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Though I'm not planning to sell for a couple of years I'd like to know what steps I can take to make the process easier and I'm wondering about a couple of things:
1. When I bought my house 20 years ago (it was a new construction), the basement was unfinished. Since then I have finished it and hired my own plumber and electrician to install the heat and lighting. The thing is, I never informed my village or anyone else for that matter. Did I need to get approvals first? What do I need to do now, so that's not an issue when I sell?
2. Someone told me that the bottom of my microwave is too close to the top of my stove and that is a violation and that I should swap out the microwave. Are home inspectors and appraisers that picky when a home is being bought/sold?? Can it prevent a C of O from being issued to the buyer?
Though I'm not planning to sell for a couple of years I'd like to know what steps I can take to make the process easier and I'm wondering about a couple of things:
1. When I bought my house 20 years ago (it was a new construction), the basement was unfinished. Since then I have finished it and hired my own plumber and electrician to install the heat and lighting. The thing is, I never informed my village or anyone else for that matter. Did I need to get approvals first? What do I need to do now, so that's not an issue when I sell?
2. Someone told me that the bottom of my microwave is too close to the top of my stove and that is a violation and that I should swap out the microwave. Are home inspectors and appraisers that picky when a home is being bought/sold?? Can it prevent a C of O from being issued to the buyer?
THANKS for any advice!
Yes it will sell. The town is not involved with your purchase. For all you care, you can have an underground tunnel under your house and it’s just up to the buyer if they want it or not
Yes it will sell. The town is not involved with your purchase. For all you care, you can have an underground tunnel under your house and it’s just up to the buyer if they want it or not
Long Island must be on a different planet than Westchester County because the town usually does care and so does the bank if the buyer is getting a mortgage.
For every piece of work that was done when I bought my house, my lawyer checked on the permits for them. Anything that was ambiguous had a long drawn out process to see if it was ok.
Don't worry about the basement. It's open permits that cause problems.
How close is "close" to your stove? Really depends on the inspector. The one who inspected my house in NY was obsessed with the electrical outlets and nothing else. He missed some bigger stuff. And he was wrong about the outlets too when he asked for changes. I had three electricians refuse to do what he asked. He also broke one of my kitchen outlets that I used every day.
Long Island must be on a different planet than Westchester County because the town usually does care and so does the bank if the buyer is getting a mortgage.
For every piece of work that was done when I bought my house, my lawyer checked on the permits for them. Anything that was ambiguous had a long drawn out process to see if it was ok.
Long Island must be on a different planet than Westchester County because the town usually does care and so does the bank if the buyer is getting a mortgage.
For every piece of work that was done when I bought my house, my lawyer checked on the permits for them. Anything that was ambiguous had a long drawn out process to see if it was ok.
Towns have nothing to do with a sale. As others said it only matters with an "open" permit. If you finished the basement like the OP and never applied for a permit its not an issue as they is no record. Some banks care most don't.
Though I'm not planning to sell for a couple of years I'd like to know what steps I can take to make the process easier and I'm wondering about a couple of things:
1. When I bought my house 20 years ago (it was a new construction), the basement was unfinished. Since then I have finished it and hired my own plumber and electrician to install the heat and lighting. The thing is, I never informed my village or anyone else for that matter. Did I need to get approvals first? What do I need to do now, so that's not an issue when I sell?
2. Someone told me that the bottom of my microwave is too close to the top of my stove and that is a violation and that I should swap out the microwave. Are home inspectors and appraisers that picky when a home is being bought/sold?? Can it prevent a C of O from being issued to the buyer?
THANKS for any advice!
Truthfully, no one really knows. A couple of years from now things could be very different. You don't mention which town and you do mention a village. Some villages are worse than towns and vice versa.
When I sold in the TNH a neighbor was also selling, and she had an extra bathroom in the basement that was finished. The broker did not list it as it was not legal and told her to change the lock from a bathroom lock to a key lock. It was a divorce situation. The inspector came and asked the agent about the "closet" and the agent said it was a closet that the hubby had the key for and it was a divorce situation. He could not trace the lines since the basement was completely finished so she did not have any trouble.
Re: the microwave, if you want to avoid any problems swap it out when you begin to ready the house for sale. It may not get picked up, but if it does, it will come up in the inspection and then, it becomes a negotiation point between buyer and seller.
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