I posted this on the Aggieland board, but it was suggested I bring it over here:

I have some family members that got a notice in the mail about how the widening of Hwy 105 is going to affect their property. It essentially puts the highway right at their front door. TxDot is paying for the land, but not the house.

For anyone with experience, is it possible to get TxDoT to purchase the house along with the land through arbitration?

I think we all knew the widening would eventually happen, but having a major highway sitting that close to one's front door is unsettling. I would assume it decreases the value of the home as well.

I have a good friend in the Houston area that's an attorney who specializes in eminent domain, and someone I would recommend talking to. I'm happy to give you his name and cell phone and y'all can research him before deciding if you want to contact him.

send me an email (email removed)

Many years ago in the Victoria area a similar scenario came up. A friend had a machinist type shop(metal building) that would be pretty close to the road after the highway expansion. The state paid him for the building/land/utilities/etc and he built another one right behind it, adjoined with a breezeway. He kept the original one standing in the end and just used it to expand his business.

During the same project we had property down the road from this that they needed (didn't fight them since minimal acreage). They paid a little above market price, along with fences, entrance, trees($12-1500?) and improvements. IIRC I bought the good sized oak trees back for $1 and had them moved back near the house. Have no idea how they are to work with nowadays.

I would think it's easier for them to work with you than hold up the project and litigate. Also, it's not their money that is used to buy them out, but it could depend on how large and expensive a house you're talking about too.

I have served as a "Special Commissioner" several times on highway condemnation cases. When TEXDOT and the property owner cannot agree to a value for the land being taken (plus damages to the remainder), the Judge will appoint three commissioners to hear testimony and make a decision as to the fair amount that should be paid to the land owner.
If it gets this far, you need an appraiser who is willing to testify before the commissioners.
Good luck.

We just "think" we own our land….NOT.

Gunny456 said:

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We just "think" we own our land….NOT.

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We lease our property from the government.

Email sent.

We did this as an HOA on 6 tracks, 4000' of fencing, and helped guide 7 homeowners on HWY 205 and FM 548 in Rockwall County
Hire the meanest, nastiest effin eminent domain lawyer you can find and do what they say.
These guys all know each other so that is important. Frontside homework and due diligence are your friends. Patience and the willingness to make the state go through condemnations will win the day.

Vinson & Elkins downtown Houston. Not sure there is another local firm with more experience or firepower on the landowner side.

West or east of 6? West or east of 45?

I'm looking forward to the battles when TxDOT decides they need to fix the traffic cluster f they are currently creating in Manor on 290.

East. About two miles outside of Navasota and Hwy. 6.

Guessing it is the stretch from where the Aggie Expressway dumps out on 105, It is a traffic nightmare that will only get worse.

Yep. It's in that stretch.

Be aware on highway frontage.

The land closest to the highway is the most valuable, obviously, so TxDOT will pay more for it than they would something on the back of your property. However, the local appraisal district will often take what TxDOT just paid you for the frontage and apply that $/sq ft to the entire tract unless you fight it. Next thing you know you have a bigger tax bill.

Never done a TXDOT project & hope I never do.

However, I have seen this before with oil copanies/powerlines etc. If I'm hazzarding a guess here I'd say that the odds are in your favor if you play the long game. I think a reasonable judge, especially in that neck of the woods, is going to realize how damaged the property will be......hopefully.

Its going to be up to you/your family to determine how much/how long you want to fight it.

I used Patrick Reznick with Braun and Gresham for a Centerpoint easement across our place in Grimes County. Was very pleased. I played the waiting game and turned down everything they offered for first few rounds.

If I remember correctly you should get fair value for what they take plus diminution of value on what remains. Good luck.

The attorney I have used many times used to be with Vinson & Elkins, but he is now with McFarland Condemnation Attorney's. Billy Dyer. Highly recommend.

One might want to peruse TXDOT's guidance on Driveway Guidelines. If the new road effects the old driveway in a way that puts it outside of the guidance...

If it is on the inside of a curve, it may well cause sightline violations, and would need to be torn down.

Attorney up.

BlitzGD said:

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One might want to peruse TXDOT's guidance on Driveway Guidelines. If the new road effects the old driveway in a way that puts it outside of the guidance...

If it is on the inside of a curve, it may well cause sightline violations, and would need to be torn down.

Attorney up.

