Conservation Easement

Joel Cassell · May 22, 2021

I am looking at farmland in Virginia. One place I am looking at has a conservation easement with a Virginia non profit/state entity that restricts use of the land. It is mainly pasture land and woods and is decently steep so crops would be difficult. It is 150 acres and cannot be subdivided, there are limits on dwellings (and square footage), limits to where you can build structures etc. I am wondering if any of you have had any experience with easements and how much it impacted land value? Trying to figure out if its worth an offer or to just walk away and find something else.

Steve in VA · May 22, 2021

I may be on the downstream side of this but I put my land in easement years ago. All pieces were negotiable. I'm glad I did it. You, however, as a buyer of land with an existing easement are in a different boat. I would suggest that you contact the holder of the easement to see what aspects could be renegotiated.

Joel Cassell · May 22, 2021

Thanks Steve, I will contact them (Virginia Outdoors Foundation) and at least ask, as well as the lawyer who drafted the agreement. The biggest limitation is that the best building lots are off limits.

Traditional Farmer · May 22, 2021

I'd get a lawyer that Didn't have anything to do with the original agreement if you really want a unbiased legal opinion.Personally when I see an easement on a piece of real estate I just keep on looking no need to hassle with it.It should be a whole lot cheaper also with the easement on it.

coonie minnie · May 22, 2021

I have land under easement as well. I'd encourage you to look at it if it is something you like. There are usually restrictions, but there are most places via zoning etc.

Steve in VA · May 22, 2021

All cases are different, but for me, i negotiated 2 additional homes with a cap on the total square footage. Good luck.

Vicinalvictor · May 22, 2021

It would be alright if easement is always granted to the property, if not, then the land could become landlocked at some point in time. I would contact a Real Estate attorney and get a qualified answer to your question.

miangus · May 22, 2021

Read the contract and law behind it, have a lawyer review. Easier to get into then out of, at least in Michigan.

504 · May 22, 2021

I would have to do a lot of research before I would buy land I can't build on where I want to.

Geo-TH,In · May 22, 2021

Where I live, you are told what you can build and what you can't built. I couldn't build a pole barn on an empty 3/4 acre lot because there wasn't a house on the property. I had to combine the 3/4 acre lot to the lot next to it that my house is on.
They call it area planning.
Never heard of conservation easement.

coonie minnie · May 22, 2021

A conservation easement is placed by an owner, and held by another party- sometimes government, sometimes a private entity. Usually it restricts building on the property, so no matter what the zoning or planning, it will always be farmland or open space. Essentially the landowner is making sure that future landowners don't mess up his piece of heaven.

the landowner would receive cash or a tax break for putting their land under easement.

valleview · May 22, 2021

The conservation easements with which i am familiar permanently restrict the property to the uses agreed to in the easement - usually agriculture or open spaces used for hiking for example. The owner received a payment for making these restrictions. He signed away the rights to develop, mine, log or disturb the property for himself and all subsequent owners unless specified in the easement. In theory, governments could not take the property by eminent domain to build a road or section 8 housing. Hard to say how the legal system would handle that. The price for the property should reflect these restrictions and it should should be considerably cheaper than similar property. Unfortunately, that lower price would also apply to you should you decide to sell. Contacting the easement holder and a lawyer is sound advice.

Jim in NC · May 22, 2021

Like Steve said research the easement in detail. It may be suitable for you. I know of a couple nearby that have worked well for the owners. The easement attorney may offer some advice, but you need someone to stand with you. We are considering doing the same thing with 2 family farms. We are fifth generation owners.

showcrop · May 22, 2021

2X what valley view said. I was involved once with the negotiation of a conservation easement that was put on 400 acres that was donated to the town. True there are restrictions but one of the most basic objectives was to encourage agriculture. Construction of buildings strictly for agricultural use is allowed on these parcels subject to review by the county board.

sandcastle1 · May 22, 2021

I would suggest talking to a lawyer and getting he/she involved if you are serious about this parcel. I had a farm in NY that we looked at doing a conversation easement on but it was to restrictive on what we could do with the land after the easement was going to be in place so we chose not to do it. Have a friend that bought a place with a conservation easement and he did not understand what he bought, had it logged with the intention of building a house on the property and ended up in court paying lots of fines and court costs.

