Rental Property Investor · St George, SC · Member since 2008 · 4 posts · 1 vote
I have a property in Charles County, MD that I just started rehabbing. I was contacted by an architect and engineering firm a few years back about their desire to do a geotechnical survey related to a potential gas pipeline across a 500-foot length of the edge of the property that would be within 75 foot of a single family 4 bed/4 bath home. I had not heard anything in a while so I thought they decided to do something different but I got an email indicating they are scheduled to come out within the next week to actually do the survey.
Does anyone know how having an 18-inch high-pressure gas pipeline across your property affects property values and if it affects the ability to have certain loans, FHA, VA, HUD, conventional loans underwritten? At this point, I am not sure if I should put cash into it and sell it as quickly as possible or wait and see what they offer for an easement in the next few months before determining how much to put into it.
There will need to be a utility easement where this pipe runs I believe. I have one in my neighborhood and the developer put a walking trail over it. Most people don't realize there are utilities there. I know houses are within 75 of this. I would guess most backyards are in the 40 ft deep range. I would have a talk with the engineer to see where they are planning on running this line as it may be a non-issue. Ultimately it will depend on site layout of the pipe and house location and what else is around it. As for the loan info I have no info on this that I can share.
There will need to be a utility easement where this pipe runs I believe. I have one in my neighborhood and the developer put a walking trail over it. Most people don't realize there are utilities there. I know houses are within 75 of this. I would guess most backyards are in the 40 ft deep range. I would have a talk with the engineer to see where they are planning on running this line as it may be a non-issue. Ultimately it will depend on site layout of the pipe and house location and what else is around it. As for the loan info I have no info on this that I can share.
Rental Property Investor · St George, SC · Member since 2008 · 4 posts · 1 vote
7y
@Jim Adrian Makes sense; Your response is much appreciated.
The proposed pipeline would run from the front of the property to the back and would have a 30 foot wide easement for the length along the edge of the property line. Other than having an easement covering about 1/3 an acre and loosing about 50 trees which I planned on thinning out anyway I don't expect there would be significant degradation on the usage or value of the property. They indicated their offer for the easement would cover the easement and the value of trees they needed to remove.
Walnut Creek, CA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
You can typically push back a bit on these, IF you can support your numbers. Not that it's really that important if you don't think it'll have negative impact but if you found out it did they'd probably be willing to listen and settle quickly to move fwd.
China, ME · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
@Larry P. It's certainly not going to help. Whether any particular buyer cares is impossible to predict.
If it were in eastern MA at this point in time (late 2018 for future readers), it would be a big issue.
We just had 3 towns that had massive fires and one death as a result of a gas line getting over-pressured. That's going to make homes with gas service a lot less attractive for a while.
I would do some digging to find out whether an FHA/VA/USDA appraisal will fail because of the pipeline.
Much to the surprise of everybody involved, I recently had a home fail an FHA appraisal because it was within 300 feet of a gas station. It's possible that a high pressure gas line would trigger the same kind of failure.
Severna Park, MD · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
7y
The easement may be worth more than the property itself . Its up to you to negotiate the easement or even sell them the entire property . If your property is the only way to route the pipe you have a lot of power negotiating .
Check if your county has the power of eminent domain . ( I think only the state of Maryland does but I may be wrong )
Rental Property Investor · St George, SC · Member since 2008 · 4 posts · 1 vote
7y
I can't find any mention in the current version yet but an older version (2014) of the FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook IV. Appraiser and Property Requirements for Title II Forward and Reverse Mortgages B. Property Acceptability Criteria lists the following;
iv. Proximity to High Pressure Gas Lines A dwelling or related property improvement near high-pressure gas, liquid petroleum pipelines or other volatile and explosive products, both aboveground and subsurface, must be located more than 10 feet from the nearest boundary of the pipeline easement. (I would have about 30 foot between house and the edge of the easement.)
vii. Stationary Storage Tanks If the subject property line is located within 300 feet of an above ground or subsurface stationary storage tank with a capacity of 1,000 gallons or more of flammable or explosive material, the site is ineligible for FHA insurance. This includes domestic and commercial uses as well as automotive service station tanks. (N/A in my case but is good to know.)
It appears that Federal, State and Local governents have eminent domain authority.