[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Garywt

We are thinking of buying a new Villa for a number of reasons but mostly health and they now have the walk in showers. My question about the Villas is, if I can make sense, is the fence door and walkway from your driveway seems to lead to your neighbors side and back yards. Is this correct. This would mean your neighbor would be cutting through your property and I would have to go up my other neighbors driveway to get to the walkway and gate. This just does not seem right but I wanted to check on it. Thanks

You are correct, normally your one neighbor will enter their back yard through the side where your driveway is and you will do likewise on the other side with the other neighbors. This is due to the narrow distance between the homes (10-15 ft normally) and limited property on each side. Most villas only have beneficial use of the property on one side of the home and easement access on the other for maintenance purposes. In fact because of the typical curved driveway configuration about a third of the driveway you think is yours is actually on your neighbor’s propertty.

You are responsible for the maintenance of the side yard (but not the actual house itself) that belongs to your neighbor that you have beneficial use of. All of this is clearly explained in the closing paperwork at the time of purchase.

It’s an unusual situation but generally not a problem as everyone is aware of the conditions. It really helps to know and like your neighbors in the villa communities. Yes there have been and are still situations between neighbors that the access issues are a problem, when push comes to shove, normally the less cordial neighbor is in the wrong based on the agreement signed at closing.

In all, it’s a minor issue for most and far outweighed by the added privacy of the courtyard villas.