Geo-TH,In · May 22, 2021

Thanks. I learned something new
Probably forget it by tomorrow.

fpappal · May 23, 2021

The government placed a conservation easement on my great grandfather's farm. Long story but basically land was sold to a farmer in the 70s, the new guy then walked away from it and did not pay his federal loans. Government then placed easement on land that says the land can never be used for anything ever again. I bought the property back from government few years ago just because it was my grandfather's and is adjacent to my property. Been trying to get the easement reversed ever since. Wrote letters to congressman and even the president. Nobody wants to help. What is most frustrating is that the Farm Service Agency is the one who placed the easement on the land. Makes zero sense.

Welding man · May 23, 2021

I am chairman of the planning commission in my county. We are very close to a law suit with the farmland protection board in our county over them trying to tie up all the good land in the county where it can't ever be developed. All we are asking for is the right for infastructure to pass through this land and that they grant an easement for water or sewer or broadband. They aren't budging and we aren't either. Conservation easements are zoning at it's worst without anything actually being zoned.The people on that board will tell you exactly what you can and can't do with that property as long as you own it. My opinion is run as fast as you can and find something else.

Vicinalvictor · May 23, 2021

The State put a Conservation Easement on my Grandparents farm years ago for a highway that was never built through the farm, since then I wanted to buy back some of the land, but it's been near impossible without spending a lot of money. Nobody helps is right....

Traditional Farmer · May 23, 2021

Also the owner of the easement can sell it to whoever they want including developers at a good profit a lot of times.

showcrop · May 23, 2021

(quoted from post at 09:53:58 05/23/21) Also the owner of the easement can sell it to whoever they want including developers at a good profit a lot of times.

TF Har Har Har!!

Traditional Farmer · May 23, 2021

What funny about it?If you don't know conservation easements can be sold you don't know about them.They own the easement no different from something like mineral or water rights.We have development rights in our county on land they can also be bought and sold.

Welding man · May 23, 2021

Traditional you must have a different easement than I am talking about. The ones that we are fighting is that piece of land can never be developed,ever. That is what the owner of the land sells to the Farmland Board. The right to never develop it. The only thing that can ever be done to it is farmed, but there is no stipulation in the easement that says it has to be farmed. They can take their fat check and let it grow up in brush forever and the timber can't even be cut off of it unless there was a forestry plan in place before it was sold. Parts of 4 little farms were sold to the Farmland Board last year in my county for a total of 1.5 million dollars and 3 of the 4 owners are retired. To me it's another total waste of taxpayers money.

jacks · May 23, 2021

In Virginia the organization (Land Trust, Nature Conservancy or other non profit) that originally acquired the conservation easement can sell it to another similar non profit. Some of the easement owners are more lenient about allowing a farmer to continue business as usual, others are more strict and will sue if they believe the farmer is violating the contract. A woman bought a farm near Warrenton Virginia which had a conservation easement. The woman continued farming operations similar to the previous owner. She started having farm themed birthday parties for children as an additional source of income. Her easement was sold, and the new easement owner challenged her right to have the birthday parties. The legal challenge was very expensive and stressful for the woman farm owner. I think she eventually prevailed in the legal system, but had to pay a lot of high priced attorneys to defend her right to have a simple type of farm related activity. Virginia is one of the less favorable states to own land under a conservation easement, because what will happen when the easement is sold is unpredictable and could make various types of land use and activity subject to a grey area legal challenge. I would walk away and look for land not under a conservation easement.

Dawg in Fl · May 29, 2021

As someone told me, I would be very hesitant to (voluntarily) place restrictions on my land. I don't have the foresight to know what is in the best interests of a family member who may own the land 100 or 200 hundred years from now.

Conservation Easement

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Similar threads