Oconee Land & Timber, LLC, filed suit against Rene Buchanan, seeking specific performance of a contract to sell real property or, in the alternative, damages. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and the trial court ruled in favor of Buchanan, finding that the purchase agreement was unenforceable because it did not contain a legally sufficient description of the property to be sold. Oconee Land appeals, contending that the trial court erred by denying its motion for summary judgment and by granting Buchanan’s motion for summary judgment. We affirm, for reasons that follow. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c. A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.1 So viewed, the record shows that Buchanan owned approximately 136 acres of property in Pulaski County, Georgia. At some point, Buchanan entered into a written lease agreement for the property with WLD Farms, Inc. The lease agreement, which ran “for five years starting with 1996 and going through 2000,” provided that rent was $90 per acre and granted WLD Farms a right of first refusal if Buchanan decided to sell the property. On August 24, 2007, Buchanan signed a written contract with Oconee Land, agreeing to sell “all that tract of land lying and being in Land Lot 267 of the 12th, District . . . of Pulaski County, Georgia” at “Hwy 247, in Hawkinsville, Georgia, . . . 31036 . . . as recorded in Plat Book see , Page Ex. A ” for $272,240. It is undisputed that there were no exhibits attached to the agreement. The agreement provided that the closing was to be held on or before September 25, 2007. Buchanan then contacted WLD Farms, which made a verbal offer to purchase the property for $500 more per acre than Oconee Land had offered. Oconee Land, which had become aware of the lease between WLD Farms and Buchanan, contacted WLD Farms, advising that Oconee intended to enforce its agreement with Buchanan. In response, WLD Farms offered to buy the property from Oconee Land after the closing for $500 more per acre than they were going to pay Buchanan, but Oconee Land indicated that it did not intend to sell the property. On September 6, 2007, Oconee Land agreed in writing to sell the property after it purchased the land from Buchanan to Joe Meadows for $476,420. Thereafter, Buchanan refused to appear for a closing for the sale of the property to Oconee Land scheduled for September 14 and a subsequent closing scheduled for September 24.
Oconee Land filed suit against Buchanan on October 3, 2007, seeking specific performance of the August 24, 2007 sales agreement or, in the alternative, damages. Buchanan filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that 1 the sales agreement was invalid because WLD Farms had a right of first refusal to purchase the property; 2 the agreement was unenforceable because it did not contain a legally sufficient description of the land to be sold; and 3 Oconee Land committed fraud and/or exercised undue influence by offering Buchanan an unfair price, as evidenced by its agreement to sell the property to Meadows for $1,500 more than it would have paid Buchanan. Oconee Land also moved for summary judgment, contending that the agreement was enforceable and that it was entitled to specific performance or damages. The trial court ruled in favor of Buchanan, concluding that although WLD Farms’s right of first refusal had expired, the purchase agreement was otherwise unenforceable because it did not adequately identify the land subject to the sale.2 This appeal followed.