Survey Says: What to Do When a Boundary Encroachment Shows Up Before Closing

When a final survey shows a boundary encroachment days before closing, calm and a clear checklist beat panic. In this 10-minute monologue Matthew Halliday opens with a real closing that nearly collapsed when a neighbor’s roofline and a backyard fence appeared on the buyer’s survey. He breaks the episode into three actionable lessons: immediate steps to protect your deposit and timeline, buyer-side negotiation options (credits, price adjustments, or walk-away contingencies), and seller-side cures (boundary agreements, corrective deeds, or quick fixes). Matthew explains what title insurance will and won’t cover, how escrow holdbacks work, and which fixes are fast versus which require legal work. Listeners finish with a concise recap and one practical tip they can use the moment a survey issue appears. This episode is for buyers, sellers, and agents who want to resolve survey surprises without derailing the deal.