Most buyers walk into a private-road community assuming VA and FHA financing will be the harder path. More paperwork, more government oversight, more hoops. At Crossings on the Potomac, that assumption is backward. A policy change from late 2022 flipped the script, and the loan type most buyers actually use in this price range is now the one more likely to slow things down.
Crossings on the Potomac is a gated riverfront community in Hedgesville, West Virginia, built around private asphalt streets, a member-run marina, and a boat ramp that gives residents access to eight miles of navigable water on the Potomac. None of that infrastructure belongs to Berkeley County. The roads, the gate, the docks all sit inside the property owners association, governed by a recorded set of Declarations and a Reserve Study that spells out how those shared assets get maintained over time. That structure is exactly what makes financing here a little different from buying on a county-maintained street ten minutes away.
What "Private Road" Actually Means Inside the Gate
The community's own governing documents describe the Declarations of Reservations and Restrictive Covenants as the rulebook for property rights and maintenance responsibilities across both privately owned lots and common areas, while a separate Reserve Study accounts for the roads, marina, docks, and gates as shared components requiring future repair funding. That's not boilerplate. It's the paper trail a lender's underwriter will eventually ask to see, because the roads you drive in on are not publicly maintained and never will be.
For decades, that fact triggered a specific worry for anyone using government-backed financing: would every homeowner on the private road need to sign a joint maintenance agreement before the loan could close.
The Rule Change Most Buyers Haven't Caught Up To
In November 2022, the VA issued Circular 26-22-17, eliminating that requirement. The circular states plainly that an ongoing maintenance agreement from a homeowners association or a joint maintenance agreement from the owners of properties accessed by a private road is no longer required. In its place, VA lenders now need a recorded permanent easement or right-of-way showing continuous access from the property to a public road. The private road agreement that used to be a common source of closing delays became optional overnight, with a waiver available if one doesn't exist.
FHA never required a maintenance agreement in the first place, leaning instead on evidence of a recorded easement. USDA loans follow the same pattern, which matters for buyers eyeing land purchases inside the community, since USDA financing is often marketed toward exactly that kind of rural, larger-lot property.
Conventional financing tells a different story. Fannie Mae guidelines typically call for a legally enforceable agreement or covenant for maintenance of the street unless state law already assigns that responsibility. Freddie Mac skips the maintenance agreement requirement but still wants a permanent easement and confirmation that the road is kept to community standards.
Where the Real Friction Sits Now
| Loan Type | Maintenance Agreement Required | What Satisfies It |
|---|---|---|
| VA | No (as of Nov. 2022) | Recorded permanent easement or right-of-way |
| FHA | No | Recorded easement for access |
| USDA | No | Recorded easement, emphasis on rural access |
| Fannie Mae (conventional) | Typically yes | Legally enforceable street maintenance agreement or covenant |
| Freddie Mac (conventional) | No | Permanent easement, road maintained to community standards |
Read that table the way an underwriter would read it. The two loan programs most associated with strict, red-tape-heavy underwriting are now the ones asking for the least documentation on this specific issue. The loan type most people think of as the flexible, private-sector option is the one still asking for a signed agreement.
Why This Lands Differently at Crossings Than in a Typical Subdivision
Recent activity inside the community puts the price band in context. A home on Chesapeake Lane sold for $749,999 in March 2025. A more recent listing on a comparable four-bedroom home sat pending near $824,900, and an active 5.5-acre riverfront lot listed at $550,000. That's a market where buyers are far more likely to be financing conventionally, or with jumbo terms layered on top of a conventional structure, than they are to be using a VA or FHA loan designed around lower loan limits.
That's the part of the story most buyers miss. The very loan type that dominates purchases in this price range at Crossings on the Potomac is the one still carrying the maintenance agreement expectation. A buyer assuming their conventional pre-approval is the smooth path may be the one who gets a call from their lender days before closing asking for a document the seller has never had to produce before.
There's a reasonable path through it, though. Because the community's Declarations are already recorded and already establish how road, gate, and marina maintenance gets funded through the association's Reserve Study, that existing paperwork may be enough to satisfy Fannie Mae's requirement without anyone drafting something new. It depends on how the specific language in the recorded Declarations lines up with what your particular lender's underwriting guidelines expect, which is exactly why this needs to surface before you're under contract, not during your loan's final underwriting review.
What to Ask Before You Write an Offer
- Ask your loan officer directly whether your loan program requires a private road maintenance agreement or only a recorded easement, and get the answer in writing.
- Ask your title company to confirm a recorded easement exists in the chain of title from the property to the public road.
- Ask the property owners association whether the recorded Declarations and Reserve Study have previously satisfied a Fannie Mae underwriter for a past sale in the community.
- If you're paying cash, none of this applies to your financing, though your title company will still want to confirm recorded access as part of clean title.
The Same Diligence Applies Underground
Private roads aren't the only piece of infrastructure buyers here need to ask about before assuming anything. West Virginia's property condition disclosure requirements ask sellers to note known well and septic conditions where applicable, alongside structural issues, environmental hazards, and moisture history. On the larger wooded lots that make up much of this community, several of them well over five acres with direct river frontage, private well and septic systems are the norm rather than the exception in this part of Berkeley County. West Virginia's septic permitting rules run through the state Department of Environmental Protection, and any system installed or modified in the state needs signoff from a certified installer working under those standards. A clean septic and well inspection ahead of listing removes one more variable from a transaction that already has more moving pieces than a typical subdivision sale.
FAQ
Does a marina slip convey with the home when I buy in Crossings on the Potomac? Slip use inside the community is structured as temporary rather than assigned property. The marina doesn't have enough slips for long-term docking, so buyers should ask the property owners association directly about current slip availability and any waitlist before assuming one comes with the house.
Do I need a private road agreement if I'm buying with cash? No. Lender-specific requirements like a private road maintenance agreement only apply when financing is involved. A cash purchase still benefits from title confirming recorded access, but it skips the underwriting step entirely.
What if my lender tells me I need a signed maintenance agreement anyway? Ask which investor guideline they're citing. If you're financing conventionally through Fannie Mae, that requirement is real, but the community's existing recorded Declarations and Reserve Study may already meet the bar. It's worth a direct conversation between your lender and the association before assuming a new document has to be drafted from scratch.
Buying on a private road inside a gated river community isn't more complicated than buying anywhere else in Berkeley County. It's differently complicated, and the difference shows up in loan paperwork most buyers never think to ask about until it's already slowing down their closing. If you're weighing a purchase in Crossings on the Potomac, or trying to figure out what your financing options actually look like once the road, the gate, and the marina enter the picture, The Trish Mills Team can walk through it with you before you write an offer, not after.
