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Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. I am seeking advice regarding a house I wish to buy in Hicksville ( Nassau County), Long Island.
The house was built in the 1950s and changes such as an additional room was added in the backyard, a deck and a porch was added in the frontyard in 1955. The owners at the time had applied for a permit and later did not close the permit.
Now I am concerned about obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy. The seller party is willing to put $20,000 in escrow for the architect, expeditor, zoning attorney, municipal filing fees, and municipal penalties. They are not willing to pay for any modifications which may be required to the property or land.
If there is a situation where the certificate of occupancy or variance is not obtained then they will compensate us with $10,000.
So now my questions are the following:
1) Should we go ahead and buy the house with this contract without the C of O?
2) What are the chances that C of O will not be issued?
3) If the C of O is not issued, then what happens next? Are $10,000 sufficient for the procedure after the C of O isnt issued? How much should we ask from them?
Any advice related to my queries or any additional advice will be appreciated. Thanks guys
Well do you have a lawyer? If you do he/she would know what the answer is. So the right answer is talk to your lawyer.
^^This would be the best advice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by harekrishna
Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. I am seeking advice regarding a house I wish to buy in Hicksville ( Nassau County), Long Island.
The house was built in the 1950s and changes such as an additional room was added in the backyard, a deck and a porch was added in the frontyard in 1955. The owners at the time had applied for a permit and later did not close the permit.
Now I am concerned about obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy. The seller party is willing to put $20,000 in escrow for the architect, expeditor, zoning attorney, municipal filing fees, and municipal penalties. They are not willing to pay for any modifications which may be required to the property or land.
If there is a situation where the certificate of occupancy or variance is not obtained then they will compensate us with $10,000.
So now my questions are the following:
1) Should we go ahead and buy the house with this contract without the C of O?
2) What are the chances that C of O will not be issued?
3) If the C of O is not issued, then what happens next? Are $10,000 sufficient for the procedure after the C of O isnt issued? How much should we ask from them?
Any advice related to my queries or any additional advice will be appreciated. Thanks guys
When I bought my house the CO on the garage was not filed. Our deposit was put in escrow and if there was an issue with obtaining the CO (the sellers were not going to invest any money if there was an issue) then our recourse was to walk away and not lose our deposit.
No one can answer if the $10,000 is sufficient. Is the $10,000 to be used for possible fees?
Honestly, houses that we looked at that didn't have permits/CO's, we just ended up walking away from them because the sellers weren't willing to budge on price or pay fees and I wasn't going to buy "as is" and then deal with headaches. If you really, REALLY want the house, speak to your lawyer.
How much will it cost to have these additions removed from the house if they are not eligible for a CO? How much less will the smaller house be worth after those sections are required to be removed?
Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. I am seeking advice regarding a house I wish to buy in Hicksville ( Nassau County), Long Island.
The house was built in the 1950s and changes such as an additional room was added in the backyard, a deck and a porch was added in the frontyard in 1955. The owners at the time had applied for a permit and later did not close the permit.
Now I am concerned about obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy. The seller party is willing to put $20,000 in escrow for the architect, expeditor, zoning attorney, municipal filing fees, and municipal penalties. They are not willing to pay for any modifications which may be required to the property or land.
If there is a situation where the certificate of occupancy or variance is not obtained then they will compensate us with $10,000.
So now my questions are the following:
1) Should we go ahead and buy the house with this contract without the C of O?
2) What are the chances that C of O will not be issued?
3) If the C of O is not issued, then what happens next? Are $10,000 sufficient for the procedure after the C of O isnt issued? How much should we ask from them?
Any advice related to my queries or any additional advice will be appreciated. Thanks guys
No way 10K is enough should there be problems. Request enough in escrow to build all 3 items brand new. If they fail to get the CO, they lose the full escrow to you. Assuming everything is of decent size, you should be asking for upwards of 50-60K in escrow.
If they don't like it, tell them good luck finding a new buyer.
Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. I am seeking advice regarding a house I wish to buy in Hicksville ( Nassau County), Long Island.
The house was built in the 1950s and changes such as an additional room was added in the backyard, a deck and a porch was added in the frontyard in 1955. The owners at the time had applied for a permit and later did not close the permit.
Now I am concerned about obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy. The seller party is willing to put $20,000 in escrow for the architect, expeditor, zoning attorney, municipal filing fees, and municipal penalties. They are not willing to pay for any modifications which may be required to the property or land.
If there is a situation where the certificate of occupancy or variance is not obtained then they will compensate us with $10,000.
So now my questions are the following:
1) Should we go ahead and buy the house with this contract without the C of O?
2) What are the chances that C of O will not be issued?
3) If the C of O is not issued, then what happens next? Are $10,000 sufficient for the procedure after the C of O isnt issued? How much should we ask from them?
Any advice related to my queries or any additional advice will be appreciated. Thanks guys
1) If you are getting a mortgage the lender may not sign off unless there is a CO for modifications that are not currently certified.
2) If what you are saying that the work was done in 1955, it may not meet current code and could be a problem.
3) Unknown. What does your lawyer say? Did you have an inspection done and what did they say that may or may not meet code?
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As already posted seek legal advice. I wouldn't want the burden, let the seller secure the CO too much unknown can happen then his escrowed monies may not be enough.
Beyond all your questions, in this day and age, most banks will not supply loans if there are C of O issues. So you may not be able to purchase regardless. (And sellers really need to understand this, because most don't) I used Bethpage FCU and they would not give me the loan unless the C of O issues were all cleared up.
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