Four inches of land may cause a mile of trouble
Q. Several years ago, my neighbor had a survey done before she put up a partial fence on her land. She had her son dig a trench adjacent to a cedar fence I had installed in 1978. It looked as if her trench was on my property, so I had a survey done. The surveyor's rebar marking my property line showed her trench was 4 inches inside my property line.
If a surveyor makes a mistake, who is responsible to fix it so the real property line is known? Do I have to pay a lot of money for an attorney to get this fixed? She is laboring under the assumption that the property line is correct because her surveyor put in corner-lot ground markers. However, the 4-inch discrepancy is in the middle of the property line, and she goes berserk whenever I go on my property according to what my surveyor measured. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
A. Frankly, sometimes surveys overlap. If you really want to settle this, you'll have to fight it out in court. But for 4 inches, I'd simply try to get along with the neighbor. Someday, when one of you sells, there'll be a new survey, and that thin strip will be noted as an encroachment either way.
Q. I gained ownership of my mother's house through probate as a conservator about five years ago. The house is more than 100 years old and in need of repairs. It's functional enough to live in, but I'm trying to seek help.
It's in a historic African-American community, and I'm wondering whether it would be considered to be on a national historic registry. I have little to no funds for things other than the utilities and taxes, as I only work part time and am over the age of 50. Do you have any suggestions on where to go?
A. Inquire with the building bureau at your town or city hall to see what's involved with historic registry and whether anything is available for rehab or maintenance on older buildings. Whoever manages housing in the community should know if your property might qualify for some program. Good luck!
Q. My wife and I are in the process of renovating our house in anticipation of listing it in the next five to 10 years. Our house is a 30-year-old two-story colonial in the country.
The second floor currently has four bedrooms and two full baths. We are considering moving a wall to eliminate one of the bedrooms and make two of them larger. Currently, the smallest bedroom is 9-by-12 feet. Do you think turning our house from a four-bedroom to a three-bedroom would have any effect on its value when we go to sell it?
A. First off, if you're going to be there for 10 years, I'd say just go ahead and do whatever you enjoy with the house.
Beyond that, even if you don't intend to sell in the next few years, you'll find that real estate brokers are usually happy to give free advice. I don't know buyers' preferences in your market, but local agents do. It's perfectly acceptable to call them up - might as well ask for the managing broker while you're at it. Tell him or her that you're thinking about remodeling with an eye to eventually sell and would like an opinion.
Q. We are planning to sell a home in the Ithaca, New York, market. Could you tell me the average time to complete a sale, and the average broker commission in that market? Or could you give me a resource to get information?
A. It won't cost anything - or obligate you - to call three local brokers and ask them to come over. They'll have recommendations on asking price and marketing suggestions. I suspect you'll find their commission rates are about the same.
They can give you information about average days on market, or DOM, and they'll know about how long it usually takes till closing. You may want to look at the Ithaca Association of Realtors website.
• Contact Edith Lank on www.askedith.com, or 240 Hemingway Drive, Rochester NY 14620.
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