The term abutting comes from the verb “to abut” and the definition of abutting denotes more proximity than “adjacent”. Abutting is often used in real estate to discuss properties that don’t have between them any land or specific border to work as a limit. These properties are referred to as abutting properties. The term abutting is not only used when referring to two homes that share a boundary, but people can also use it in case of a home abutting a highway or industrial parks that are abutting a market. The meaning of abutting implies a shared boundary between a fence, a wall of a building, an outer wall of a home, or even a line drawn on the grass.
What is an abutting property?
An abutting building can be a home, townhouse, a high-rise condominium or an apartment complex. In architecture, the term abutting building refers to buildings with exterior walls that touch or are almost touching. They are regarded as abutting properties by building codes, and even when they have a seismic separation they are still regarded as abutting properties.
People make another comparison with the term “neighbor”. Still, while a neighbor can be the person living next door to you or the one from across the street, an abutter (the owner of the abutting property) can only be the one next door to you, but only if you share a common border between the two properties.
One of the requirements of abutting properties is that the expenses of specific projects to be split between the two. The neighbor from across the street, if the road is private or public domain, is not an abutter, but if the street is split between the two property owners, then the owners will split the costs of repairs. This right as well as other rights, regulations and guidelines are drafted in the Abutter’s rights and the owners of the abutting properties need to respect them.
Real Estate Tip:
Start abutting yourself to people who’ll get you where you want to be: a real estate deal! Find a local real estate agent now!
Popular Real Estate Terms
The meaning of a guarantee covers a legal and financially-binding agreement signed between three parties involved in real estate or financial transactions. In this document, typically ...
Person or business that obtains mortgages for others by finding suitable lenders. The mortgage broker sometimes deals with collections and disbursements. Typically the mortgage broker ...
Unexpected increase in the price of property not due to any effort on the owner's part. An example is when the appraised value of a house increases because of a population increase in the ...
Same as term closing: legal process of transferring a piece of real estate to a buyer. Typically it occurs in the office of the lender, attorney, or an escrow company. ...
If escrow is the legal “moment” where assets are held by a third party (an escrow agent) hired by both the buyer and the seller of goods like real estate and insurance until the ...
Time it takes to drive to an outlying area form a major urban area. The driving time radius can radically affect real estate values in outlying areas of major metropolitan regions. Unless ...
Also called trust deed. A document that conveys title to a neutral third party during the period in which the mortgage loan is outstanding as collateral for a debt. ...
The direction in which a community is growing. Directional growth is measured over time, and its path strongly influences current and future market values of those properties clearly in ...
An adversary hearing allows both parties to an issue to present their views. A public procedure performed by an administrative or legislative body to investigate certain matters and ...

Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.