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Ditto on this. I know a business that had two driveway entrances that created a circle drive. It was critical for this business because many of their customers pulled trailers, and the circle drive meant they didn't have to turn around on the small lot (enter one drive and leave via the other drive). TxDOT widened the highway and told this business that the existing drives were too close to each other to meet current standards. One driveway would have to go away. The business owner had to fight to keep both driveways.

Deats99 said:

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We did this as an HOA on 6 tracks, 4000' of fencing, and helped guide 7 homeowners on HWY 205 and FM 548 in Rockwall County
Hire the meanest, nastiest effin eminent domain lawyer you can find and do what they say.
These guys all know each other so that is important. Frontside homework and due diligence are your friends. Patience and the willingness to make the state go through condemnations will win the day.

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You will also be giving up 30%-40% of the delta in the proceeds to an attorney for their services. Sometimes the last and final offer is a fair offer, and you should take it. Depending on the project, sometimes the condemnor is willing to play hardball just as much as the landowner, and those awards can tip heavily one way or the other. If it goes to the condemnor's side, then you're waiting on another step in the process, while your money sits in the registry of the court collecting some interest, you may have been better off taking the final offer to begin with, and there's no guarantee a jury will by sympathetic to you. Hiring the meanest, nastiest lawyer doesn't always work out, because as much as neither side wants to admit it, special commissioner's hearings and jury trials are risky.

Burdizzo said:

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Be aware on highway frontage.

The land closest to the highway is the most valuable, obviously, so TxDOT will pay more for it than they would something on the back of your property. However, the local appraisal district will often take what TxDOT just paid you for the frontage and apply that $/sq ft to the entire tract unless you fight it. Next thing you know you have a bigger tax bill.

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Not necessarily true, especially in the context of a highway getting closer to a house. If there are damages to the remainder, especially the improvements, it will be to the house, and not necessarily the land. But this is entirely dependent on the highest and best use, because it's possible the house has nominal value. Also, if the property is small enough that it would stand on its own as a larger parcel, there's no difference in value between the front and the back. The measure will be what is the property worth immediately before the acquisition, and what is the property worth immediately after the acquisition. If there are damages, they would be reflected in the market comparables.

We sold frontage at work about 5 years ago.
As a note, this did not affect our building at all, as we put it far enough back knowing it would one day be widened.

We dealt with a 3rd party firm that made the offer for TXDOT that was a local guy and actually very upfront.
He told us to NOT accept the first offer, but to accept the 2nd, as after the 2nd it got much tougher and lawyers would have to be brought in. We checked with neighbors and I believe the 3rd party also revealed what the other property owners were getting. That may be wrong, but we got the information somehow.

We took the 2nd offer and ended up getting a call back from the guy before he brought out the check.
There was an additional 'sweeten the pot' pool of money that was never used and they actually paid us
over the final negotiated price another 10% or so, without us even asking. It was a nice surprise.

Most of our property was grassland with a wood fence, cheap metal gate, and sign. All which they paid to replace as well.

We went in thinking it would be a bad experience, but the 3rd party firm was actually very easy to deal with.

Or a more expensive one.

Ok, personal experience was that the lawyered up folks delta'd a lot better than the individuals

HTownAg98 said:

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Burdizzo said:

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Be aware on highway frontage.

The land closest to the highway is the most valuable, obviously, so TxDOT will pay more for it than they would something on the back of your property. However, the local appraisal district will often take what TxDOT just paid you for the frontage and apply that $/sq ft to the entire tract unless you fight it. Next thing you know you have a bigger tax bill.

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Not necessarily true, especially in the context of a highway getting closer to a house. If there are damages to the remainder, especially the improvements, it will be to the house, and not necessarily the land. But this is entirely dependent on the highest and best use, because it's possible the house has nominal value. Also, if the property is small enough that it would stand on its own as a larger parcel, there's no difference in value between the front and the back. The measure will be what is the property worth immediately before the acquisition, and what is the property worth immediately after the acquisition. If there are damages, they would be reflected in the market comparables.

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Three data points I just watched - IH 35 frontage in Travis County.

2023 CAD appraisal, all undeveloped parcels, adjacent to each other
Tract 1 - 4.7 acres ~ $750k
Tract 2 - 4.8 acres $1MM
Tract 3 - 3.9 acres $850k

TxDot bought strips along all of these parcels in 2023 to widen the freeway

2024 CAD appraisal
Tract 1 - $2.3 MM
Tract 2 -$3 MM
Tract 3 - $2.6 MM

Obviously not every case happens this way, but it happens