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I doubt that an official would just be snooping around, but I guess that's always a possibility. There are some things that might invite an inspection, like too many stories, an obvious infringement on the boundaries (too close to the road/property line) or even an irritated neighbor that is annoyed about the addition.
Well, I would be buying it as a place to live while fixing it up. I would hate for them (city/county/??????) to pull some BS or have a jerk-off neighbor call the building inspector for whatever reason.
Very few if any towns have the staff or motivation to require full-blown inspections everytime a home changes hands.
Work done "off permit" is USUALLY reported by angry neighbors if/when the property is unkempt / over crowded. That can trigger a series of actions from the municipality that may involve inspections, fines, and threats of legal action.
In a worst case scenario there are situations where the work is such a threat / so hard to ensure it was done safely / such a heinous affront to the neighbors that condemnation suits are filled and/or demolition is suggested.
Odds are unless you are not just looking at "low priced homes" but stuff that for all intents is a slum you need not worry about anything. Even if these slum type properties with a list of health / safety violations a mile long the real question is not so much "what will the government do to me" but instead "how crazy would I need to be to try and buy this junk"????
As anyone that has seen shows like Holmes-on-Holmes knows there are some contractors that do horrible work even with permits, and plenty of municipalities have pathetically weak inspections. If you are thinking about buying ANY property it is well worth your time to learn about the kinds of problems that anyone can spot, further any money you spend on hiring a SKILLED home inspector to fully document the condition of the property will help you evaluate whether it makes sense to purchase. An experienced local real estate agent ought to be able to point you toward the right kind of property for you needs AND assist in learning of any negative consequences of work done with permits.
Finally in many parts of the country there is no requirement to get permits or have municipal inspections for work done on a house. In such areas the SAME mindset is very much the watch word, that being: BUYER BEWARE. Whether or not permits were required / municipal inspections done matters less than evaluating how EACH property may be appropriate for you OR NOT depending on your skills / tolerance for unexpected costs...
I think too much credit is being given to the city officials to bring the property to code.
I also think there is every reason to believe you will have appraisal problems on this property. Not too long ago, I had a customer request a refi with an unpermitted finished basement. The appraiser would not give him credit for the work and treated it as if it were an unfinished basement - it was over 1800 square feet of finished space. She kept on insisting that the county was not aware of the work, she could not give it credit. Now, a second appraiser could have had a completely different take on things, but not too many borrowers have a second $400+ to throw around. I don't know if the customer every got out from under......but the payments were killing them.
Call zoning, they will tell you what they can/will do if discovered... they can also tell you how to remedy the situation. Don't settle for guess work when you can get it straight from the horses mouth.
Ok, I am looking for a little friendly information from local pros. Not looking for LEGAL advice, just general information that will help me make some decisions.
I have been looking at lower priced properties in the state I live in (CA), that is all I can afford. I have seen quite a few that sparked my interest. ONE OF THE PROBLEMS IS SEVERAL OF THESE HOMES HAVE NON-PERMITTED ROOMS.
Can somebody in the know shed a little light on the implications of buying such a home.
I know some things, or I think I know some things about this subject:
1. when I sell I must disclose this fact
2. when I go to get a permit to do work on house I will run into problems????
3. building inspector on site will without a doubt have a cow when he compares blueprints to acutal structure.
Other questions???
1. Can city/county order tear down of non-permitted work......and how likely is that to happen????
2. How hard is it to get the non-permitted work into compliance, I am not talking about the actual work needed, I mean jumping the ropes to get into compliance???
3. If I buy a house that has non-permitted rooms could I be responsible for some fine that the city has that has not been revealed to me????
4. Could some government snoop just happen to notice my non-permitted rooms (say a building inspector in the area) and start the cities/counties legal hammer to my head/property???
ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAN BE ADDED IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!
People who perform unpermitted work do so to get the cheapest possible cost to do that work. If they are that cheap then what else has been done cheaply or covered over?
On top of the many other reasons here one was not mentioned. Insurance companies can, and frequently do, refuse to pay out damages on unpermitted work if a problem arises later. The unpermitted work is also used by insurance companies to deny claims for other items they feel is being affected by the unpermitted work.
