You probably already know that selling your home can be a stressful process, especially if you are under a time crunch to get it done. But, have you ever heard of someone being stressed out when their neighbor sells their home? A homeowner going through exactly that reached out to Reddit recently to ask for advice on how to deal with an issue that came up while the couple who lives behind him was selling their home.
According to user LifeUnderThePalmz, the problem started when his neighbor informed him that his shed was actually three feet over the property line, and partially sitting in their yard. The people who were interested in buying the property refused to close until the OP moved the shed, so the neighbor approached him about the encroachment. Only, the OP claims that moving the shed would be too much of a physical and financial hardship, especially because they had a new toddler at home.
So, the OP turned to Reddit for advice, which people were happy to give. However, unlike most stories like this, the OP actually came back and gave an update after everything went down, sharing exactly how the shed-uation was handled.
The good news is that it sounds like everyone walked away happy, even if they had to learn a few hard lessons along the way.
My shed encroaches on my neighbor’s property by 3 feet. Now he’s selling and the buyers are upset.
by
u/LifeUnderThePalmz in
homeowners
The Homeowner Says a New Survey Showed the Shed Was Over the Property Line
According to the OP, the issues started during the pre-closing survey, which is when the new buyers realized the shed was on their property. They told the neighbor that they wouldn’t close with the shed where it was, and asked him to take care of it.
“The shed can’t be moved forward off the property line because there are three large trees in front of it which are protected in the state of Florida,” the OP wrote. “So removal of those in a cost effective manner is going to be impossible.”
The other issue was the fact that the OP needs the shed for storage, since he doesn’t have room in his 1,000-square-foot home to keep anything extra.
“Here’s the kicker, neither one of us knew (or were informed) when we bought our houses (I bought in 2020, he bought in 2022) that the shed was over the property line,” he continued, adding that they both had surveys done when they bought their homes, but nobody had informed them of the issue.
The OP closed the original post by asking if it was unreasonable to ask for financial help so that the sale could go through.
Redditors Offered Some Sobering Advice
While the comments were full of actionable suggestions, like telling the OP to talk to a lawyer, or even telling him to approach the new buyers to ask if he could simply pay them for the portion of land the shed was on, another person shared that the issue may be bigger than three feet.
“I hate to share more bad news, but you probably aren’t talking three feet,” they wrote. “Check your town ordinances, but in most places there’s a setback of at least five feet from the property line.”
My shed encroaches on my neighbor’s property by 3 feet. Now he’s selling and the buyers are upset. *UPDATE*
by
u/LifeUnderThePalmz in
homeowners
The Update Had a Happy Ending
In the meantime, the OP will need to store his stuff in his house, an outcome he’s not thrilled about. “I’m not happy about the situation, but it’s as much of a compromise as I could ask for,” he wrote. “I’ll be loading my house up with what belongings I have in there temporarily, which is super inconvenient considering how small my house actually is.”
While it seems like this situation literally worked out as well as it could’ve, it highlights just how important a role property surveys play in giving you peace of mind when you purchase a new home. Hopefully, next time the OP and his neighbor sit down with an expert to go over what the survey says once it’s completed, so they don’t have to worry about something like this ever happening again.