Bought a house-found that the lot size is 3000 sq ft smaller than what the agent told us, what should we do?

Question

We are in the process of closing on a house (we get the keys tomorrow) and today, the land surveyor's map shows that half of our back yard is not really ours (it belongs to the county, even though there is a shed there installed by the previous owner). No one has told us before and our real estate agent must have known because the company sold a house next to ours a month ago. This is very surprising the way the trees are located in the backyard, one would never suspect that half of it is not ours. We feel as if the agent and her company cheated us out of this and the place should be cheaper since the backyard is now much smaller, what should we do?

Answer 1

seek a real estate attorney, is the property an easment, you may have rights cause of false information, do you have paperwork that states a larger lot size.

Answer 2

It most likely does not belong to the county, it is an easment.  That means it is yours to use, but you can't place anything permanet on it.  This is very common.

In any case, you can back out if you have not closed yet.  The agent is not really responsible for knowing all the little details.  That is why you do an appraisal, and inspection, and a survey.  Now you have the facts and can decide how to proceed.

Answer 3

Your realtor is not the seller of the house. Your agent may bear some responsibility if she didn't help you get correct info during the investigation period, but ultimately, the seller is responsible if they misstated the lot size.

Where did the info come from that she (and you) relied on to determine the lot size? Why did you not see the documents until just before closing escrow? During the investigation period, did you or your agent research anything about the house and property?

First step is to speak with the broker your agent works for, to figure out why no one knew the correct info, and what is the appropriate action to address your concern. What loss in value will result from this?  You will need to be realistic about that.

Answer 4

It "belongs" to the county or it is an "easement?"

Either way, look at the description the agent gave you. In the fine print is says sizes or "more or less" and it also says not the depend on the flyer for a proper description.