Buyer Beware!
How do you know who to buy land from? I’ve heard stories of landowners who are “landlocked” and cannot access their land. This is why you MUST have “easements.” Easements are the right to the use of another’s land for a special purpose according to Wikipedia. In order for a parcel of land to be of interest and have any worth to a developer or consolidator in the future it should have these things in a 3 mile radius:
- be flat and developable
- have abundant water supply
- be in proximity to large population
- have accessibility by freeway
- have existing master plan for streets and highways
- have adequate utilities
- have existing and planned industries
- have an educational system
- have commercial and residential development
- have pro-business city government
If you would like to find land with ALL of these key indicators of growth and development with easements, contact me at 310.619.4826 or tkcabrajano@sbcglobal.net. You must be careful because many land companies will try to sell you land that is landlocked without telling you.
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About
I’m so grateful you are visiting my blog. I think you’ll find it intriguing and that it will be valuable to your financial future.
I grew up just outside of Dallas, Texas in a city called Arlington. My parents, Chris and Debbie Burch, as well as my sister, Shannon Cox, have always inspired me to be a positive light to those around me. I grew up as a dancer and enjoying school with particular interest in biology and mathematics. After going to undergraduate school at Southwest Texas State University, I was accepted into a Physical Therapy program in the Netherlands at Fontys Hogeschool Eindhoven where I met my husband, Anthony Abrajano. We married in 1999.
While working as a Pediatric Physical Therapist, I had two children, Cate and Charley. After 10 years in the field of PT while raising my small children and moving to California, I had a paradigm shift. While PT is rewarding and I adore children, I wanted to find a way to invest in my family’s future and feel secure about it. Everyone told me to invest the max in my 401K, and I did. Boy, was that the wrong choice! I lost so much money in my 401K in 2002 by listening to this mainstream advice. Fortunately, I made almost all of it back very slowly over the next couple of years.
Then preparation met opportunity. My friend, Yuko Rodriguez, told me about Southern California Land Banking. Land banking is investing in pre-developed land in the path of growth based on growth factors such as population growth, affordable housing and large diversified job base.
“All a man has to do to get rich in America is find out where people are going, get there first and buy land.” General Douglas McArthur
OK, well obviously that was long ago; and women can also tap into this form of investment. So I became a land banker. I have invested in three parcels of land at this point and plan on becoming an all American Land Baroness!
Surely, you have many questions which I plan to cover in my blog site. Please feel free to contact me at my personal e-mail address if you’re ready to invest or just would like to further explore land banking: tkcabrajano@sbcglobal.net
My Favorite Charities
I worked at Texas Scottish Rite as a pediatric Physical Therapist for 2 1/2 years, mainly on babies with foot demormities. This hospital provides whatever medical care necessary 100% free of charge to children with orthopedic and neurologically related deformities regardless of ability to pay. I would still be working there if I lived in Texas. If you are looking for a fabulous organization to donate to, please click on the crayon.
The Vick House Project is an opportunity to make a good ending to a sad story. For much of this past year, Americans have heard about the tragic tales of mistreatment and abuse to dogs for the purpose of dog fighting. Please click on "Tank" above to visit the Vick house Project.
An easement means much more than your right to use another’s land.
On any typical residential property, you have a Utility Easement typical running through your backyard. Generally this distance is around 3′-0″ but will vary depending on the local jurisdictions and their codes. It enables city officials to maintain access for gas lines, power lines, or telephone lines. This may not exist in the backyard at all if the property has all overhead lines that are not run underground like in new developments.
On the other side, a Street Easement is typically found in the front yard. In this easement, you will typically have water mains, fire hydrants, street lighting, and storm drain lines. Again, this is for local jurisdictions to access, maintain, and/or repair. Generally speaking, these can range from 5′-0″ to 15′-0″. But typically you’re not allowed to build on either of these easements. If you do, you need a permit to do so.
Side Easements are in similar nature. Southern California’s limited space allows for I believe 5′-0″ between houses. This is for locations of gas meters, water meters, and other such utility equipment. As well as building code clearances, and exiting access from the rear of the building in case of fire.
On a vacant parcel in the middle of other vacant parcels, easements are important. Side, Street, and Utility are important to know of when acquiring land. Sometimes they don’t exist yet, and during development, and planning stages with the local planning department, these can be applied for, required, permitted, and eventually located. Due to neighboring properties and their developments, city officials can change easements to meet all properties needs. Be aware of that. An easement is controlled by the city, not the property owner.
Think of it like a tree with many branches. The main trunk supplies the water, gas, sewage, telephone, and electric to it’s branches. You wouldn’t want a trunk running through your side yards. So they run them in the front or back yards and ‘branch’ to each parcel as needed.
An easement allows city officials to maintain their tree trunks of utility lines. As an architect, I’ve learned a few things working with civil engineers and city officials over the last few years. Easements can vary with each parcel, each jurisdiction, private vs. public, floating, and much more. But remember to discuss it with the city officials and engineers.
Good luck!
Thank you, Brian, for your detailed explanation of easements. One can see why they are so important.
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