We have entered into a contract with the buyer of our home. Before we entered into contract I met him at a "final" inspection. At that time he was very pleased with the house but he asked a strange question. He asked if the partially finished basement had a permit. I told him "no" and we left it at that. There was some existing structure before, but less than there is now.

 

He inspected with the "home inspector" and is insisting on a permit. He is paying cash, no mortgage. For the life of me I am baffled why he is asking for a permit when he knew none existed. I feel like he is setting up to renegotiate or sue me (he is a lawyer).

 

I am completely uncomfortable with this guy and want out. The realtor is not concerned but also said this is the first time in 25 years she has seen this happen. Please help... I already signed a contract for a house in PA with 3 day review ending tomorrow and he signed our contract Friday morning.

 

My gut is telling me to come clean with the township. I honestly did not think a basement required a permit. Everyone I spoke with did it without one.

Are you sure his insistence on a permit is not a way for him to back out of buying your house?

I don't think so... He has hung in there through 6 weeks of negotiations and is living at his daughter's house. He is a cash buyer, but we'll see.

You say structure, thats kind of vague, what is it that you may have done that might require a permit- new electric, plumbing etc.? Did you remove/replace any strucural supports? Frame in new walls? Make sure whatever you did does indeed need a permit. A good realtor would have been able to point any un-finished issues out to you before a sale. Could also be he's just trying a last minute shake-down. BTW, does the town need to issue you a CO before you can sell it?

cover your butt get the permit, trusting a realtor is like trusting a used car salesman, they only care about the commission, you are the one who will be left holding the bag.

if any electric work was involved get a licensed electricion to do that part of permit.

I don't think so... He has hung in there through 6 weeks of negotiations and is living at his daughter's house. He is a cash buyer, but we'll see.

 

 

is it possible HE is just trying to cover his own a**? in that he is afraid maybe YOU did something that is going to cause him issues does the road? so his insistence on a permit is just to insure nothing is really screwed up?

 

I have NO idea how it works? just a guess?

if you do not have a realestate atourney nows the time to get one for the closing.

you should have told him it was like that when YOU bought it.

is it possible HE is just trying to cover his own a**? in that he is afraid maybe YOU did something that is going to cause him issues does the road? so his insistence on a permit is just to insure nothing is really screwed up?

 

I have NO idea how it works? just a guess?

 

Yes, I have thought of that, but 3 of the 4 walls are easily accessible. He had a home inspector look at it and it seems the inspector was fine with it. I am getting bits and pieces of how their discussion went, but in a nutshell it sounded like the inspector was saying something about "it's all about the taxes".

 

We'll see as he is sending a list of fixes tonight.. who knows, it may not be on there.

 

BTW, technically the basement "was like that". We removed the junky paneling, replaced some shoddy 2"x3" and put in some nice 2"x4", vapor barrier, insulation, etc. For the life of me, now that i think of it, I have no idea how the previous homeowner got away with that.

 

Oh, we have a lawyer. This state sucks... you need a lawyer for everything. Another reason for wanting to move to PA.

when i bought my previous townhouse, I completely gutted my kitchen & installed new cabinets, granite countertops and new appliances. I never moved any outlets, waterpipes, etc. Kept same layout, but all new. The only thing I did was raise the wall behind the base cabinet to add a breakfast bar top about 5 inches.

the new buyer asked about permits, i told her i didnt move anything, nothing came of it. =house was sold.

Well then your lawyer should approve the list he is making..

From your last post it doesn't really sound like you need a permit.

 

But, if the town doesn't have your house down on record from when you bought it as having a finished basement, but now the basement is finished, then you need a permit for that before you can sell.

 

Your best bet is to find out what the town has on record for you, and hire an architect to come out and certify what you have done. Depending on the architect and what was done, it may be able to be handled with a letter from the architect, OR the architect will have someone come out and measure what's there and provide an as-built drawing for the town. The town will then issue a CO based upon that work.

 

Where are you located, if you are in the Morris County area, I work for an Architect and can give you his number / we could probably get out there fairly quickly and get it taken care of.

 

Matt

See what is on the list first, and then go from there. Not sure how the building department is in your town but some in these situations will just want to see what what done and as long as it isn't unsafe they will just want some coin for the permits.

 

Also you did mention that you replaced some existing work that was done, you may want to explain that you just changed something you didn't like the looks of with something nicer to the code official, that is if in the long run you need to get them involved in the first place.

He is doing this simply because he knows the law. If the town finds out this was done without a permit the homeowner AT THE TIME the town finds out is responsible for obtaining the permit(s) and requisite inspections as well as any changes which may be required to meet the code at the time of the inspection.

if you need a real estate attorney who loves questions pm me ive used him 2xs and know him on a personal level hes in freehold

We have entered into a contract with the buyer of our home. Before we entered into contract I met him at a "final" inspection. At that time he was very pleased with the house but he asked a strange question. He asked if the partially finished basement had a permit. I told him "no" and we left it at that. There was some existing structure before, but less than there is now.

 

He inspected with the "home inspector" and is insisting on a permit. He is paying cash, no mortgage. For the life of me I am baffled why he is asking for a permit when he knew none existed. I feel like he is setting up to renegotiate or sue me (he is a lawyer).

 

I am completely uncomfortable with this guy and want out. The realtor is not concerned but also said this is the first time in 25 years she has seen this happen. Please help... I already signed a contract for a house in PA with 3 day review ending tomorrow and he signed our contract Friday morning.

 

My gut is telling me to come clean with the township. I honestly did not think a basement required a permit. Everyone I spoke with did it without one.

