Q: Our son and daughter-in-law are buying a house. Grandpa is helping them financially. Grandpa says he doesn’t want them to buy any house that has easements. They are looking at subdivisions in Rochester Hills. Don’t all houses in subdivisions have some type of easement?

A: All subdivisions in Rochester Hills are going to have some type of easement on the property (unless there’s one hiding that I don’t know about). The definition of an easement is the right, privilege, or interest that one party has in the land of another. The most common easement on a property is a utility easement. This is usually in the back of a property, or it could also be in the front, down one side or both. This is where the electric company, gas company, telephone company or cable company would run their lines. There are also storm and sanitary sewer easements.

The utility company has the right to maintain and service its lines that run through your property. Normally, in these areas you would not want to plant any trees or shrubs that could interfere with the access, and you definitely would not want to put a structure such as a shed, swimming pool, patio or deck in an easement. It is always a good idea to check out the easements on a property if you are going to be putting a structure or pool on the property. (Always check the association by-laws and city building and zoning departments before constructing anything.)

Another type of easement is a landscape or common area easement that a subdivision can have on your property for the benefit of the whole subdivision. Outside of a subdivision (besides the normal utility easements), you could have an easement by necessity. That is the right of an owner to cross over another’s property for a special purpose. An example would be if your land surrounded your neighbor’s land, they would have an easement, more than likely in the form of a road or driveway to access their land.

And still another type of easement is for oil and gas pipelines, nonutility. (Perhaps these types of easements are what Grandpa is thinking about.)

There are many different types of easements, some that I have not mentioned, and you should always be sure as to what type of easements the property has and how they will affect the use of the property.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently announced major changes for mortgage financing on condos. Is your HOA and property management company ready to comply? These changes may leave some condos unable to get conventional mortgage financing if the association does not meet the new standards. There is a lot more to this than I can fit into this column (There are some exceptions to some of the guidelines). Hopefully, this will be a catalyst for you to discuss with your HOA board and property management company. Some of the new guidelines have already started this year, with more coming in August 2026 and January 2027.

Here are some highlights. 1) The limited review process is going away. Required docs will be the condo questionnaire, master deed, HOA meeting minutes for the last three months, current budget and balance sheet. 2) The minimum replacement reserve requirement is jumping from 10% to 15%. 3) Smaller condo projects with 10 units or fewer may be waiver eligible under certain conditions. 4) The investor concentration limit of 50% is being removed for established condo projects. 5) Insurance master policy deductibles up to $50,000 per unit will be allowed if the HOA master policy has a per-unit deductible. Buyers may need additional homeowners’ insurance coverage. 6) Roofs will no longer have to be insured on a replacement cost basis.

There will also be more scrutiny regarding pending special assessments, deferred maintenance issues and whether the project has critical repairs needed. Real estate agents will need to know if the condo project meets the new criteria before listing a condo for sale, to know if buyers will be able to get a mortgage. This initial information, in my opinion, as to whether or not the HOA meets the new criteria for mortgage financing, should be provided at no charge to the homeowners. Just a reminder that I am not an attorney or a mortgage underwriter and am only providing this information as a public service.

May’s market update for Macomb County and Oakland County’s housing market (house and condo sales) is as follows: In Macomb County, the average sales price was up by almost 7% and Oakland County’s was up by more than 2%. Macomb County’s on-market inventory was down by almost 4% and Oakland County’s was up by more than 3%. Macomb County’s average days on market was 28 days and Oakland County’s was 23 days. Closed sales in Macomb County were up by more than 3% and closed sales in Oakland County were up by less than 1%. (All comparisons are month to month, year to year.)

By the long-standing historical definition from the National Association of Realtors, which has been in existence since 1908, a buyer’s market is when there is a seven-month supply or more of inventory on the market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers is when there is a six-month supply of inventory. A seller’s market is when there is a five-month or less supply of inventory. Inventory has continued to stay low. In May, the state of Michigan’s inventory was at 2.6 months of supply. Macomb County’s inventory was at 2.2 months of supply, and Oakland County’s inventory was at 2.4 months of supply. By definition, it’s still not close to a buyer’s market.

Steve Meyers is a real estate agent/Realtor at Realty Executives Home Towne in Shelby Township. He can be contacted with questions at 586-997-5480 or emailed at Steve@MeyersRealtor.com. You can also visit his website at AnswersToRealEstateQuestions.com.