Buying a House with a Finished Basement and No Permits or CO

[nyc_sport]

Southold is a different animal compared to the towns and neighbors most people on this board are used to much further west. My neighbors wouldn't know what a building permit looks like, despite enlarging houses, finishing basements, generators, pools, even a detached garage. You should assume that you will remove the renovation if and when selling, but not all buyers will care either. My house in Southold had no c of o when I bought it in 2007. We intended a major renovation, so it did not matter. Bank made us put some fairly immaterial amount of money in escrow pending a c of o, which itself was irrelevant since the penalty for not complying was that the escrow would be applied against the loan.