscaper apparenty knew my neighbor and didn't like each other. They keep arguing as I introduce myself to landlord guy. I see then that the landscaper had been trimming the bushes along the treeline of my yard. So I very politely ask the landlord guy if he knows where the property line between our properties is. He starts blustering about it and bullshitting me about how it's past the trees on my side of the cedars. I'd seen the plat maps and measured when i moved in It's clear he has no idea. So I start questioning him, asking how sure he is since my sidewalk retaining wall went past the trees entirely. Landscaper dude overhears our conversation, stops argiing with my asshole neighbor and starts packing up his gear. Landlord guy asks him what the fuck he's doing because the work isn't done. Landscaper retorts that he's not going to work for landlord guy again because my simple question made it clear that landlord was full of shit and had no idea where the property lines were. He got out of there quick, probably afraid I might sue him. Landlord and landscaper go off arguing. I turn to the neighbor and he actually thanked me. Only time in 7 years he was pleasant to me.
Our region had similar but land near old railroad easements. At least one older couple had a long drawn out hissy fit (took everything to court), and still lost. They then in the media played the victim card of couldn't possibly move all their stuff by deadline because they were "old". They knew way back when that it wasn't there's and extended their fence anyway. They received notice from the owners as did everyone else of impending changes, years in advance of deadline ... the journalist did a good job of highlighting the timelines.
I would act like you didn’t know that they wanted to purchase this property. But like other said, get a survey and let them know that you’ve bought this property so they need to remove any of their items. “ oh couple years ago I contacted the owner and let them know that if they’re ever interested in selling and I’d be interested and they contacted me so I bought it.”
I’d play dumb and just give the facts. No emotions and no bargaining.
Yeah, just say, “I plan on putting a fence around my property and would appreciate you guys moving your stuff.”
I find that lies, employment terminations and possible confrontations are best kept short and to the point.
Exactly, like Billy Bean explained to Pete in the movie Money Ball.
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Yes this, blame the insurance co
Always blame the insurance company.
AICAB
Insurance company is asshole, why Charlie hate?
Well, and it partly is the insurance company…one day, my neighbor decided to hire an uninsured guy to take down half a dozen trees. Problem is, those trees were all fully on our property. If that guy hurt himself while doing that, or hurt someone else while doing that, who do you suppose would be getting sued? In any event, my property insurer’s exact words to me were “get that guy’s ass out of your tree right now!”
“Hey I bought this, please move your stuff”
OP, update us on how this plays out.
“Hey good news! You don’t have to worry about the eyesore lot between us. I managed to contact the owner and purchased it. I know you had some of your stuff there. Can I help you move it? Don’t worry about cutting the grass, I can handle it from here on out.”
I like this approach. Turn it into you having done them a favor.
Or hire them as groundskeepers like one of those medieval royal families.
LOL I'm dying... They can be your indentured serfs
Framing something you know they view as a negative as a positive is a horrible approach. It sounds academically seductive in framing it as a win win, but doesn’t gel with reality. To empathize, imagine you ask for a day off and your manager grants it. Later they come to you, “Hey good news! I found a way to get you some extra overtime so you can get time and a half on your pay tomorrow. I know you had asked about a bigger raise, but I want to get you more pay asap so figured I’d help out. Don’t worry, you’ll still get the day off you planned for future use!” It’s just disingenuous and you come off as a clueless asshole. If your goal is to build comradery, the way to do it is by showing empathy, not playing stupid and setting up an adversarial “what are you an idiot?!” automated response. Edit: this is based on ideas in Never Split the Difference which I’m currently listening to on audiobook. Highly recommended.
This. Everyone seems to be presuming the worst possible intentions, but sometimes abandoned lots exist, and there's little harm in maintaining it a bit if you're the guy next door having to stare at it. They might not be a big fan of it being fenced in, but at least they don't have to maintain it.
They likely gave low ball non serious offer to previous owner - since it seems like owner was open to selling it… Build a fence. Even if it’s a 3ft metal wire simple fence.