 

When I sold my House in East Brunswick, the buyer demanded a permit for a basement renovation I had done 10 years prior without one, No plumbing but just about everything else including a upgraded panel to withstand all the electronic components that comes with a Man cave/audio video/den set up.I was able to have 4 inspections and issued all necessary permits within 3 weeks at a cost of $550.00. Now the township has assessed the new owner additional taxes for the now permitted basement square footage. I consider my self lucky to have had the uses of the space for all those years for a nominal sum of $550.00.

Not sure about your town but the inspectors in EB claimed that they were no longer allowed to tear down walls to check code compliance unless a violation is plainly visible so I'ts just a matter of paying for the permits and getting the useable footage on the tax rolls.

Duppie, yup good deal having it all that time and only costing 550 bucks, if you did it 10 years earlier, just imagine what it would have cost you in increased property taxes.

 

That was a question, do you know how much you saved,,, well guess,,, now think of all that extra money you have for firearms and ammo..

 

Your welcome

Duppie, yup good deal having it all that time and only costing 550 bucks, if you did it 10 years earlier, just imagine what it would have cost you in increased property taxes.

 

That was a question, do you know how much you saved,,, well guess,,, now think of all that extra money you have for firearms and ammo..

 

Your welcome

 

I really haven't calculated it but I figure I saved at least a 1 week vacation in Asia worth with business class seats and still some left over for my Sig. I do know the buyer was pissed after he got the tax assessment and bill for last winter's snow removal.....

I agree with the guy actually. Without a permit, he has no idea if it was done in a shoddy way or even if it's up to code. With a permit, the town has checked it over to be sure it's up to code and they know about the basement.

 

Later on they can come in, make him remove or make changes to bring it up to code. This is pretty standard stuff the way I see it. Just go file for the permit, cover your rear. No biggy. Just hope that it's up to code. Also, they may try to collect back taxes based on it.

 

Some towns have a walk fire and building inspections prior to selling the house to verify everything is okay. Then they give the CO to the new buyer.

 

 

 

I put heat in my garage and did a sub panel. I did all the work myself and then got the permits. Did the same for our deck that we built. Went pretty smooth.

 

 

 

Just get the permit and don't sweat the small stuff. If You wanna back out now and your getting nervous, I as a buyer would be concerned that possibly you had something to hide. Also, the list of fixes is no guarentee that you have to do them. When we sold we had a gerry rig under the kitchen sink in our old house. It was like that when I bought it. The buyer listed it as a issue and I said I wasn't doing anything about it. I said it's not linking and I'm not going to open a can of warms for myself. Doubt you'll be able to get around the permit.

When I sold my last house, the Previous Owner had changed the furnace without a permit - it was my responsibility as the current owner to get it permitted prior to sale and it was a condition of sale. The potential owner is (as I said before and as bryan said) just covering his butt.

Tell him u will remove it, get a permit for the removal. Way cheaper and easier

Tell him u will remove it, get a permit for the removal. Way cheaper and easier

 

Removing it changes the useable square footage of the home and may nullify the listing allowing the buyer the ability to back out.

Removing it changes the useable square footage of the home and may nullify the listing allowing the buyer the ability to back out.

 

Basement is not included as useable square footage....even if finished.

 

BTW, never sell a house to a lawyer, this guy sent a list of repairs that were absolutely irrational. He wanted repairs that even NEW construction would not accept. I sent an email to the realtor that contract in null and void and cancelled. I feel bad for the people we were buying from in PA.. they were accommodating and willing to work with us.

Basement is not included as useable square footage....even if finished.

 

BTW, never sell a house to a lawyer, this guy sent a list of repairs that were absolutely irrational. He wanted repairs that even NEW construction would not accept.

 

Care to give us some of the highlights so we can bag on the douchebag lawyer for a while?

Basement is not included as useable square footage....even if finished.

 

As far as tax or insurance possibly. But the house was shown with this obvious "feature". Now it's part of the contract of you remove it, any buyer has the right to pull out...

 

As far as the "list of demands" that's normal especially if a home inspection was done. There are ways of responding to these "demands" that satisfies both parties. I'd be happy to discuss that with OP offline.

 

Again, what I would do at this point is resolve the permit issue ASAP for your own peace of mind and that will be one less reason to kill the deal in the future.

Dudes. I'm in a hospital waiting room. Again. It was giving me a net error.

 

Thanks.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Thanks.

What's up man, hope everything is ok..

 

 

In my town a finished basement adds to usable square footage, especially if you hang a cieling.

 

 

As far as the OP null and voiding the contract as per the list from the buyer, it makes me question the seller. I mean is he new to selling a house? Must be, because the list of stuff they want done is like buying a house 101. You don't have to agree to the list but you work together to get the house sold. Just sounds fishy to me. Almost like the OP is scared **** that he is selling to a lawyer.

Bryan, maybe the lawyer (buyer) is trying to intimidate the seller just because he is a lawyer.

In my town a finished basement adds to usable square footage, especially if you hang a cieling.

 

 

As far as the OP null and voiding the contract as per the list from the buyer, it makes me question the seller. I mean is he new to selling a house? Must be, because the list of stuff they want done is like buying a house 101. You don't have to agree to the list but you work together to get the house sold. Just sounds fishy to me. Almost like the OP is scared **** that he is selling to a lawyer.

 

Same here, I insulated,sheet rocked,put up walls,fire resistant doors,air flow vents,recessed lights,outlets every 3 feet,leveled and tiled the floor,enclosed storage/refrigerator/wine storage room and was able to feature it as a family/entertainment space which helped to market the house. We went through many back and forth's on the inspection list before an agreeable compromise was finally settled on . So unless the basement reno is masking some structural,electrical, or safety issue, I can't see why the OP would want to walk away from not 1 but 2 deals simply because the buyer is a lawyer...Lawyers beget Lawyers. so hire yourself a doberman of a lawyer and let them settle it in their own indeterminate way.