So what’s our first step now that we own our own piece of land? Two things actually, 1) putting up a “Private Property, No Trespassing” sign, and 2) calling our State Farm agent.
Did you know that without a “no trespassing” sign you could actually lose your land to trespassers? I learned this in the real estate course that I took a few years back. If someone were to trespass and occupy your land for long enough, they could take your land through what’s known as “adverse possession”. Although all states are different, in Washington State a person would need to occupy the land for 10 years and then it would become theirs. Of course they need to meet some criteria and hire a lawyer but ultimately you could lose the land that you just purchased! We’re going to be starting the home building research/process right away, and the land will not sit vacant for the next 10 years, but it’s always good to be aware of the laws in your state and do what you can to prevent against anything happening. Also, if someone to trespass onto our property and not leave, in order for law enforcement to require them to leave, the sign needs to be posted near the entrance to the property. We’re planning on visiting/inspecting our land frequently to make sure that we don’t have any unwanted “guests” lingering around.
The second thing on my list was to call State Farm – where we have our home owner’s insurance. I wanted to see what we needed to do in case if someone were to trespass on our land and accidentally injure themselves. Do we need a separate insurance policy to cover the land? And the answer was an easy “no”. Our current homeowner’s liability policy covers the land, and additionally we have an umbrella policy whose coverage extends onto the land as well. This may not be the case for all home insurance policies, so be sure to check in with your agent to find out if land is or isn’t covered.
Coastal Hues 