Should I buy a home with an unpermitted attic renovation (bank owned, mortgage)

[dearmschris]

I'm looking at a home in central MA. It's listed as a 3 bed cape. Two of the bedrooms are on the first floor. The third bedroom is upstairs. It looks like they converted the attic to a bedroom (with a door) and then an open area. I found out the most recent previous potential buyers walked away because there was no permit for the renovations in the attic. The price for the house is not quite the price for a 3 bedroom cape and more than the price for a 2 bedroom cape. I don't want problems down the road when I try to sell this house, in 10 or 15 years. The price is very attractive to my budget and now I know why it's priced the way it is. The seller has relocated and only lived there 2 years. They bought the house and it was listed as a 3 bed (I saw the listing) and they paid a 3 bedroom price for the house. Could this work out for me if I were to buy the house? If I were to make an offer, do you have a strategy - should I request the seller pull a permit? I would be willing to put some money into the home (eventually) to bring it up to code and get it properly permitted but right now I don't what that would cost. How do I get an idea of what it would cost to get the house in order so that when I want to sell it, I won't have the problem the current seller has now?

[bugelrex]

for attic, without permit the issues would be
- code for electric
-code for insulation. if not done properly then mold
- any plumbing


usually lack of permits is for keeping the tax low, most owners wouldn't voluntary live in a death trap
I wonder if 20k(max) is reasonable for opening up walls for inspection and redoing to code.

offer contingent up to 8k in repairs to bring to code?

[BostonMike7]

I guess the question is what is the quality of the work? Just because it was done unpermitted doesn't mean the job is potentially a hack job.

If you do want to get the room done on a permit, you'll need to open the walls up. Cost all depends on the size/scope of the project. You may want to find a contractor who can go in and take a look to give you an opinion.

[OutdoorLover]

Unfortunately, the current owner probably wouldn't appreciate you asking the town's Code Enforcement Officer/Building Inspector for an opinion, but that's really the opinion that matters most.

It might actually be compliant as it is, if the person who did it knows what they are doing and doesn't do unsafe s--t, although that doesn't describe everyone who calls themselves a contractor. As others have hinted, you can't easily evaluate electrical work in a finished room - not sure how rigorous a town inspector would actually be in this case. You can tell a good deal though if you open the box cover plates for outlets, switches and light fixtures, and look what they are secured to and what's been done inside. But I suppose in principal, you could have something else - some surprise - done very badly that's hidden by the wallboard - like two wires just twisted together in space near a nice flammable stud or an electrically conductive water pipe...

I suppose you could ask either a local contractor who applies for permits and does things by the book and does a fair amount of work in that town, or a home inspection service who is local and and does a fair amount of work in that town. You'd use a home inspection service anyway during your due diligence period.

[CaseyB]

Yes, I would have a home inspector look at the work. As long as you feel it's safe then I wouldn't hesitate to buy it if you like it otherwise.

[DanBev]

If a mortgage is involved the appraiser will not approve till a final inspection is approved,I did this in Fl and had to get all permits done and final inspection.I added a 14 X 24 addition.
I had to have a civil engineer draw up plans for addition which involved even health dept for septic and leach field because it was added living space.
My only fault was one GFCI at hand sink.

[Cape Cod Todd]

Is the septic system built for a 2 or a 3 bedroom house or is the house on a town system?



We had a bank owned listing that had all sorts of work done to it without permits and others that were opened but never closed. We went to the building inspector in our town and he was aware of the house and he was willing to work with a buyer to bring it up to code.

It all worked out in the end.



Have your agent talk to the listing agent and get to the bottom of this issue before you buy. This could be a can of worms if you open it and the building inspector could make you turn the attic back into an attic.

It would be best to find out before you buy.

[bgrasser]

The tax card more than likely is listed as a two bedroom,
your basically buying a two br home.
If you love the property, buy it, and enjoy it, when you sell,
Your selling a two br home.

Back when, I sold a home that I had finished the basement without permits, nobody cared, the buyers had
an inspection, got a mortgage, and I moved.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by bgrasser

Back when, I sold a home that I had finished the basement without permits, nobody cared, the buyers had
an inspection, got a mortgage, and I moved.

My house has an unpermitted finished basement. Nobody cares. Inspectors didn't say anything, bank didn't care, I didn't care. Got the mortgage no problem.

Eventually I redid portions of it and moved a few walls around. No surprises were found and everything was done well.

Room in attic probably won't draw too much attention. Now, if you had an unpermitted 3-car garage and GROG added onto the house, might be a different story.

[sawyer2]

How is it listed with the town/tax card?
Is the septic ok for 3 bedrooms?

Those would be the main issues for me.

Given the age of the properties round here, nearly all of them will have some unpermitted work. A good inspector will help - I usually focus on the electrical, and if any load bearing walls have been removed.