lack of permit (Brookhaven: to rent, broker, lawyer)

[vlorak]

hi guys
we made an offer and got accepted on a house in brookhaven. that house has a converted garage into a suite and built a separate (detached) garage. ...no permits. we were supposed to close on that house at the end of august hoping the permits will be granted. no permits yet. we hear through our lawyer that the hearing on permits is scheduled for 3rd week of october. the contract we're on is valid til end of september (i'm told on or about 30 days, which brings us to end of september).
spouse wants to close on the house with an amount in escrow in case something needs to be redone.
at this point i want to pull out of contract and look elsewhere (i'm the wife). i don't want to take on someone else's problems and hope nothing goes wrong.
so scenario 1, spouse wants to close with an escrow.
scenario 2, spouse wants to rent until everything gets done.
i need to mention that this house will cost us 520k, has no A/C and no fireplace (things that we plan on doing after moving in). it also needs paint and new carpet. it has an unfinished basement (which we plan on doing when i hit the jackpot probably).
i am very frustrated with the situation. i am not in LI. Kids and I stayed behind until our house sold (we have an accepted offer on our current home).
so, i guess, i need to hear opinions. i have asked spouse about what our realtor, lawyer etc have advised him to do. he says our realtor has warned him about staying safe with this whole thing. i need people to say what they would do in our situation. we have wasted 5 months during this moving process (or not moving, in the case of me and kids).
should we wait for the contract period to end and look elsewhere? or should be close on the house without permits granted and pray hard no problems occur with them. or is there a third option my anger is not allowing me to see.
thanks for reading

[okaydorothy]

If it is a building without a permit, I would walk. You dont know how safe the building is or what problems will lie ahead.

We bought a house with a finished basement but no co for it. Then one of my nosy neighbours complained us for having a tenant ; we didnt ; I was moving my own office furniture into the basement. He filed a complaint, we had an inspection from the town and 6 months later we are still waiting for the co. So far it has cost us $1200 to bring the basement up to code ; minor things like putting a 1 hour fire door in front of the burner, but it was still a hassle.

Good luck ; if you can buy a house that has no headaches, I would go with that.
d

[OhBeeHave]

Walk away. Walk fast. Do not look back.

[Arron]

Unfortunately I would also say to get out of it. I'm surprised your lawyer hasn't advised the same.. might be a blessing in disguise. For that price in todays market you should be able to find a very nice house with CAC and a fireplace etc..

[Chrisk327]

I have no expertise but I'm not for the walk away front if you really like the house.

It seems that no house I looked at when looking had everything 100% in order.

I probably would not close unless i had the permits. But it wouldn't proclude me from buying the house. My thoughts are finishing the garage is the one to worry about. The new garage I would worry less about as long as the setbacks are fine and you still have some yard.

my BIL sold his house with a finished basement without permits, and had to get them for the sale, it has been a long pain to do it. The house closed, with money in escrow, but getting it finalized is taking forever even though inspections were done.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't a 100% positive keep the house!, more like it is a problem, but one that can eventually be solved. If you're having second thoughts on that house and price, then exercise your out at the end of the month.

[Kbinspections]

Trust me, walk away!You are walking into a nightmare..........

[llama8]

Never buy a home that doesn't have permits or c/o for additions. It could take months, if the permits are ever even allowed. Run away from this home. In your price range, you will have no problem finding another home.

[vlorak]

thank you for confirming my feelings on this issue. i read your responses to my husband, who then agreed to slow down on his goal to close on the house w/out permits. our realtor seems to be very honest and interested in not letting us get burned. same thing with the lawyer. you guys are the best for taking the time to help out people moving to LI. thanks a lot

[yan777]

Hi everyone!!! I also got an accepted offer for a house in long island NY. they asked 628K and i offered 590K n got accepted. I had the inspection this past Sunday, paid $400 and immiedietaly after the inspection, the very same moment my broker comes to me and tells me that the deck in the backyard has no permt. I wanted to close before nov 30th in order to qualify for the $8000 tax break. Will this give me a future problem? Why they owner did not tell me on the day I saw the house ( went twice to see it with my family). I find it sneaky...Now I have the cold feet. What should I do?

[scottzilla]

Have you even confirnmed the garage is legal? You can't just throw a building up in Brrokhaven town and hope for the best. There are specific zoning requirements to adhere to, etc.
Your lawyer should be all over this.

These situations drive me nutss. When I bought my house, Brookhaven made such a big deal about an oversized shed on the property that THEY HAD ISSUED A CO FOR. It was not legal, yet they gave the homeowner a CO. So we had to cut it down to size.
Meanwhile, my neighbor has an illegal structure on their property (Wood shed with heat, plumbing and electric-totally illegal) yet they sold their house and the new owners moved in and the shed remained completely intact.
I say if you really like the house, stick with it until you get a solid answer from the town. Lots of people tear their homes apart and don't think about legality issues, etc and then throw the house on the market. Stupid, yes, but SOMEONE is buying these homes, right? So if you really like the house, push for answers before walking away.