I'd be hesitant to share a well with someone. Is there a reason you can't drill your own?

I think the agreement just needs to be very specific. Who will handle repairs? Will there be a "fund" to put into to take care of repairs? You need to find someone who has knowledge about shared wells. Is there a well drilling business nearby you could bounce questions off of? Is there a real estate agent you could talk to that has experience with this kind of property? Lots to think about!
Good Luck!

The $15,000 or more required to drill our own well would probably make it prohibitive for us to purchase the property. I did find some sample well agreements online. Each party pays monthly for electric and into a "slush fund" for repairs and servicing. And, yes,---we do have a well company we can talk to. We'll call them today. Both realtors are the two that I would first go to with these questions because both have a specialty in acquiring/selling rural properties for folks to build on so we'll pick their brains a bit more but will need to get a third opinion from a realton who does not stand to profit from this sale. Great ideas! Thank you!

In addition to the ideas posted above... Since the property used to be a nursery, I'd want to have the well water tested for contaminants like pesticides (actually I'd want to do that regardless of what the property used to be) and the well examined by a pro to see what kind of shape it's in, how long it's likely to last, and what kind of capacity it has. (Can it supply 3 homes and water 3 lawns during a dry spell? What if your neighbor puts in a swimming pool?) I might even knock on the door of the guy with the "problems" sign to find out what that's all about. I know that's a different well, but it might be worth finding out what the issues are.

Why does it cost $15,000 to drill your well? We are having 4 wells drilled for geothermal and one for regular water. Combined, to drill all 4 wells is estimated at around $16,000.

My husband's parents had a shared well, and it was a nightmare. All maintenance and repairs, ended up being the responsibility of hubbys parents, because, the neighbors didnt stand up to their end of the contract. Since they lived close to the city and city water eventually went past their house, they finally were able to hook into it, and they turned the entire well over to their next door neighbor. I also agree with the person above, that said, since the land was a nursery before, I would want both the well, and the soil checked out for contaminants.

That was my concern. What if the others 'sharing' the well, decide not to repair it? You know, the old 'the responsible person gets stuck doing all the work' idea. Are you prepared to take on ALL the costs, associated with the well? Yes, there can be legal agreements, etc. but bottom line, those take lawyers and time...which you may not have, if there are problems with your well.

Unless it's the only property available, I would keep looking! Other questions...is there a septic system, or county/city sewer? What is you perc (how fast does the water drain into the ground)? How deep is the well? Will new construction (five lots, so two other buyers) and possibly new wells....drill deeper and undermine your well?

Maybe look for some more established rural property (not new areas being develeoped) with an older house and some existing outbuildings. You can always replace the house, but at least you'd have existing well and septic. Make sure they're in good shape, have the soil tested, etc. New developments are often on nursery and farmland that may have high levels of pesticides. So, be sure to do your homework. Best of luck with the land purchase :)

I agree with beagles that the 15K seems high to drill a well. And, if you are the only responsible one, and there are problems, you'll end up spending that over the years anyway. Maybe negotiate that in with the sale...I don't know where you are, but there are no land sales happening in our area (northern virginia) and sellers are definitely negotiating on that end. The cost for well/septic impacts the value of the land. Also, can you put in conventional or alternative septic? There's a cost difference there as well that should be checked out in addition to the well cost.

I know here that the price of the well depends a lot on how deep they have to drill.

My parents well was over 9K to drill and I believe between 300 - 400 foot down.

Also, if they are over 100', it changes how they drill it and what type of pump they have to use. You will also need to figure in getting electricity to the well.

I am a realtor, and I will tell you it makes your property worth less to have a shared well. One very important item to consider is if you want to build on this land what the lender requirements will be. What is the production of the well? A lot of lenders require a minimum of 5GPM. If the well is 15GPM and shared by 4 homes, you will not qualify for a construction loan. Also, I have seen a lot of well agreements that state you cannot transfer the use of the water to a new owner. Makes it hard to sell your property!! Also, what happens if the well goes dry? OR what if another owner drills a well and hits the same water table, pulling from this shared well, making it so there is not enough water for all of the other owners? Drill your own well. Water is a priority. Cost here is about $26/foot cased.

the 10 acres we are building on will have a shared well eventually...IF my parents end up building. They owned 80 acres originally, drilled the well, but gifted 10 acres to us. We have a shared well agreement drawn up by an attorney. It doesn't bother me knowing we will someday share a well with them, however we intend to have a back up plan. We mostly likely will have a stipulation that we will be given first option to buy the remaining 70 acres or something along that lines. The last house we owned (which we successfully sold ourselves) also had a shared well. It was a non-issue in our case, but I guess I could see where problems could arise with older wells.

In regards to the cost of wells....In our area, drilling a well averages at least $10,000-$15,000. My dad put in some sort of 'turbo' well system...not sure exactly what that entails but I know it cost more than a conventional well. I believe it ended up costing close to $18,000.

Beagles-drilling geothermal wells for vertical loops in our area would have cost us $20,000! It averages around $2,000 per well, and we needed 10 wells. Because we have lots of open space and suitable soil, we were able to do horizontal loop fields.

"It doesn't bother me knowing we will someday share a well with them..."

Sharing with family is very different than strangers (at least as long as relations remain good).

Agreed brickeyee-Very different indeed. But even in a worst case scenario, our own well could be drilled, no?

As for the comments about a neighbors potential new well undermining the current..this scenario could happen with a private well too, if your acreage was small enough and someone built close and drilled their own well. I guess the only safe solution is building smack dab in the middle of your own 100 acres;)

Thank you so much everyone for your input. You've given us lots of food for thought. There are not a lot of small acreages available here and those that are for sale are generally overpriced and often out of reach. We did ask a well drilling company for a "ball park estimate" to drill our own well and were told $15,000-18,000 for a complete well. I have already begun looking into testing the soil and water for pesticides. If there is contamination of either, that will be the deal breaker for us and a well---shared or otherwise---will be a moot point. If everything checks out with the feasability study, we may consider a well agreement with the back up plan of coming up with the money down the road to drill our own well if we run into conflicts. There is a good sample well agreement online from HUD.

I am so grateful for your insights---hope we can be on our way one day to building one way or another so I can join you all as a "home builder" on this forum ! I'm sure I'll have lots of questions!

(A late point to add about shared wells): Easements. A good shared well arrangement has easements and access for all parties to the shared well and components. Also a good agreement says what happens if one of the parties breaches the agreement or has a leak,etc.. Naturally the property owner who has the well on their land couldn't be disconnected, so if they're the trouble maker, then you have a huge problem.. So it is also smart to ensure mutual ownership of the parcel of land where the well is located. Also making sure that same parcel is large enough for a future well to be drilled. The written agreement must name 2 managers, a main and a co-manager who do not reside at the same home. And it must say what happens if that manager or co-manager breaches their agreed duties.. So many details.. HUD has a copy of a good agreement online, but they really don't go into all of the variables of what can go wrong with a shared well arrangement. Check your State and County ordinances to ensure shared wells are even allowed, or if they are considered small water systems (that would make you have to follow health department regulations). Some States also require that shared wells have an outside manager hired to maintain the well system, and must report how much they pump. NM only allows 1 acre foot per year - per house. So if anyone goes over, the property owner gets fined.. My Sate, CA, has no water limits (yet). But considering the long drought; it's inevitable..