Buying a house with an unpermitted addition? (San Diego, Riverside: rentals, assessor)

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

Prop 13 is really great for long time residents. I have neighbors that bought over 30 years ago and are paying next to nothing. On the negative, it kills tax revenues that could otherwise improve infrastructure etc depending on how those revenues are allocated per city.

Dont know if anyone follows Thornberg, but he states here why Prop 13 should go bye bye.

California economist says dump Proposition 13 - latimes.com

People gotta die sometime I've read that article and it's got its own holes. He admits it is the entire tax system that needs reworked. Next, housing shortage? Where? We can't really count 2006 with all the people that bought homes that didn't really qualify. They are back renting again. In my opinion what it has done is limit spending and forced Govts to be more transparent with their want of new taxes.
Will building more houses lower the price? Of course it will if they sit empty.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

People gotta die sometime I've read that article and it's got its own holes. He admits it is the entire tax system that needs reworked. Next, housing shortage? Where? We can't really count 2006 with all the people that bought homes that didn't really qualify. They are back renting again. In my opinion what it has done is limit spending and forced Govts to be more transparent with their want of new taxes.
Will building more houses lower the price? Of course it will if they sit empty.

I'll make sure I wear bright clothes when I go to Cedar Creek so as not to prematurely die from being shot down

No doubt the tax system is antiquated and completely out of touch with being anywhere near efficient based on todays incomes etc.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

I'll make sure I wear bright clothes when I go to Cedar Creek so as not to prematurely die from being shot down

No doubt the tax system is antiquated and completely out of touch with being anywhere near efficient based on todays incomes etc.

You can thank fish and game for publishing the hog maps. Every swingin #### is out there trying to shoot one.

[dasikakn]

Just curious - did you ever try to get the place permitted after you purchased?

I was in a similar transaction.The seller had added to the house in several places after applying for a permit but never really had an inspector come out to finalize. So none of the permits are finalized. I paid a visit to the city who had a really busy building inspector, but was kind enough to come over and take a look at the house because I told him the home included a pool and decks that had permits applied for and I was worried about safety. The intent was really to understand what it would take to get it up to code after I move in. At the end of the tour he said the pool and decks were mostly fine, but found several other wierd "not to code" additions that did not even appear in the permit list. There was no way he could grant a permit now because there no inpections at ANY stage of inspection including during foundation pouring, re-inforcement for the overhang etc and he has no way to tell if that was done correctly. He ended up telling the owner he has to fine them.
All this crap is because getting a permit for new construction that ads quare footage would add to the property tax and the owners want to keep paying low taxes on homes that have appreciated significantly.
I walked away from this deal in spite of a 20% discount on the price because there was just no one I could trust - not my agent who really should have been the one to dilligently advise on the risks, not the sellers agent who insisted that the permits were just "expired" (The building inspctor explained that was bull****) and certainly not the seller who thrived on cheating the system and putting a renter in a house with sketchy foundation, unsupported deck and pool with bad electrical in earthquake country.
I found out the city fined them heavily later and they took the house off the market. So buyers....beware. The whole real estate system works against you and wants the transacation to go through no matter the quality of the product. No one has any skin in the game except the buyer. I like to wail on governement as much as the next guy, but they really did look out for us in this case and helped with the "homework". I hope your conversations with them were beneficial to you as well.

[ferretkona]

Originally Posted by dasikakn

Just curious - did you ever try to get the place permitted after you purchased?

I was in a similar transaction.The seller had added to the house in several places after applying for a permit but never really had an inspector come out to finalize. So none of the permits are finalized. .

Permits expire. All you can do now is finance the original home minus the addition. Basically the addition does not exist. These homes are usually best avoided.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by ferretkona

Permits expire. All you can do now is finance the original home minus the addition. Basically the addition does not exist. These homes are usually best avoided.

A clarification ... permit applications expire. Once the permit is granted, it's permanent.

[I hate the Encinitas city]

Don't Buy The House. And please help. A year ago I bought a house in Encinitas CA and I recently submitted a plan to add a small master bathroom. When I went to the meeting with the city planner they gave me devastating news; after paying them over a $1000 dollars to review the bathroom plans, we never even discussed the bathroom, they just told me that my two car garage, water heater, master bedroom, laundry room, and half of my spare bedroom were unpermitted and violate current code!! The carving in the concrete says 1979. My wife and I are devastated. I took the residential building record to the city before I bought the place and the only thing they told me was that the garage looked a little to close to the property line. I am terrified. Just finished rebuilding the entire garage (only left the outside stucco). Does anyone have advice?? Thank you... I am being threatened to destroy my 1500 ft^2 home back to its 1977 state of 800ft^2. I am terrified and haven't slept in days. Should have never went to the city with plans to add a master bath. I have no idea what to do... Any ideas?

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by I hate the Encinitas city

Don't Buy The House. And please help. A year ago I bought a house in Encinitas CA and I recently submitted a plan to add a small master bathroom. When I went to the meeting with the city planner they gave me devastating news; after paying them over a $1000 dollars to review the bathroom plans, we never even discussed the bathroom, they just told me that my two car garage, water heater, master bedroom, laundry room, and half of my spare bedroom were unpermitted and violate current code!! The carving in the concrete says 1979. My wife and I are devastated. I took the residential building record to the city before I bought the place and the only thing they told me was that the garage looked a little to close to the property line. I am terrified. Just finished rebuilding the entire garage (only left the outside stucco). Does anyone have advice?? Thank you... I am being threatened to destroy my 1500 ft^2 home back to its 1977 state of 800ft^2. I am terrified and haven't slept in days. Should have never went to the city with plans to add a master bath. I have no idea what to do... Any ideas?

First, a couple of things, how well do you know your neighbor? might be able to settle the line over by buying some. next, if the issue is up to current code that can be fixed too. I've never heard of something being leveled. My buddy had to pay a small fine, swap out some shingles and have outlets grounded and his place is now up to code.

Anyway, time for an Attorney if this wasn't disclosed when you bought it.

[tonyinsd]

I would think that mortgage companies would be very leery about lending to someone buying a house in that situation. So if you can't get a loan on it, and you have to pay in cash, why would you buy that house?

If you've got the cash on hand, you've got other options. Why take one that involves so much risk?

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Sounds strange that it was not disclosed during escrow and that no red flags were thrown from the lender, assuming this was not an all cash deal.

While you will likely have to make some adjustments, I agree with 1AngryTaxPayer in that it just might be minor changes.