I used to think that if the deed showed stream frontage and the water rights transferred clean, I was set. Bought a parcel in the Madison Valley eight years ago believing exactly that. What I didn't investigate was the historic use pattern — neighboring ranchers had crossed that stretch for decades, and one had a prescriptive easement claim with real teeth. My attorney cost me more untangling that than I saved on the purchase price.
Now before I seriously consider any stream-adjacent property, I talk to the neighbors first. Not through the realtor, not through the seller. I knock on doors myself and ask bluntly how that water has been used and by whom. You learn more in twenty minutes of honest conversation than in three weeks of title research.
Local knowledge isn't a soft factor — it's the hardest data you'll find. Attorneys and surveyors work from documents. Documents don't capture sixty years of handshake agreements and worn footpaths.
Anyone else here found that neighbor conversations changed what you thought you were buying?