427 Silver Street Middleton NH Easement Conundrum

This is the private pond on the 90 acres at 427 Silver Street in Middleton, NH. The house is immediately behind me. Copyright 2023 Tim Carter

427 Silver Street Middleton NH - Masterclass in Easements

My wife and I recently made an offer on a 90-acre parcel of land located at 427 Silver Street in Middleton, NH.

It has a very large private 18-acre pond on it. But the parcel of land might also have a title defect.

An Easement to Adjoining 67 Acres

The man who owns the 90 acres also owns a 67-acre parcel immediately north of the 90 acres. The 67-acre parcel is identified as 55 Jordan because it appears Jordan Road to the north ends at the property line.

The red lines outline the two parcels. The top of the image is north. You can see the pond outlined in blue in the lower 90-acre parcel.

The listing realtor shared with us after we made an offer that there was an easement allowing someone to traverse the 90 acres to get to the 67 acres and vice versa.

Property Lines are Infinitely Small

If you remember anything from your high school math classes, you know that there are an infinite number of points on a line between two points. This means that the lines between two different parcels of land is thinner than a thread.

If you look at the above plot plan you can see the two parcels of land and they do adjoin but at the center of the X. To physically traverse from the southern 90 acres to the 67 acres to the north, you'd have to step foot on one or both of the parcels that are east and west of the center of the X.

When asked to show the language describing the actual easements, the listing realtor declined.

We knew then it was time to step away from this purchase.