An easement does not transfer your land. It transfers the right to use part of it, and that right has a value.
Under an easement you keep title to the strip. What changes is that someone else acquires the right to use it for a defined purpose, and your own use of it becomes limited.
Virginia condemnors acquire easements routinely, particularly utilities running transmission and distribution corridors. The compensation question is what the restriction costs you, both on the strip and across the rest of the parcel.
Rights that run with the land indefinitely.
ExploreTemporary easementsAccess for the duration of construction.
ExploreUtility easementsTransmission and distribution corridors.
ExploreValuing an easementNot the same exercise as valuing fee title.
ExploreEffect on the residueRestrictions reach beyond the strip itself.
ExploreAccess effectsWhere a corridor changes how you reach the property.
ExploreHow much of the parcel the corridor covers.
What the holder may do within it, now and later.
Permanent, or limited to construction.
What you may no longer build, plant or store there.
How the corridor changes the rest of the property.
Tell us what is happening and we will point you to the Virginia resources that fit your situation.
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