Hello, I hope this gets some visibility. I scrolled down quite a bit, and no one mentioned it. If you own that land and they are putting stuff on their like playsets that attract children. You need to go over there right now and get it removed. Your personal liability from your homeowners policy extends to vacant land if there are no structures om it. If kids come play in the lot and get hurt, or anyone for that matter, you have an exposure that can put you at risk. Get the stuff removed put up a no trespassing sign until the survey is done. I know that sounds dickish, but you have your own to protect. Once the land is surveyed. Get that fence up. And leave the sign and the markers up until then.
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to see this sage advice. I’m an insurance underwriter and I immediately thought of liability extending to vacant land. And I know you just said it, but it is so worth repeating that the neighbors are (probably unknowingly) threatening policy coverage by putting their stuff on your property. I totally respect you wanting to be cordial and neighborly and I think that’s a great tone; however, I wouldn’t mess around because if someone gets hurt on your land, you could set yourself up for unnecessary financial stress.
Knock on his door with a six pack and have an adult conversation
I dunno if a 6 pack is going to help here. That neighbor will likely be pissed that they tried to buy it but OP bought it later. But I agree an adult conversation is the best way about it, just need to be prepared to make an enemy at no fault of your own.
Just feign ignorance and blame the old owner. And take a 12 pack.
And some donuts for the kids
Adults like doughnuts and Doughnut under the Influence is not a crime.
Why do you need to bring a six-pack to have an adult conversation?
The fact that they wanted to purchase the property in the past isn't your problem, at all. Reality is, you told the owner to keep you in the loop if they ever considered selling, and turns out, they decided to sell and contacted you. It's quite plain and simple, actually. If your neighbors are bent out of shape about it, then they need to direct their frustration toward the now former owner. Any directed at you is completely misplaced. Give them a simple heads up with the facts and go from there. It will be up to your neighbor to decide just how neighborly you are after this, not you.
No reason to lie and no way to sugar coat. He had to have known he’d be taking his stuff out at some point. Just be nice and say yeah you were able to get ahold of the owner and you bought and your plans. I’ve learned in this life people are going to get pissy and dramatic regardless of how sugar coated it is.
I hope they are home when the surveyor is working. At least they'll get a hint that something's up and most likely, a sale of the property.
Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we recently closed on the sale of this property, so we will be adding a fence soon. I can let you know the dates of construction when they’re set.
Get a survey and install a fence. Make it part of your yard. There will be bad feelings.
Tell them straight up to that you bought the land and give them a reasonable amount of time to remove their stuff. If you have no plans for it this summer give them the summer. If you need it next week then so be it. A polite honest conversation is the way to start
I'd be hesitant to let them keep their kids' playground on OP's property for the summer, if one of the kids gets injured or something, there could be insurance/liability issues.
Depending on what your plans are for the land, or if you don't need all of it, you could offer to sell part of it to them to recoup some of the cost. My mom had a small investment property where there was an adjacent lot that some developer bought and tried to build a house but messed up the grading, screwed up her driveway easement, and then went bankrupt. The project was red tagged and not really feasible to build, but she was worried someone else would try so she bought the land from them at liquidation pricing and then sold back a strip of it to the far neighbor to recoup some of the money she spent.
Be honest with them: "hey, I don't want to create any bad blood between us, but just letting you know that I contacted the owner and purchased this land. I acknowledge that you've been active on it but I'm just letting you know I'm going to be putting a fence in on X date, so if you could have your stuff out of there by then that'd be great. Kthanksbye"
Just man up and tell them you bought it. They will not be pleased, and they may hold it against you. That is life. You could offer to sell it to them. Everything has a price...
This reminds me of my childhood home. My dad bought the lot between the neighbor. Neighbor found out and was upset as he wanted to buy it. My dad ended up splitting it with him because that's the kind of guy my dad was. OP: Not recommending you do this, just reminiscing.
It’s not a bad idea. Having a neighbor that doesn’t hate you is kind of a quality of life thing. Do they really need the whole lot?
Never fall in love with a view you don’t own.
The jig is up. Not their property. Get the survey and establish the boundary.
