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The original was posted on /r/bestofredditorupdates by /u/Choice_Evidence1983 on 2026-08-12 04:00:07+00:00.

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I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/LifeUnderThePalmz

Originally posted to r/homeowners

My shed encroaches on my neighbor’s property by 3 feet. Now he’s selling and the buyers are upset.

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Original Post: August 4, 2026

My behind neighbor called me yesterday and informed me that they finally have a closing date for their house, they’ve been trying to sell for a long time now, and live out of state. I congratulated him and we exchanged pleasantries, then he hit me with it… apparently my long standing storage shed (built on-site, not a prefab, built in the early 2010s) encroaches on their property by 3 feet, and the new buyers won’t close unless the shed is moved off the property line or dismantled/destroyed. They got a survey done and it showed the encroachment. 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. So removal of those in a cost effective manner is going to be impossible.

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. Our houses are close together (suburb-type neighborhood), and there are a lot of trees around us with no clear property line markers. Both my neighbors and I got surveys done when our houses were purchased, and neither one of us were informed that the shed was over any property line. But it is, according to every survey done. The worst part is that they’re supposed to close in a week. The survey was the last thing the buyers did before finalizing paperwork.

I am currently in a very rough financial position, my wife and I both work full time, and our 11 month old is in daycare ($$$$$). And on top of this, we recently found significant termite damage in our home, and a dangerous tree with termite damage that is situated less than 4 inches from the eave of the house, which needs to be taken down. I don’t have any real storage in my house, it’s a sub-1000sq-ft home, and we have a lot of belongings in that shed.

Is it unreasonable to ask my neighbor for financial assistance so he can get his house sold? The only options I see are to either lop off 3’ of the back wall to get it off the property (going from a 10’2”x16’ to a 7’x16’) or demolishing and getting a prefab shed. Neither of which I can afford to do right now.

Relevant Comments

Commenter 1: If I were the neighbor, I would think it's unreasonable. Although since it's been on the market a long time and they live out of state, they may be willing. Another idea is maybe to split the cost with the selling neighbor.

OOP: That was my thought too, I don’t think they should bear the whole cost of anything, however if they want it taken care of in a timely manner to proceed with their sale, there’s no way I can do it alone right now

Downvoted Commenter: You knew they were selling and have been trying to sell for a long time? You could ask but it is your shed. How much does a sledgehammer cost?

OOP: Yes. But we were both unaware of the encroachment until the prospective buyer’s survey was done

Commenter 2: Why didn't YOU get a survey when you bought the house? Sorry, but it's not the neighbor's problem at all.

OOP: Yes, we did get a survey done of our property when we bought in 2020. It is our first home, and we were only 22 and 23 when we bought. It was rushed and we didn’t look over the survey, and trusted the title company to inform us of any issues, as all of these things are SUPPOSED to be disclosed in our closing documents. However we were uninformed of this shed issue until a few days ago. My neighbor is also in the same situation, it sounds like negligence on everyone’s part. Mine, my neighbors and the title company/surveyors.

Commenter 3: how close are the trees though? can it be moved 3 feet?

also I would check what the legal action is here, someone else might know better

OOP: https://imgur.com/a/RrOP0S1 Not a chance

(editor's note: switched the original link to an accessible picture link. OOP attached a picture of trees, describing the location of the three trees that are in the front of the shed which he stated, the shed cannot be moved forward off the property line)

Commenter 4: Did you get a copy of the survey? I wouldn't do anything before seeing it. You can also check with your county recorder to see if there's already a survey of your own property recorded, and whether it matches up to the new one.

If there's actually an encroachment, rent a storage unit and move your crap into it. Tear down the shed. Push the expense of a new shed to later.

Do you have a garage? Cars can live outside while that area is used for storage.

OOP: I got a copy of the buyer’s survey, my neighbors original survey, and my survey. My other neighbor is actually co-owner of the only survey company in my area, and his family’s business has been doing surveys on my property for the last 40 years. There is actually an encroachment. Believe me I have looked into a storage unit but I live in an incredibly HCOL area, and one big enough to fit the property I own is $300+/mo. I have no other storage at my house. No garage, no attic, no basement. It is a concrete slab with a 1000sq-ft house, which also according to my survey is too large for the plot of land I own. That’s another problem in itself.

Commenter 5: I’m replying to you to make sure you see this. You need to talk to a lawyer. It’s been there for 16 years. You likely meet the legal requirements for a prescriptive easement or adverse possession of the land your shed is on. In other words, I’m not sure you’re required to legally tear anything down. This is worth a legal consultation.

OOP: Thank you, I appreciate this comment and I’ll be looking into this further.

Commenter 6: For everyone talking adverse possession there needs to be two things. Required 7 years of continuous possession PLUS strict tax payment...... fla staf 95.18. Has OP been paying taxes?

OOP: I’ve owned the house since Nov. 2020 and never missed a mortgage payment, insurance bill, or tax bill. I have not had 7 years of continuous possession, however.

Update #1: August 5, 2026 (next day)

My shed encroaches on my neighbor's property by 3 feet. Now he's selling and the buyers are upset. *UPDATE*

My neighbor is absolutely adamant about keeping his closing date next week. We went back and forth a bit, he’s got extreme pressure and stress from his wife to sell the house and get it gone, and anything standing in his way needs to be resolved quickly. He offered me a sum of money, and his realtor has a crew that will come by and dismantle the shed and take it away. I’ll be able to repair the fence and get a smaller prefab shed to put in its place, or somewhere else in the backyard. I’m not happy about the situation, but it’s as much of a compromise as I could ask for. 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.