Never buy a home that has had major unpermitted work performed on it without forcing the seller to correct the permit problems as part of the deal. Never accept any seller dollar concessions if you take care of the missing permits! To many possible problems with unpermitted work and you should just walk away from those homes!
Very few if any towns have the staff or motivation to require full-blown inspections everytime a home changes hands.
Work done "off permit" is USUALLY reported by angry neighbors if/when the property is unkempt / over crowded. That can trigger a series of actions from the municipality that may involve inspections, fines, and threats of legal action.
In a worst case scenario there are situations where the work is such a threat / so hard to ensure it was done safely / such a heinous affront to the neighbors that condemnation suits are filled and/or demolition is suggested.
Odds are unless you are not just looking at "low priced homes" but stuff that for all intents is a slum you need not worry about anything. Even if these slum type properties with a list of health / safety violations a mile long the real question is not so much "what will the government do to me" but instead "how crazy would I need to be to try and buy this junk"????
As anyone that has seen shows like Holmes-on-Holmes knows there are some contractors that do horrible work even with permits, and plenty of municipalities have pathetically weak inspections. If you are thinking about buying ANY property it is well worth your time to learn about the kinds of problems that anyone can spot, further any money you spend on hiring a SKILLED home inspector to fully document the condition of the property will help you evaluate whether it makes sense to purchase. An experienced local real estate agent ought to be able to point you toward the right kind of property for you needs AND assist in learning of any negative consequences of work done with permits.
Finally in many parts of the country there is no requirement to get permits or have municipal inspections for work done on a house. In such areas the SAME mindset is very much the watch word, that being: BUYER BEWARE. Whether or not permits were required / municipal inspections done matters less than evaluating how EACH property may be appropriate for you OR NOT depending on your skills / tolerance for unexpected costs...
No, I am pretty good at evaluating all aspects of a house with reference to it being junk or not......haha, would not buy a total junker unless I intended to tear it down and the price was right.
I mainly worry about getting into a bind if/when the city/county, for whatever reason decides to lower the boom and fine and/or demand immediate changes to the property....that would suck.
People who perform unpermitted work do so to get the cheapest possible cost to do that work. If they are that cheap then what else has been done cheaply or covered over?
On top of the many other reasons here one was not mentioned. Insurance companies can, and frequently do, refuse to pay out damages on unpermitted work if a problem arises later. The unpermitted work is also used by insurance companies to deny claims for other items they feel is being affected by the unpermitted work.
Never buy a home that has had major unpermitted work performed on it without forcing the seller to correct the permit problems as part of the deal. Never accept any seller dollar concessions if you take care of the missing permits! To many possible problems with unpermitted work and you should just walk away from those homes!
Well, in CaliforniaTard there are so many aggressive deal going on with reference to distressed properties........if you want one and get too persnickety with the seller (many times a bank), they will just tell you to got take a flying F**K.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Keep in mind that the purpose of the building permit and inspection process is not as they would have us believe, to protect the people living there, as it is to bring in revenue for the city or county. Not only do they charge for the permits and inspectors, but then they raise the property taxes because you have added to the value. Some municipalities have gone as far as to pay someone on staff to compare home for sale listings to the assessor records,
and see if the number or bedrooms, bathrooms, fireplaces decks (etc.) is different.
Where I live, many homes have non-permitted rooms (mainly garage conversions). To me, the only concern I would have at purchasing such a home is if I had plans to do any renovation work. Once you get involved in doing permitted work, there is a great chance that the city/county will catch the non-permitted work and will make you remedy that at the same time.
I know of several people who went into a renovation project with an eye to do something relatively minor (add a half bath, for example) but ended up with a huge renovation on their hands as they had to also bring the rest of the house up to code.
When I had a plumbing problem the plumber told me he had to bring another line up to code. Couldn't fix the broken one alone. Added$250 to the price. And yes I checked w/a contractor friend before doing it and the plumber was right.
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Are you going to do work on the property?
