I have been told by one or 2 investors that they stay away from properties with garage conversions, mainly because of fear of no permits. Any views on this subject.
[addsig]
You would be pretty limiting if you didn't pursue deals that might have permit issues. You may talk to the owner and if they cannot produce proof of permits, talk to the county and see how much it would be if you were caught without a permit, use that as negotiation.
Most counties will inspect after completion for the permit fee plus a fine, usually double the permit fee. Beg forgiveness and it's easy to clear up the issue. You just have to make sure the work is done right or corrected. After all it's basically just a tax and they want the money.
I have only heard of one investor that was forced to bring a house that they bought "up to code" because of prior unpermitted work.
My farm is a low income area and everybody has the infamous "bonus room". Permits are easy to see (or not see) as they are on the web. In low income areas, people are not getting permits.
The enforcement of codes is by a municipality. Maybe, in your municipality they are very strict. But still, how does it come to the code enforcement attention? Are you selling, landlording, wholesaling, etc? Have a hard time imagining how it catches the code enforements attention.
Thanks for the reply, I also think that any conversion without a permit can cause for a negotiation in price. Any californians here to lend their voice !!
[addsig]
Work with out permit is never a problem if the work was done correctly and up to code, just lacking a permit. Can you tell the difference? The nightmare begins when you don't know enough to be able to spot the differences in code qualifying work and pure crap. Buy a house that is the latter and you could be over your head pretty quickly. Buy the former and it is no big deal.
You would be pretty limiting if you didn't pursue deals that might have permit issues. You may talk to the owner and if they cannot produce proof of permits, talk to the county and see how much it would be if you were caught without a permit, use that as negotiation.
Most counties will inspect after completion for the permit fee plus a fine, usually double the permit fee. Beg forgiveness and it's easy to clear up the issue. You just have to make sure the work is done right or corrected. After all it's basically just a tax and they want the money.
I have only heard of one investor that was forced to bring a house that they bought "up to code" because of prior unpermitted work.
My farm is a low income area and everybody has the infamous "bonus room". Permits are easy to see (or not see) as they are on the web. In low income areas, people are not getting permits.
The enforcement of codes is by a municipality. Maybe, in your municipality they are very strict. But still, how does it come to the code enforcement attention? Are you selling, landlording, wholesaling, etc? Have a hard time imagining how it catches the code enforements attention.
Thanks for the reply, I also think that any conversion without a permit can cause for a negotiation in price. Any californians here to lend their voice !!
[addsig]
Work with out permit is never a problem if the work was done correctly and up to code, just lacking a permit. Can you tell the difference? The nightmare begins when you don't know enough to be able to spot the differences in code qualifying work and pure crap. Buy a house that is the latter and you could be over your head pretty quickly. Buy the former and it is no big deal.