You’re walking through your clients’ Lexington home, getting ready to
list it for sale, when you see what looks like a makeshift bathroom in the
basement. You ask your clients about it and, sure enough, they had a handyman
install a sink and toilet down there 10 years ago. Did they ever have permits
pulled? If they didn’t, that can come back to haunt them—and you—because it can
grind the sale to a halt if a presale inspection is required by your locality
or the sales contract requires the seller to provide a certificate of
completion to show the work was done to code.
Each municipality establishes its own rules for handling
unpermitted work. Separate from what your municipality requires, the standard
sales contract you use in your state might require the seller to provide a
certificate of completion for any work done on the house. Of course, the
parties are free to replace the provision with an “as-is” clause, which would
allow the sale to go through whether unpermitted work had been identified or
not. But that’s a negotiating matter between the buyer and seller.
It’s not our job, as a real estate professional, to inspect
a property to determine if there’s unpermitted work. But if, in the course of
working with a seller, you see something in the property that raises a red
flag, talk with the sellers about it. If they confirm that work was done
without the necessary permits, you can recommend that they take proper steps to
get the work inspected and, if necessary, brought up to code.
Here are three points to keep in mind to avoid problems as you prepare to list your Lexingtonhouse for sale.
1. Pay attention to renovations with red flags. Most
unpermitted renovations are small scale. Contractors that work on large-scale
renovations such as additions typically won’t do the work without pulling the
proper permits. But other projects could have cut corners: a sink and toilet
rather than a full bathroom in the basement or a window that looks new but
doesn’t seal properly.
2. Ask questions. If something triggers a concern, ask the
sellers about it. If they have unpermitted work, or if the work was done by the
previous owner and they don’t know whether it was permitted or not, they should
consider going to their local building department to see what work requires a
permit. Municipalities vary greatly on this. Some require a permit only for
major renovations, like a new bathroom. Others require a permit for something
as small as adding an electrical outlet. If they discover work done before
their time that should have been permitted, sellers should inquire with the
city to see whether permits were ever pulled and a certificate of completion
issued.
3. Take proper action. If sellers learn there’s
unpermitted work, their best course of action is to make an appointment with a
city building inspector, apply for new permits, and, if needed, have the work
brought up to the latest code and a certificate of completion issued. One
downside: Today’s generally tougher code requirements may make it more costly
and cumbersome to have the project pass inspection. It’s always a better idea
for home owners to get the proper approvals from a municipality at the time the
work is done than to wait until they sell the house years later.
No comments:
Post a Comment