Stories with Dead Ends

This is a hypothetical question.  Hypothetical because it was not the case with my client–but “could” have happened.As I pulled into the neighborhood–very nicely kept up with a homeowner’s association involved–I realized the house was on a cul-de-sac of sorts.  Now a cul-de-sac is just a fancy name for a dead-end street and people like them because of the greatly reduced traffic–and sometimes because of the sense of community that they sometimes create.  What had really happened is that this portion of the development had been finished–for 20 years or more–and the second phase of the project, that would have created another outlet for the street, had never been undertaken.

I suspect we will see lots of these scenarios as the current downturn continues, but more importantly we will start to see restarting these projects as the economy turns around.

So the question I have revolves around this concept of the dead-end street.  What if the buyer tells you that one of the reasons they are buying the place is because it is on the end of a dead-end street and you know that it is not going to “stay” a dead-end street?  This could be evidenced by the simple fence installed at the “beginning” of the rest of the street.  And it could be exacerbated by a legal notice near the fence stating what is coming.

Is there some responsibility of the agent or the inspector to bring this to the attention of the buyer?

In my case the buyer had already seen the fence and the sign posted next to it and the fact that I could not keep my big mouth shut was appreciated. They felt that even though the street would no longer be a “dead-end,” that it still would not create a “short-cut” to anywhere and therefore would not greatly increase traffic.

The fence and the sign were pretty obvious, but if there was a problem later on would it not be better to bring up the question now?

Would you say anything?  Would you want your inspector or your agent to say anything?  Should it be disclosed by the seller?