My Driveway on Their Property

[Frankenwendy]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: Georgia

Because our neighbor was wanting to build a carport close to our property line, my husband suggested he have a survey done to be sure where he put it would not infringe on our property, as to avoid possible issues with future home-owners. After the survey was done yesterday, we all discovered that a corner of our driveway (probably about 20 sq ft) is on his property, and a portion of land towards the back of our properties that he was mowing and thought was his is actually ours. The angle of the property line was off. Fortunately because we get along with our neighbors, this is not an issue for any of us right now, but we agree that something should be done in case any of us put our house up for sale, and the buyers require a survey.

It was suggested that we have the property line re-routed to where we actually thought it was, and because we have some of his and he has some of ours, we would call it a wash in terms of "buying" any property. How do we go about this (quit deed?) Do we have to involve a lawyer? How much is this going to cost? Are there any other possible solutions that would be better? Is our builder responsible for any of this (we are the original owners of our home and purchased it new in 2002, but because it was new we did not have a survey done) ? Thanks for any info...

[Mr. Knowitall]

You may not be able to change the property line. Another alternative might be for him to grant you an easement for your driveway, and for you to grant him an easement for the portion of land he mows. I suggest that you consult a local real estate lawyer to figure out what's possible and what's best for your circumstances. If you want to know how much a local lawyer will charge for whatever work turns out to be needed, you need to figure out exactly what's involved and then call some lawyers and ask.

[LandSurveyor]

If you are in a platted subdivision in a city you may need to follow the course recommended by Mr. K.

Otherwise, adjoining land owners in most states have an almost unlimited right to agree upon and resolve their common boundaries by agreement, which requires the services of a land surveyor to verify and correct the true line for recording.