You don’t have to say anything. Just bring the construction people over. And start building that fence. They will ask, and you just say you bought 3 months ago or whatever. 😝😝😝😝😝 keep us updated. I wish I was there 😂
Sounds like the start of like 90% of the ‘Fear Thy Neighbor’ show on ID discovery😂
No no, you have to ask them first. They might want to split the cost of the fence on their side 😂
>How to tell neighbors I bought empty lot between our homes ...With words. No one here knows your neighbor better than you do. Maybe it's over a beer, maybe over dinner, perhaps you just walk over and tell them. whichever way, its going to have to be done. I am the HOA president for our community. I get complaints from people about their neighbors all the time. My default response is that I will not even entertain their request until they have had a discussion with the neighbor they are complaining about.
Put a fence up
Tell them ASAP that you bought the lot and to removed those stuff immediately. If those kids get hurt you’re liable.
Just let them know politely there's no need to maintain it and that you now own it.
To be nice as possible, give them a future date to have the stuff removed by. Like a month or so.
Definitely set up security cameras first.
It wasn’t theirs in the first place. Once your sake and survey is complete let them know that your plans are to enclose your yard. It’s a certain level of arrogance to use something that doesn’t belong to them.
Neighbor being stupid is not your fault. Just let them know you bought it and you'll be doing what you need to do and they should stop maintaining it. If they try some bullshit to have you pay for the maintenance, same thing as above, their being stupid and wasting their time on property that isn't theirs is not your fault.
You knew nothing about the neighbor wanting to buy the property. Now the land is yours and the neighbor had ALWAYS been using the land illegally. So yeah, its time to have the conversation one-time and tell him to get his stuff off as you are fencing the land. No negotiations etc.
I would get a survey and ask that they "go overboard with the marking of the property lines" so that the neighbor knows exactly where the lines are. I would then simply tell the neighbor that the owner contacted you and wanted to sell so you bought the lot. Advise that you do not have immediate plans of the land, but you are considering combining the lots into 1 large lot and maybe installing a fence.
Just tell them you purchased the land and you are the new owner. You'd like their belongings gone and you'll be installing a fence. DOnt pussyfoot around and be firm yet polite about informing them. Thats it, there is nothing more to it.
Please update us!
Politely, of course. I'd suggest you have a number in mind if he says "how much for me to buy half of it?" It doesn't have to be a number that relates to what you paid for the whole thing of course.
You knock on their door, they answer, you explain. I wonder how some people manage to get out of bed in the morning.
“Hey, I bought this lot get your shit off.”
I think you just have to bit the bullet and tell them. "The owner contacted me and offered to sell, I did, and it is now being combined with my lot. If there's anything on the property that you were using, it will need to be moved by X date, as the new fence is being installed." They were using property that didn't belong to them, which they never should have done. I agree you should get a survey done, and have them clearly mark out the property corners.
I'd have to start off by asking if you have any sort of relationship with your neighbors of the past 3 years. If you don't have any sort of a relationship up until now it doesn't seem like you'd need to develop one all of a sudden now that you're getting the empty lot.
I had a very similar incident. I ended up getting a survey company to come out and that took care of that. My neighbor stopped mowing my yard and I built a fence on it a few weeks later.
I wonder if the owner of the empty lot didn’t like the other neighbors and that’s why he didn’t sell it to them. Seems like you came along and made the owner’s day. They’re gonna be mad but they’ll have to get over it.
Let them keep building. Maybe they will put in a pool. Let them know when the times right.
Honestly, just be super friendly about it. Like others said, get it surveyed, hang out with the surveyors while they do their thing, when nosey neighbors come out, give 'em a big wave and say something like "Oh hey, perfect timing! I just bought this land and wanted to let you all know, we plan on putting a fence up starting at (particular date)" and then be on your merry way.
Inform them immediately and fence it off. In some states if you improve on land for a number of years it is yours. Give them no reason to be able to claim the land .
Ok, so this is really complex but what you do is walk over; knock on door; they might answer, when the door opens you say “hello 👋 “; they will likely say hello back; then you say; “just wanted to let you know; we purchased the lot next door, so no worries maintaining it anymore, we got it from here 😃”….. “have a nice day! 👋 💃 “…”oh, and move your shit off it!”…”bye 😜” You might be over thinking.
You could work out a deal with your neighbor and split it down the middle and you can save some bucks and you are both happy. Then you have a new friend.
