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I live in the Town of Hempstead and am trying to sell my house. Turns out that my house requires a variance for "overbuilding" on the lot. This ticks me off on a few levels because 1) I was a fetus when the actual work was being done. 2) My husband and I are the third owners of the house. So two previous sets of realtors, lawyers, and the TOH themselves missed this over the course of three decades... and now I'm left cleaning up the mess. 3) It's completely tanking the probability of selling an otherwise great house. 4) The house is 1% over the TOH standard (a 7x8" utility room is the root of all this trouble).
We hired an expediter and are trying to get this done as fast as possible, but "fast" does not appear to be part of TOH's vocabulary. My expediter said this can drag out until September?!? Has anyone had luck getting a variance faster than 7 months?
IF we can find a buyer willing to jump through the requisite hoops to get a mortgage to buy this house, I was told that we'd have to put money in escrow. Any thoughts on how much of our money would be held hostage?
Last year according to National Association of Realtors almost 40% of homes sold for cash so this may not be an issue at all if you had a cash buyer.
Then some banks if you get a buyer with a big downpayment or sloppy they wont catch it.
Also it is easier for buyer to get permits than for you. My house was lacking a permit for a dormer, third bathroom, and enclosed porch. I had 20K in escrow to get permits after closing. Took almost a year and around a few hundred in fees then seller got back 20K minus a few hundred bucks with receipts I spent of of escrow.
TOH first started with this you people with illegal renovations rushing us to sell after you evaded taxes for years on the improvements mumbo jumbo. When I asked to speak to the head of building dept and I explained I am new buyer of house I have nothing to do with these illegal renovations I am only trying to resolve issue he calmed down and I got my permits a few weeks later.
Last year according to National Association of Realtors almost 40% of homes sold for cash so this may not be an issue at all if you had a cash buyer.
Then some banks if you get a buyer with a big downpayment or sloppy they wont catch it.
Also it is easier for buyer to get permits than for you. My house was lacking a permit for a dormer, third bathroom, and enclosed porch. I had 20K in escrow to get permits after closing. Took almost a year and around a few hundred in fees then seller got back 20K minus a few hundred bucks with receipts I spent of of escrow.
TOH first started with this you people with illegal renovations rushing us to sell after you evaded taxes for years on the improvements mumbo jumbo. When I asked to speak to the head of building dept and I explained I am new buyer of house I have nothing to do with these illegal renovations I am only trying to resolve issue he calmed down and I got my permits a few weeks later.
What town is house in?
I am working with an expediter and have no idea if he "told" the town or not. I certainly didn't. We're in central Nassau - Levittown East Meadow area.
The buyer we thought we lost b/c of this issue actually came back and is willing to close if we escrow money until the variance is approved. I know we'd have to set aside at least the estimated costs of the renovation should the variance be denied, but I am being asked for DOUBLE the proposed costs. Does that sound absurd to anyone else??
I had nothing to do with the initial renovation either; it was completed the year I was born. Will that help speed things along?
How did you find out about this issue? From the title search on that first buyer?
I would ask for that much in escrow too. What happens if your buyer can't get the variance? What kind of damage is going to be done to the home to remedy it if he has to remove this addition, and then he's paid for something he can't use. And you're no longer the owner so it's no worry of yours.
How did you find out about this issue? From the title search on that first buyer?
I would ask for that much in escrow too. What happens if your buyer can't get the variance? What kind of damage is going to be done to the home to remedy it if he has to remove this addition, and then he's paid for something he can't use. And you're no longer the owner so it's no worry of yours.
Who is the expediter you are using and how did you get the expediter?
I thought an expediter can get the permits quickly.
We got the expediter's name through a referral. He is supposed to be very good. Apparently we can't file for the permit while in contract, so we handled everything we that we could... and now we wait. Hopefully once the house is officially sold we can file and get approval quickly and rescue our money from escrow.
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expediter?
