Riverview Shared-Driveway Homes: What to Ask the Title Company Before an Offer
Why is the title commitment the first document to request?
A shared driveway can be visible from the street, but the access rights are recorded in documents rather than in the paving. Before an offer relies on that route, a Riverview buyer can ask the title company for the title commitment and ask which easements, covenants, or exceptions relate to the driveway. The commitment is the practical starting point because a title search looks at recorded matters such as deeds, mortgages, easements, and covenants.
That does not make a buyer a title examiner. It gives the buyer a focused way to surface the right questions before the transaction calendar is crowded. The title professional can identify what appears in the commitment and which recorded documents are tied to the property. The buyer can then compare that list with the route actually used to reach the parking area or garage.
What should a buyer ask the title company about the access?
Keep the first questions specific. Ask whether the title commitment lists an easement, covenant, or other recorded right that supports use of the driveway. Ask for the recording reference or copy of any document the title professional identifies. Ask whether the commitment shows an exception or issue that calls for further review. Those questions seek documents and process guidance, not a personal interpretation of legal language.
Michigan’s Land Division Act includes an existing easement providing vehicular access that meets applicable standards as one way a parcel can be accessible. That statewide language does not decide whether a particular Riverview access is adequate. It does explain why the recorded right and the actual route both matter. If the documents do not clearly match what the buyer sees, the title professional or another qualified professional should review the property-specific record.
How should the driveway at the showing be compared with the record?
Walk or drive the route when the seller permits it, then write down what is actually being used. Note the entrance from the street, the path to the home, any garage approach, gates, narrow points, drainage, and places where vehicles may need to pass. The task is not to decide who owns the land from the curb. It is to identify the physical facts that the buyer wants the records and title professional to address.
A survey, if available, can add useful context because it may show lot lines and the route described in the materials. Ask the seller side for any survey or easement exhibit that is already available. Do not assume an aerial image, neighbor conversation, or listing description resolves the access question. A shared drive can be routine, but a buyer needs the documents and the observed layout to point in the same direction.
Where can Riverview buyers look for recorded documents?
Wayne County’s Register of Deeds provides search and copy options for recorded land documents. Its guidance describes searches using details such as an address, legal description, parcel number, or tax ID. The county system can help a buyer understand where recorded easements and related materials are kept when the title professional identifies a document that needs to be located.
The county search is not a substitute for the title process. A single document can be difficult to understand without the related legal description, later recordings, or a full title review. A better sequence is to ask the title professional for the relevant document name or recording reference, locate the copy through the county process if needed, and bring the specific record back to the professional handling the closing review.
When should the lender hear about a shared driveway?
Raise the driveway early with the lender as a property fact, not as a prediction about approval. Explain that the home uses shared access and ask what documents the loan file may need. Fannie Mae guidance for community-owned or privately maintained streets discusses recorded, legally enforceable maintenance terms involving repair shares, default remedies, and duration. That is lender guidance for covered loans, not a statement that every shared driveway has the same requirement.
The useful point is timing. If the loan program or appraisal review needs documentation, discovering that before an offer deadline or late appraisal step gives the buyer and lender more room to request it. The lender can explain requirements for the actual loan program. The title professional can explain the recorded materials. Keep those questions with the right professional rather than treating a general online answer as a closing decision.
What about maintenance and day-to-day use?
Maintenance is worth asking about, but it should not replace the title question. Ask the seller for any written agreement, invoices, or known information about paving, drainage, snow removal, or upcoming work. Those records can show whether there is a documented arrangement to review. They do not by themselves prove the recorded right to use the driveway or explain every title exception.
For day-to-day fit, compare the route with the vehicles, deliveries, visitors, and garage use the household expects. If the driveway has a visible condition concern, take that observation to the inspection discussion. An inspector can comment on visible condition within the inspection scope, but an inspection does not settle a recorded-access question. Keeping the physical, maintenance, and title questions separate makes the follow-up clearer.
What should be in the buyer’s document request list?
Use a short request list before the offer depends on a shared drive. Ask for the title commitment, the easement or covenant documents it identifies, and an available survey. Ask the seller side for any written driveway arrangement or relevant records. Ask the title company which exceptions relate to access. Ask the lender what the loan file needs. Then compare the answers with the route that was observed at the home.
This list is meant to reveal missing information, not to resolve it alone. A document may create a follow-up question for a title professional, surveyor, lender, inspector, or another qualified professional. The buyer can keep the transaction moving by identifying which question belongs where and by not waiting until the last days before closing to request the core records.
What is the practical next step before an offer?
Before making an offer on a Riverview shared-driveway home, write down the address, the observed route, and the documents already available. Send the access questions to the title company and the financing question to the lender. If the response identifies an easement, covenant, or title exception, ask for the specific record and compare it with the property. Do not rely on a vague assurance that the driveway has always been shared without getting the right process underway.
The Riverview real estate guide, the Michigan title-company guide, and the Downriver home-buying guide can help put the request into the larger purchase timeline. This article’s narrower job is to get the title and recorded-access questions surfaced before the driveway becomes a late transaction surprise.
Keep a simple written log of the request. Record the date the title company received the question, the commitment version supplied, the recording reference for any access document, and the lender contact who is reviewing the property file. If the buyer receives a survey or seller document later, add it to the same list and ask which professional should review it. That record does not answer an easement question, but it helps keep the request from being lost among inspections, appraisal, financing, and offer deadlines.
If the documents show an access route different from the driveway’s apparent use, pause and ask the appropriate qualified professional what additional review is needed for the transaction. The buyer does not need to solve that mismatch alone. The important step is to identify it while the offer and due-diligence timeline still leaves room for a property-specific answer.
Frequently asked questions
Should a buyer ask for a title commitment before making an offer on a shared-driveway home?
Ask the title company about the commitment and recorded access documents early enough to understand the process and any follow-up needed for the property. The exact timing depends on the transaction and professionals involved.
Does a visible shared driveway prove there is an easement?
No. The driveway's appearance does not replace the recorded documents. Ask the title professional which easements, covenants, or exceptions apply to the property.
Can a Wayne County record search replace title review?
No. Wayne County provides ways to search and obtain recorded documents, but the title professional handles the title review for the transaction and can identify which records matter.
Should the lender know about shared access?
Tell the lender early that the property uses shared access and ask what the loan file needs. The lender can explain the requirements of the specific loan program.
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