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Old 11-17-2010, 04:20 PM
 
Location: Nassau, Long Island, NY
16,408 posts, read 33,218,769 times
Reputation: 7338

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Quote:
Originally Posted by md565 View Post
Okay. Our attorney got to the bottom of it. Turns out that the deck and bathroom in the basement cannot be legalized. The deck doesn't have footing and would need to be completely ripped out. Not sure what the issue is with the bathroom, but it has to be ripped out too. They brought in plumbers and carpenters to get the full impact and it will cost a lot of $$$.

Long story short, they are no longer willing to obtain COs or even cover the cost of removing the illegal alterations. They claim that many houses in the area sell without COs and that the lender will probably not catch the issue. They are willing to allow us to cancel the contract and return our downpayment, along with the cost of title charges, if the lenders require a CO.

Our attorney suggested another option which is to go into contract with the provision that the sellers remove the illegal alterations at their own expense should the lender require it. He also suggested that we negotiate a price reduction, since we won't have a deck and third bathroom anymore (and we based our offer on the fact there is a deck and bathroom in the basement).

It's all very frustrating. If only we didn't like the house so much... We've been looking for over 8 months, and it's the best one we've seen so far. We are looking in a very specific location (Floral Park) within walking distance to train station, not a main street, etc.

Would you go into contract without COs with the above provisions? Some people seemed to suggest earlier (DoulaSue) that somehow it is feasible. I'm not sure how.
NO. Never.

The idea that they will fix things "if the lender requires it" is NONSENSE. If they don't want to make the changes, negotiate a price reduction equivalent to the work that needs to be done for the house to be legal instead of just inheriting the shady situation.

Let them ROT in the house if they won't.

I am sorry you lost money doing the inspection. Maybe next time you want to do an inspection on a house see if your lawyer can set something up that if the house does not have the appropriate COs, the seller must reimburse you. As you can see, some real estate agents are not honest about it at all, so a "put your money where your mouth is" clause is necessary because nobody can believe them 100%.

It is really a bunch of NONSENSE that sellers are even allowed to put their homes on the market without having the appropriate COs first.

Only on Long Island could sellers get away with this crap!
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Old 11-17-2010, 06:28 PM
 
Location: under the beautiful Carolina blue
22,640 posts, read 36,609,195 times
Reputation: 19847
Quote:
Originally Posted by flowergarden View Post
Do not buy a house without appropriate COs. First, the lender will catch it. Second, in two years when you or your husband are offered a great job in town X, and you want to sell, you will have to do the work, spend the money and get the COs. It is not worth it. You are taking on their problems and making them your own. Really, don't do it. If necessary, have them rip down the deck and pull out the basement bathroom. Have the house pass inspection. Then buy the house for what it's worth without a deck or basement bathroom. Also, a deck without appropriate footings is dangerous. You should not buy this problem.
I totally agree with every single thing written here. At some point, someone is going to insist on COs for this house. Maybe when you do some improvements on the house, maybe when you go to sell it (don't say you'll never sell it) - you are taking on a huge obligation with things that can't be legalized as is. Do not do it. Do not. One of the things I needed a CO for was a basement that was finished when we moved in. We didn't do a thing to it. I can't tell you what a bad move it would be to take this on. IF it was something that could be easily remedied - fine. They are telling you that can't be done. Forget it.

The idea that these people didn't know they'd need COs for this stuff is patently silly, BTW. They were just hoping to get away with it.
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Old 11-17-2010, 06:50 PM
 
Location: under the beautiful Carolina blue
22,640 posts, read 36,609,195 times
Reputation: 19847
Here's a thread that might interest you:

//www.city-data.com/forum/long-...ut-permit.html
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Old 11-17-2010, 06:57 PM
 
35 posts, read 472,329 times
Reputation: 31
Thanks for all your great answers. I think you are all right (sadly). We will let them know that we are only willing to go to contract if they remove the illegal alterations to make the house compliant with the current certificate of occupancy (we don't care if we lose the extra bathroom and deck). We will also try to negotiate a price reduction. I'm not very hopeful...
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Old 11-18-2010, 07:17 AM
 
Location: Babylon Village
176 posts, read 473,530 times
Reputation: 43
you have to negotiate a price reduction....your are getting a house with 8-10% less than what you thought it had...honestly, WALK AWAY. there is a lot more inventory out there and if they were careless about the CO's to begin with what makes you think there are not other issues (that are out of code) hidden behind the walls???? This situation just spooks me thinking about it. You should move on and negotiate with a different seller. You have already opened up a can of worms with the property, question is hoe many worms you will find.
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Old 11-18-2010, 07:19 AM
 
Location: Babylon Village
176 posts, read 473,530 times
Reputation: 43
May I add.....are you a first time home buyer?? No one who is already owned a house (headache) would want to get into what you are so valiantly walking towards. Take a step back and ask people who know about this stuff. You are being blinded by the light.
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Old 11-18-2010, 07:21 AM
 
Location: Babylon Village
176 posts, read 473,530 times
Reputation: 43
and from personal experience do not trust realtors and if they are pressuring you to do something you should probably consider doing the opposite. No slap on the profession as a whole cos I feel it is a useful resource, but there are a lot of suspect agents out there.
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Old 11-18-2010, 09:11 AM
 
40 posts, read 51,954 times
Reputation: 32
A few months ago we had an accepted offer on a house. at the 11th hour it came up that there were no CO's. We walked. They stated that they had multiple offers and if we walked there was no turning back. That was roughly 7 months ago. The house still has the for sale sign on the lawn...

Screw the games. No matter what people tell you the buyer has the power right now. low interest rates and a ton of properties to choose from....We found something way better and are happy....
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Old 11-18-2010, 05:44 PM
 
1,386 posts, read 5,331,856 times
Reputation: 902
I think the people on this board are so very black and white. I've been in your position and despite all the crap everyone says about there being a ton of houses out there..... other fish in the sea, etc. its really not true. They're may be a ton of listings, but most of the listings out there are for crap houses, in bad locations, with some major problem. there are precious few nice houses that are priced correctly and have all their issues taken care of. I can see the desprite desire to get "the one"

could you possibly get it through?? yes
close the door to the bathroom in the basement, call it a closet, hide it behind crap. hope the bank doesn't ask about the deck.

is it smart?... depends on the discount you can get.
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Old 11-18-2010, 11:52 PM
 
Location: Long Island
9,531 posts, read 15,821,591 times
Reputation: 5948
Quote:
Originally Posted by twingles View Post
A finished basement with a full bath with no permits is going to be a major hassle.
not necessarily true... depends how much the buyer cares to go after it. The buyer can benefit from not having it CO'd too. And no - how would a lender find out about a full bathroom in your basement?

I'm not saying people should do this, but it's absolutely possible to squeak it through and people have. I'm not sure that saying they are setting themself up for headaches is enough a reason to not do it. Owning a house is a headache in itself. Tell them it's punishable by prison maybe.

Last edited by ovi8; 11-19-2010 at 12:05 AM..
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