Starting Points for Finding Property Lines in Georgia
Knowing where your property lines run is useful information for dozens of common situations: planning a fence, understanding what you bought, checking whether a neighbor's structure encroaches, or just being a well-informed property owner. Georgia has several resources that can help you get a general picture, and a licensed surveyor for when you need a legally certain answer.
Here is how to work through the available resources from fastest and easiest to most definitive.
Step 1: Your County GIS Parcel Viewer
Many of Georgia's 159 counties have online GIS (Geographic Information System) portals that display parcel boundaries on a map. These are the fastest first stop for most property research.
Major Georgia County GIS Resources
- Fulton County: Fulton County's GIS portal at gis.fultoncountyga.gov lets you search by address or parcel ID and see parcel boundaries, dimensions, and ownership information.
- DeKalb County: The DeKalb County GIS system at gis.dekalbcountyga.gov provides parcel maps, aerial imagery, and property information layers.
- Chatham County: Chatham County (Savannah) offers a GIS viewer at chathamcountyga.gov that includes parcel data and aerial photography useful for coastal properties.
- Cobb County: Cobb County's mapping portal at cobbcounty.org includes parcel boundaries and property data for the northwest Atlanta metro area.
- Gwinnett County: Gwinnett County provides parcel boundary data through its online GIS viewer, accessible via the county's official website.
For counties without a dedicated portal, try searching the county name plus “GIS parcel viewer” or “property map.” The Georgia County Snapshots tool maintained by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs at dca.ga.gov also links to county-level data resources.
What GIS Parcel Data Can and Cannot Tell You
County GIS parcel boundaries are derived from recorded plats and deeds, but they are compiled for administrative and tax purposes, not for legal boundary determination. The lines you see on a GIS map may be offset from actual surveyed corners by several feet, and in older or rural areas, the discrepancy can be larger. Use GIS maps to:
- Get a general picture of your lot shape and size
- Find your parcel ID number for further research
- See neighboring parcels and their approximate relationship to yours
Do not use GIS parcel maps to place a fence, pour a foundation, or make any determination that requires legal accuracy.
Step 2: County Tax Assessor Records
Every Georgia county maintains a tax assessor's office that keeps property records including owner name, parcel ID, assessed value, and often a basic plat or sketch. These records are public and most are accessible online through the county tax assessor's website.
The county assessor's data will typically tell you the lot dimensions and total acreage as recorded. It may also show a sketch of the lot shape derived from the recorded plat. This is useful reference information but, again, is not a substitute for a licensed survey.
Step 3: Georgia Superior Court Clerk Deed and Plat Records
Georgia property records, including deeds, plats, and easements, are recorded at the county Superior Court Clerk's office. The Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority (GSCCCA) at gsccca.org provides online access to deed indexes and document images for most Georgia counties.
How to Use GSCCCA
- Go to gsccca.org and open the deed search tool
- Search by the property owner's name or the grantor/grantee index
- Locate your deed and download the document
- Look for the legal description, which describes the parcel boundaries by reference to a plat, or by metes-and-bounds calls
If your deed references a recorded plat (for example, “Lot 14, Block B, Pinecrest Subdivision, Plat Book 12, Page 47, Records of Fulton County”), you can search for that plat at the same office. Many Georgia counties have digitized their plat books, and images are accessible online.
Plat maps show the original surveyed lot dimensions and the layout of the subdivision as it was recorded. They are more reliable than GIS data for understanding your lot's original intended boundaries.
Step 4: Georgia Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI)
The Georgia Geospatial Advisory Council coordinates the Georgia Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI), a statewide effort to share and standardize geographic data across government agencies. The GSDI clearinghouse provides access to statewide GIS datasets including some parcel boundary data compiled from county sources.
For most property research purposes, the county-level GIS portals and GSCCCA are more useful than the GSDI clearinghouse. But the GSDI can be helpful for looking at parcel data across county lines or for accessing statewide datasets not available from a single county.
Step 5: Physical Evidence on the Property
Once you have done the records research, walk the property and look for physical evidence of boundary markers:
- Iron pins or rebar set in the ground, sometimes with a plastic cap stamped with the surveyor's name or license number
- Concrete monuments, especially at older subdivision corners
- Old wooden stakes, though these deteriorate and are often not reliable
- Fences, walls, or hedges that may represent an interpreted or historically agreed boundary
Physical markers are useful clues, but they are not conclusive on their own. A metal detector can help locate buried iron pins. If you find a pin, compare its location to the plat dimensions to see if it appears to be in the right place. Still, only a licensed surveyor can confirm that a physical monument represents a legally established corner.
When to Stop Searching and Hire a Surveyor
Online research and deed review are useful starting points. They are not endpoints for any situation where accuracy matters legally. Hire a licensed Georgia Professional Land Surveyor when:
- You are installing a fence, wall, or structure near the property boundary
- You suspect a neighbor is encroaching on your land, or you have been told you are encroaching on theirs
- You are buying property and the boundaries are not clearly established
- You need a survey as part of a building permit application
- You are dividing or combining parcels
- A lender or title company has asked for a survey at closing
A boundary survey by a licensed Georgia PLS is the only method that produces a legally certified determination of where your property lines run. It is the starting point for any formal legal proceeding, permit application, or recorded boundary agreement.
Georgia Property Line Research: Summary
| Resource | What It Provides | Legally Binding? |
|---|---|---|
| County GIS parcel viewer | Approximate boundary map, parcel ID | No |
| County tax assessor records | Lot dimensions, ownership data | No |
| GSCCCA deed and plat records | Recorded legal description and plat | Reference document only |
| GSDI statewide GIS data | Compiled parcel boundaries | No |
| Licensed Georgia PLS survey | Certified boundary determination with monuments | Yes |
When you need a definitive answer, find a land surveyor in Georgia and get the certified boundary determination that makes everything official.