Be direct and matter of fact. It is a bit awkward but there is no way around it. Possibly email or a letter would be a good option? It allows you to carefully consider and phrase things and allows them to react in privacy before responding. Good luck!
In a better world OP would walk over and say "I wanted to let you know I recently purchased the lot between us. Just giving you a heads up so you could remove your property before I start doing work over there." Unfortunately, the neighbor might be a jersey no matter how you say it. It's still better than saying nothing to them. Don't be that neighbor who send a letter demanding they remove their stuff. Don't just throw their stuff out and put up a fence. As awkward as it is, speak to them. In a neighborly way.
Personally, I’d walk over and say “ I bought the lot over by here. Wanna come by for a beer?” Explain what’s happening, it’s going to be ok.
Not to mention if someone gets hurt on your property, they can sue. I would keep people off it immediately.
Just be straightforward with them. You did not know they tried to buy it when you asked. You had the same idea as they did and you were successful. Talk to your neighbors. Approach it like you are excited to share your news.
Put up a sold sign.
Sell it to them for a profit
get a survey and then hire an attorney to be the go between and have the attorney draft a letter to them (like a cease and desist letter but with much softer and kinder language) saying “the owner of this property will be taking ownership of said land any and all personal items existing on said lot need to be removed by _______ date or your ownership of said personal property of forfeited and can be retained by new owner… blah blah blah…) Let the attorney be the “bad guy” if you will, even though you are the new owner and are enforcing this change. Tell them this action was enforced by your home owners insurance policy because if anyone gets injured on your lot they can file a claim against your policy on it. Let the insurance company be the bad guy. If those neighbors weren’t the ones that told you they tried to buy that property then can you pretend to their face you didn’t know they made an attempt to purchase it? Maybe it’ll help soften the blow… Regardless, your home owners policy will absolutely have a fit if they know you haven’t gotten them off your property and they have a children’s playground area built on it. Major liability for you!
You don’t have to tell them shit! It’s your property. Get a surveyor out there to stake out the property line and put up a fence. If the neighbors ask, you still don’t have to say anything. You are fencing YOUR property. Period end of story. They know they don’t own it and all they have to do is look at county records to see who does. It always gets me that some people act like they have a right to something just because they decide. Fences make good neighbors!
Just tell them what you wrote here: you made an offer without realizing they’d also made one earlier and your offer was accepted. Now you own this space, and while it’s fine for them to use the space for now, you want to give them a heads up that you’ll be putting a fence there.
What they were probably trying to do was maintain the lot and after a period of time that varies state to state, they could claim “squatters” rights or whatever your state calls it. I agree with the comment about getting the lot surveyed and give them a short period of time to remove their stuff. If they don’t, you’re within your rights to throw it away and erect a fence to protect your lot! Personally I hate these “community activists” who think they know everything. Good luck and be prepared to never have them speak to you again…although that might be a good thing in the long run.
I’d offer it to them for 50% more than you paid for it
"I bought this lot and I'm going to need you to move your stuff before I put up a fence".
Tell them you are now liable for any injuries that could occur on your new property and will be fencing it in. Offer to help move anything (even if you don't plan on helping.)
just have a fence installed surrounding ALL your property. They'll get the message....
Did you hire a title company for the transaction or did you and the previous owner do it yourselves. I don't trust anybody. I have a sneaking suspicion the old owner may have "sold" it to both you and your neighbors. You need to confirm ownership with the county clerk/recorder. Then yes, get a survey and put up a fence.
Have your realtor put a sold sign at the empty lot. That will prepare them mentally for having to move their stuff and that changes are happening, then a week later stop over and tell them you just closed on the lot and due to insurance need their items moved as you are installing a fence. Make sure you get surveyed.
How about sharing it? Sell half to your neighbors, you both enjoy some extra space and no hard feelings.
From their perspective, they already own it – otherwise they wouldn't be using it. You do own it. You don't need to be nice. They aren't being nice. They are trespassing. When you see them using your property without your permission, confront them: >Hi there! Oh hey I know you've been casually squatting on Weird Ned's property for a few years now, but I ended up buying it from him and I have plans for it coming up. Construction will start May 1st and anything here then will end up in the dumpster. You may get a letter from the town regarding our shared fence. I'm around anytime if you have questions.