Update - hired an attorney who got the neighbor’s surveyor to talk to mine. It turns out that the surveys are virtually the same, just off by a few inches. The neighbor just refused to accept his surveyor’s conclusion and moved the marker himself. We discovered there is a small encroachment of the neighbor’s septic system on my property. Not sure if that is the motivation behind his behavior or not. There is a tentative agreement to have him and his daughters agree to my survey in exchange for an easement. Waiting on my surveyor to finalize the survey. The last time the surveyor was out there the neighbor had threatened to call the police on him. If the neighbor had just agreed to his own survey and not pushed the issue no one would probably ever have discovered the encroachment and I would have saved $5k! I hope to be able to get the property on the market soon but have missed the prime summer selling season.
Why agree to his encroachment on your property and why eat your expenses and loss of prime sales time? Make him move his Septic system or pay you for your land and expenses! He has been a complete jerk. And a liar. And a bully making threats.
nthing “get a land resource lawyer.” My brother does that work, and good counsel can make a big difference.
Yeah that’s the answer. Literally fight over crap. 
- The neighbor just refused to accept his surveyor’s conclusion and moved the marker himself. - No basis, no corroboration, just making it up as he goes. Sounds like a real flake.
That is an unforgivable ethical violation and I’d recommend you find another realtor.
Agree that the realtor is not on your side- just wants to try to make a sale. Pitch that realtor. As for the neighbor, he’s been a real poop-head through all this. Now its his time to be up to his head in his own…
“Why agree to his encroachment on your property and why eat your expenses and loss of prime sales time? Make him move his Septic system or pay you for your land and expenses! He has been a complete jerk.”
Neighbor does sound like a complete jerk, but engaging him in a battle over moving the septic is iffy (courts aren’t always predictable and can take years to render results) and more importantly increases the risk of winning a battle but losing a war.
OP doesn’t (or shouldn’t) care about a couple of feet of encroachment of something that’s buried anyway. OP wants to sell the property ASAP. Better to lose or grant an easement for those couple of feet and be able to sell than to get caught up in a costly, lengthy legal dispute which also ensures there is no way to sell property until it’s done. Not only that, but nutjobs like the neighbor also tend to be the types that get so crazy they can prevent sales even once a legal battle was won. OP isn’t going to be there most of the time, but neighbor lives right next door where he can and will be outside in Full Crazy mode 24/7. Think about how many prospective buyers will flee after an encounter in the yard while they’re viewing the for-sale property or how many times the for sale sign will go missing or whatever other weird pranks Crazy will play while OP is trying to sell…
No, OP is being smart to quickly and cheaply settle the small encroachment issue and then get the Hell out of Dodge.
Is moving survey markers even legal in your jurisdiction? I believe it’s illegal in some places.
Having an easement on your property can reduce the value to a buyer. Buyers tend not to like to buy properties that come with encumbrances. I don’t know how this might factor into your thinking but it’s something to consider.
Threatening to make him move the septic would be a fore’ into negotiating a simpler deal. Can you offer to sell him the small strip he has encroached on? There should be clear lot lines drawn after the sale of the small piece of land.
That small strip can be a make or break issue for the sale under some circumstances. If stripping off that tiny slice of land reduces the lot size below some minimum that is required for future improvements, buyers who are looking for a piece of RE that can be updated to their needs will pass the listing. My knowledge comes from our own issues, your mileage might vary, so consult a local land development lawyer if you feel that you need legal advice. The guy next door to us needed to have our easement as an easement so he count built a house of the size he wanted… had he sold this chunk of land, he would have been SOL.
Also make sure the additional strip wouldn’t give them sufficient frontage to create an additional building lot or conversely wouldn’t restrict any ability to do so on your land.
Offering to give or sell neighbor the piece of land where the encroachment exists is not an option. The minimum lot size has been increased and the lot would then be considered non conforming. A land swap that kept the lot sizes the same could have been an option and would have taken much longer and been much more expensive, assuming the town would approve it. I just want this done as quickly and cheaply as possible. I don’t think those who say to force the neighbor to move the system have any idea how much that would cost me in attorney fees. Realtor has advised that the impact of the easement on the sale price will be negligible.
He should pay attorneys fees. He did this.
We understand time and expense. But this jerk could also sabotage your attempts to sell the property, and as others have said a known dispute would need to be acknowledged. You need closure, and yes to hopefully cut your losses, but this guy has already illegally moved the marker and threatened people. What’s to say this will suddenly stop because you are trying to be nice?
How do you expect me to force him to pay my attorneys’ fees? I would have to pay my lawyer to sue him and hope that a court agreed he was being unreasonable so as to award me my fees. Then I would have a judgment I could likely not collect on, so I would just be out more money in attorneys’ fees. This agreement will give me leverage if he does anything in the future, including moving the markers my surveyor set and which he will be agreeing to. Moving the markers my surveyor set will be a misdemeanor.
If the easement is somewhere where you can’t build anyway, it’s probably fine. I once was able to get a variance for a small addition that extended an already existing non-conformity for my guy, (the house was built within the current setback line, but was legal when built.), because the neighbor had a ten foot sewer easement on his property which meant that we knew the neighbor would not be able to build within ten feet of the property line on his side. But that was a neighborhood where houses are very close together. A small encroachment on a big lot probably is no big deal - but I might want a second opinion from another real estate agent.
Crazy neighbors lingering outside when realtors and buyers show up to view the property…not good. Even worse is when they come into an Open House and complain about the changes, color, style, and tell stories about the ‘jerks’ who used to live there
I understand just wanting to be done with it and get the property sold, but… I also understand that bad behavior unpunished typically leads to more of it. While you and the neighbor might have an understanding today, one you’ll honor, the neighbor is a loon. Maybe because his septic can’t be relocated, maybe because he’s the kind of guy that just moves surveyors stakes.
Because I’m a firm believer in property rights, I’d hire a lawyer to write him a firm letter, one that instructed him to remove the septic from my property and not to further interfere in the sale of property. Realizing I was in it for principle and the long haul.
If I couldn’t stand the hassle and delay, I’d still send the letter and negotiate from there.
Is he still out front telling everyone who comes by that there is a ‘boundary dispute’ since the dispute was a figment of his imagination?
Move the stake to proper location.