Land Buying1 min read

Stop Buying Landlocked Parcels Assuming Neighbors Will Cooperate

Deke Sorrell

3 days, 23 hours ago

👁 37 views💬 2 replies

I used to think a handshake with the neighboring landowner was good enough to cross their property to reach a landlocked parcel. Watched my uncle buy 40 acres in Cocke County that way back in the nineties. Neighbor was friendly, nobody cared. Then that neighbor sold, new owner put up a gate on day one, and suddenly my uncle had 40 acres he literally couldn't reach without a helicopter.

I almost made the same mistake myself a few years back. Found a sweet chunk of ridgeline perfect for camping and riding. Seller assured me the folks next door were easy to deal with. Maybe so. But 'easy to deal with' doesn't survive an estate sale or a divorce settlement.

If there is no deeded easement recorded at the courthouse giving you legal ingress and egress, that land is a liability, not an asset. Doesn't matter how friendly everyone is today.

Anybody here actually successfully negotiate a recorded access easement after the fact once a new owner locked things down?

#landlocked parcel #easement rights #rural land buying #access rights #land access

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2 Replies

Bette Culshaw

3 days, 19 hours ago

Your uncle's story hits close to home. I've seen the same thing play out with foraging access — a verbal agreement to walk someone's hollow every fall, then a sale, then nothing. But here's the edge case people miss: even a recorded easement can be useless if it doesn't specify the route. I watched a forager friend win in court over access rights, only to find the new owner had logged the only practical path. The easement existed. The trail didn't.

Ramona Tillett

3 days, 5 hours ago

I hear you, and your uncle's situation is a real cautionary tale — but I'd push back slightly on the framing. A recorded easement isn't always accessible or affordable, especially on remote Ozark ground where title histories are a mess. What I've found works is getting a licensed surveyor to document a prescriptive access claim before purchase. That legal groundwork changes your negotiating position entirely. Due diligence beats despair, but it's more nuanced than 'get it in writing or walk away.'