If the title is not marketable, the property value will be severely impacted. a "marketable" title is defined as follows (referenced publication written/provided by three lawyers practicing in Birmingham, AL, during a one-day continuing education course for attorneys and other interested parties):
Marketable title, sometimes referred to as a merchantable title, means that the seller must convey a good title, free from liens, encumbrances or defects in title other than those set out in the contract of sale.
The purchaser has the right to demand a title free and clear from all mortgages, judgment liens, easements, mechanic's and materialmen's liens and all other liens, unless the contract of sale otherwise provides. This does not mean that the seller may deduct the amount of such liens from the purchase price. Nicolopoulus v. Hill, 117 So. 185. A purchaser may refuse to accept the title if it is not cleared of such liens.
Easements or licenses coupled with grants render the title unmarketable unless the contract specifies otherwise. There are decisions which hold that the title is not unmarketable where there are visible and beneficial easements such as where an electric utility company has an easement over the back ten feet of a lot for electric power service. Schottland v. Lucas, 396 So. 2d 72; 57 ALR 1426.1
1James A. Bradford, Douglas P. Corretti, and William V. Dillard, Title Law in Alabama (Eau Claire, WI: National Business Institute, Inc., 12N2805, 1996), p. 3.