How Patricia Sold Her Macon House When Part of It Sat on the Neighbor's Land

Patricia called us about her house on the rural side of Macon. It was a lot of house for one person: a two-bedroom, three-bath home with an in-ground pool, a detached garage, a pole barn, a wood-burning stove, solar panels and a backup generator, all on a big piece of land. She lived there alone, and keeping up with the yard and the upkeep had become more than she wanted to handle on her own.

She was ready for her next chapter. She wanted to travel, and she wanted to sell without paying fees, without making repairs first and without months of showings. She told us she was hoping for a company that could close in about 45 to 60 days, not months and months.

Why a rural house with property line issues is hard to sell in Macon

Country properties around Macon often grew one piece at a time: a barn here, a pool there, a carport added later. Lines on older rural tracts were not always drawn carefully, and county plat records can be thin or out of date. When a buyer's lender orders a title search and a survey, any building that sits over the line becomes a problem that has to be fixed before anyone can close. Most traditional buyers do not want to take that on, and a listing can sit for months while everyone waits to see who will deal with it.

The problems standing in the way

This house had two big ones. First, part of the home, the pool and a barn actually sat on land that belonged to the neighbor next door. The neighbor was willing to sign that land over to Patricia, but nobody knew exactly where the new line should go, and nothing could close until a survey was done and the paperwork was ready.

Second, the solar panels were still being paid off. There was a loan balance on the system, and the panels and the generator were staying with the house. That balance had to be cleared at closing.

Then, once the surveyor started working, he found the county's plat records were in worse shape than he expected. He had to check with the county's planning and zoning office on setback distances before he could finish the survey.

How we solved each problem

• We made Patricia an offer on the house exactly as it was. No repairs, no projects, and she could leave the appliances behind.
• We ordered the survey and covered the cost upfront, so it would not hold anything up.
• Michael on our team worked directly with the neighbor. They traded marked-up aerial photos by email until both sides agreed on the exact section of land, and then Michael sent it to the surveyor.
• Michael stayed on the surveyor through the county records and setback questions, and got the finished survey to our closing attorney.
• Our closing attorney drafted a new legal description and a boundary line agreement, and our team coordinated the neighbor's signature in front of a witness and a notary before closing.
• We worked through the solar balance with Patricia and took less on our end so the numbers still worked for her. The solar loan was paid off in full at closing.

When Patricia signed, she asked for more time than she first had in mind, and we gave it to her. Even with a survey, a boundary agreement and a solar payoff to sort out, we closed in under eight weeks from the day she signed. She never had to manage a surveyor, an attorney or a buyer herself.

Patricia, thank you for trusting us with your home. There were a lot of moving pieces on one property, and you stuck with it through the survey and all the paperwork. We hope the travels are everything you were hoping for.

Own a house with property line or survey problems in Macon?

If a barn, a fence, a pool or part of your house sits over a property line, or there is a loan tied to something on the house like solar panels, you can still sell it. We buy houses in Macon and across Georgia as-is, and our closing attorney handles the survey and boundary paperwork with us.

See how our process works, read what other Georgia homeowners say about us, or check our frequently asked questions. Then tell us about your house and we will give you an honest number, with no pressure either way.