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Looking to finish a screened in porch to a livable 4 seasons room. I want to insulate and put windows up.
there is already walls and screens. I want to insulate the floor walls and ceiling.. my question is
how much will my taxes go up. I was thinking about doing all that work but not replacing the windows and maybe getting thick plexi glass to put in the windows place just to keep the rain out and maybe that would keep it classified as a screen room.
Wondering what my taxes may go up by if i finish it. is there ways around it like if i dont put windows but insulated glass in that pops in and out as i need. id really like that extra space.
could i ask the town but not go on their radar?
id totally finish it myself and it wouldnt cost too much maybe a few grand. but if my taxes go up 1000 its not worth it. 500 im ok with. anyone with similar situation or have done it. also the garage. its attached, looking to maybe make that a dining room. anyone have insite on how taxes will go up?
funniest joke I've heard yet. Sorry but that's funny coming from a Long Islander.
Nobody could answer that, not even the morons at the town. You don't know what your taxes will be raised until it happens and that's how the gov't works. Said but true.
It's not going to be cheap if you want to do it correctly. Why go through all the trouble and have the room uncomfortably chilly in winter? I understand you want to to it yourself and save, but it's not always that easy.
I've priced out many of these projects and have done few. Many because of price. You can't think porch price and want interior room that is part of the home. Can't happen. It either becomes part of the living space (legitimately) or it doesn't. You'll need a C.O.. Same goes for garage.
Many people do it under the radar and I'm sure you'll find some "guy" also working under the radar to accommodate you.
If this screened in porch is essentially an enclosed deck at this point, then you need to make sure the supports can handle the additional burden of sheetrock and glass. You'll need to heat it and possible A/C it in the summer. If it doesn't have electric outlets you will need that as well.
We have thought about enclosing our porch here but all of these issues have made us put it on the back burner.
If you do it legit with a permit your taxes will go up, how much nobody knows. The town will probably give you some formula to try and calculate it yourself.
If you live in Nassau County go to mynassauproperty.com and look at the drawings of your home. It will tell you if it is a deck or what. Also, do you plan on putting heat in? TH bottom line is if you do it without benefit of permits, it will cost you less now. It will cost you more and much more if you try down the road to sell without the permits.
You need to investigate the foundation too, before putting windows and sheetrock up, to test load bearing.
Essentially the way it is now without heat you are not going to get 4 seasons out of it. IF you heat it and it does not have good insulation, you are going to be cold.
The bolded sentiment above is a common theme on this message board. It was not the case when I bought my house. I investigated this to death and spoke to an attorney friend who assured me the fears are unfounded as long as you play your cards right.
I would call an attorney before I called the town. But checking the Nassau County assessor site is definitely the first step.
Don't know where you bought but your attorney is clueless about the process. There is no such thing as playing your cards right with permits. Many on this board can dispute this with evidence as I will do once again.
In 1997, I bought my home in TNH with a c/a unit outside in the side yard that was on the survey when I bought. In 2010, I applied for a permit to put up a fence, the application process includes a current survey. I was denied because I did not have a C/a permit. It makes no difference that I purchased the house this way. I had to apply for a permit after the fact so that means a penalty so instead of it being $50 it was 4 x $50 or $200. I then had to have a electrical underwriter come in. I failed as it was no longer to current code. That inspection was $99 and he had to return to see the corrections for an additional $95. I needed to get a Nassau County certified electrician, no other certification was allowed. It cost me $750 for parts and the electrician. Then the permit for the a/c was turned because it was within the side yard set backs and I had to apply for a variance. Once again, after the fact, so the same penalty applied and I had to pay $200 for that, with no guarantee that it would be approved. Thankfully, moving the unit to another location would impact my neighbors as no matter where I went it would be closer to their living space as opposed to one neighbors garage. The neighbors had to receive certified mailed letters of what I was applying for. That was the one place I lucked out. Everyone of the adjoining neighbors handed in a letter stating that it was in the best place and that moving it would impact them adversely.
If you enclose a room and electric and or plumbing is involved you are screwed if the town requires you to bring it to current code. It can include opening up walls. These are FACTS not opinions and there is no playing your cards right. The closest to that is if you happen to get "lucky" and the title search company does not discover it, or if the appraiser does not discover it. When I bought in '97 these things were not important, today every dollar counts and will cost you big time.
No permits were ever applied for on the a/c by the former owner, so there were none open. When I applied for the fence permit they needed a current survey, on the current survey was the a/c unit which was also on the survey supplied by our seller, so that was not the problem. The snag came when TNH saw an a/c unit that was installed without benefit of a permit filing. I was being taxed
A "properly worded" contract will do nothing for you when you try and sell without benefit of either CO's or CoC's, unless you have an all cash deal or the place is sold as is. That essentially means that as the buyer you agree to getting stuck for what the seller did not do by permit. If you have a buyer that needs financing it will be a problem. Also, you don't assay when you purchased your home and where it is. I can tell you will 100% certainty that if you are dealing with the TNH and TOH you will have a problem.
I will also bet the farm that your attorney is not a Real Estate attorney if he gave you that advice.
I sold my home and the buyers attorney asked for all permits, COO, COC, etc. If I put the fence up with out benefit of the permit my seller would have walked as he had previous experience with a home he wanted that did not have the permits in order. His attorney advised him to walk away. It was their attorney who upon the draft contract requested the survey and the permits be returned with the contract and he had requested that their agent ask ours if they were all in order before they made an offer.
We were only too happy to be able to explain why we knew the town would not have anything outstanding on our home. The taxation was there but that has nothing to do with the Town and the permits.
My advice stands and that of my RE attorney and every other person who has posted about problems in selling or buying a home that has missing documents. Buying or selling a home is stressful enough that to have document problems that can be detrimental to that home closing is a huge mistake.
thanks monty your the type of answer im looking for. to everyone else i understand that a permit is the way to go but im already getting taxed i just want to push the limits as i am getting taxed.
i looked up my taxes on the website.
CARD# LABEL LOWER FIRST SECOND THIRD AREA
1 A 800
1 B CANPY CANOPY 84 -- this is the overhang on the front of the house
1 E OFP OPEN FRAME PORCH 318 <-- this is the patio with walls/screens and door.
what if i put insulation and windows and i dig around it a put 1 foot under 18 inches deep and fill it with cement as footers.
when does a porch become a room.. i will just insulate it,put insulated floor and put windows. no heat. if i want to go out ill open my door turn on the fireplace, open my back levitt windows and let the heat in.
when does a porch become livable. how far can i push it.
Not so much enclosing it but if you hook it up to your heating system it shoots up your tax rate
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