To all saying it’s not his responsibility, you’re right. It was never his responsibility. However, selling his house is not on me, or my family, to deal with. The shed being on his property is my problem, even though I was not the one to build it, and has been long standing even since before his house was built.

To all saying, “why didn’t you get a survey done?” We did. Both of us. Me in 2020 when I bought the house, him in 2022 when he bought his house. However, I was 22, completely alone in the process with no one to guide me, uneducated in the home-buying process and all of its complexities, and it was a rushed process for us, it all happened within the span of a few weeks while juggling 65-70 hour work weeks. Call it ignorance, call it lack of foresight, call it moronic, whatever. I call it a learning lesson. Why he didn’t look at his survey is not something I have knowledge of.

To all saying I need to hire a real estate lawyer, it’s probably not a bad idea, however, whenever lawyers get involved someone gets shafted and both parties are usually out a lot of money. It’s not worth it to me. It’s a shed, not a dwelling, and though it meant a lot to me because of my plans for it, it was definitely not worth going to court over.

To all saying I needed to contact my title company, I did and they informed me there was an exclusion in my policy for the shed because it was over the property line according to the survey I had done in 2020. When I asked why I wasn’t informed about the exclusion during my closing, the woman said she’s not sure but the woman who did my closing doesn’t work there anymore.

All-in-all, the situation is shitty, but this is the best outcome I think both of us could hope for, given the timeframe he gave me, and level of stress he’s under to get the house sold.

Thank you to all who offered serious and constructive advice.

Relevant Comments

Commenter 1: Is the sum they'...

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Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/1vm3gst/my_shed_encroaches_on_my_neighbors_property_by_3/

Relevant Comments

Commenter 1: Is the sum they're providing paying for the replacement shed and fence repair too?

OOP: It’s paying for a large chunk of it. I can’t expect him to bear the entire cost.

Commenter 2: You’re lucky he’s covering any of it

OOP: I agree. It was a problem unknown to the both of us until 3 days ago. Now we have a compromise that works for both of us. He’s about to get an extremely large sum from the sale of the house, I am stuck in a financial rut because of childcare and some emergency expenses. This wouldn’t have gotten done in a timely manner without financial assistance from someone (neighbor, loan, etc.)

Downvoted Commenter: I would expect just that. You weren't responsible for building the shed. Why should you come out of pocket at all especially when money is tight? I'd tell him to go kick rocks and good luck on their sale and don't touch the shed and tell them you'll invoke adverse possession risk at this point given the timeline you gave on your previous post. They wouldn't be able to proceed because of trespassing and property destruction. You're just folding when you hold all the cards and now you're going to be inconvenienced? Dude, you can easily win this without paying a dime or calling a lawyer

Call your mortgage company and get in touch with the person that deals with title insurance too. Sounds like neither sale of either of your houses accounted for this so you win in this manner

The "deal" you have isn't terrible but geez I wouldn't give an inch since you don't have to. You're being coerced and I'd stand my ground. Your neighbor's being unreasonable and making it your problem when it's his. They'll give you more money at the very least to cover the full amount if you tell them not to touch the shed because they're not going to risk not selling the house. Think about it

OOP: The amount of bad blood that could create between me and someone who I was acquainted with and didn’t mind as a neighbor, whether he lived there or not, isn’t worth making a couple extra bucks to finish the fencing and shed replacement. He’s a good person who didn’t ask for this problem either. We compromised.

Commenter 3: I think you're being extremely hasty in agreeing to his demands. It is possible that you now own that square of land due to years of adverse possession? If so, you really don't have to do anything. Even if you don't, if he's in this much of a hurry, he should be paying you not only to get rid of this shed, but to fix the fence AND buy and install a new shed. And they are hauling the material away? What is the value of that material?

I know you're trying to be accommodating, but he's being extremely pushy and you are never going to see this guy again after he moves.

It really sounds like you're screwing yourself over.

OOP: I don’t have adverse possession. In the state of FL it requires 7 years continuous possession of the property as well as various tax bill related terms. I’ve only been in the house for a little under 6 years. He offered me a sum of money that will cover most of the cost anyway. They’re hauling everything away, and I haven’t seen the man in over a year and a half as he moved to another state only two years after he bought the house.

Commenter 4: One little piece of advice: This will cost you some money to fix right now, but I guarantee that you will end up not seeing the impact in your finances long-term. The situation being resolved quickly, and getting the opportunity to put up a new shed to your preference, is going to be worth it. Good for you that it's being taken care of.

OOP: I agree completely. It’s a temporary problem, and causing a massive rift between me and my old neighbor, new neighbor and incurring a significant amount of stress and financial burden to fight it more is NOT a temporary problem.

Commenter 5: Guessing it's on a concrete slab then? If it wasn't I'd say just get a forklift and move it a few feet

OOP: It’s not, it’s on concrete blocks and shims. Not possible to move without removing the trees which are protected, and removing the entire fence along the side yard to get equipment in the back yard. Which would inconvenience my next door neighbors significantly.

Commenter 6: I saw your first post and now this one. One thing, you were informed of the encroachment with the survey. You seem to be asking why someone didn’t say something? The surveyor did in his report. And that the title insurance people are denying assistance because of the survey at the time of your purchase indicates that everyone was informed.

OOP: This is true, but the title company and the surveyors did not inform me of this when closing. It was completely unspoken to both me when I closed in 2020 and my neighbor when he closed in 2022. So yes there is documentation of this encroachment, however there was no communication to either one of us that it was there.

OOP clarifies on the neighbors’ roles when it came to them owning the survey company and the shed issues

OOP: Different neighbors. Side neighbor owns the company, behind neighbor has the encroaching shed issue.

Man id be so angry at title company